Arthritis is a joint disease that isn’t limited to just humans, but horses can also develop arthritis, as they get older. This joint disease can impact not only the horse’s physical ability but also the horse’s mood.
Drugs have been developed to help combat arthritis, but these drugs are needed to be taken daily, and many horse owners want a way to treat arthritis in horses naturally?
Arthritis in horses like in humans is a degenerative joint disease and starts to occur when the cartilage between the bones starts to break down, and this disease can lead to pain and stiffness. If this disease, if left untreated, can lead to lameness in the affected horse.
Signs of Equine Arthritis
Some early signs of arthritis can include stiffness in the joint, a decline in movement, increased irritability, heat around and in the affected joint, small bony growths around the affected joint, and even Lameness in the joint.
The small bony growths have also been called the osteophytes, which can either be felt when running your hand over the joint and even be seen during an x-ray.
Arthritis is caused by continuous wear and tear on a joining that has the cartilage in the joint beginning to ear down, racing/ dressage, and jumping horses are at a higher risk due to the high impact activities that they regularly partake in.
Another issue with arthritis is that the progression is usually very slow, meaning that it’ll take an extensive amount of time before you can notice, and this means that noticing the early signs listed above is incredibly important.
Sadly, there is no cure to equine arthritis, and once it sets in, all you can do is reduce the information and the pain as much as possible.
Reducing the symptoms is primarily done through the usage of popular drugs. While these drugs do reduce these symptoms due to most vets prescribing a regimen of anti-inflammation and/or pain medications that are required to be taken daily.
The two most common drugs that are prescribed are Phenylbutazone or Bute, and Bute is a cheap but effective drug that can either be injected or given orally as a paste or powder. The problem with Bute is that it can put your house at risk, sometimes a very serious threat!
This risk is due to how Bute stops the inflammation of the joint, Bute works by stopping COX, or cyclo-oxygenases, which is a class of enzymes that can potentially lead to inflammation but also works in the healing of normal tissues. COX is also used in a variety of different situations, including normal kidney function, the production of blood cells, and even to shield the intestines from internal damage.
Another risk that using Bute can have is because Bute can delay healing and even slows the production of joint cartilages, as stated by a study conducted by Ohio State University. Not only that, but Bute has substantial long-term effects as stated by this study.
Some of these long-term effects include ulcers, kidney failure, intestinal problems, depression decreased appetite, and even more effects. These long-term effects can substantially hurt the horse and impact the horse’s performance/abilities.
Using CBD Oil To Treat Arthritis In Horses
Horses and humans both have endocannabinoid systems, which means that the system uses receptors that are found throughout the body; the overall goal of the system is to ensure that everything is balanced.
CBD oil has chemical compounds called cannabinoids, and these cannabinoids go to work in the system to help bring and maintain that balance.
Research into this subject has been done, the research is slow going but has been producing some pretty incredible results. One example of this fact is a 2018 study that was conducted on Arthritic dogs, and the results show that using CBD oil significantly decreases the pain and even increases the activity.
The main result was that no side effects were reported, and the owners reported even no long-term use side effects.
For horses, research into using CBD oil is still in its early stages, but the reports given by horse owners are looking promising. These reports have been looking so promising that the American Veterinary medical association is requesting more research into using CBD oil as a pain-medication alternative.
FDA Disclaimer – These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or prior to using any CBD products.