Septic Arthritis--a couple years later?

[jrios58]

I'm looking at a little filly right now to buy, I was told she had 'joint ill' or septic arthritis as a new born, 2 years ago. Even though we had horses for many years, we've never had one with this as a new born.

Her owner said her leg twists a tiny bit sometimes, but it's barely noticeable. Is this the kind of thing that can cause the filly problems if I breed her later on? Or that will cause her to be in pain from arthritis at a much earlier age than would be normally expected? I don't expect to show her at this time.

I'm going out to look at her next week...and wondering what to do!

thanks all

 

[chandab]

It's not congenital (inheritable), so in that respect it wouldn't preclude me from using her in a breeding program, if her conformation, and pedigree where what I was looking for; but I would worry about early onset debilitating arthritis. I've not experience joint ill, so I really don't know the long term affects, I would discuss it with my vet and get his opinion.

 

[amysue]

I have only dealt with joint ill in holstein calves. In my experience even after getting the infection down and reducing the swelling, the animal does always experience some level of discomfort. I have a steer now who is coming 2 years old that got a severely infected navel as a baby and the infection spread to his hocks got it real bad, after treatment we noticed he had extreme difficulty laying down and getting up. Now at almost 2, he is not gaining like the rest of the herd, he moves slower and acts off. We have decided to ship him as it appears his quality of life is degrading. I would want to look at x ray films of this mare to see to what extent her joint is compromised. Based on my personal experience, I would probably pass, unless she is incredibly cheap/free and phenominally bred/correct.