FIELD

he says, “and since its approval last summer, our practice has given about 75 doses of Osphos.”

Which bisphosphonate Bowman chooses in each case depends on several factors. “Convenience for myself and the client is a big one,” he says. “When it comes to systemic administration, giving an intramuscular injection is usually much easier than an intravenous drip, so I tend to use Osphos for the entire-body treatments. For a treatment of a very isolated location, though, I might go with a regional limb perfusion of Tildren instead.”

In addition, Bowman administers Osphos off-label for a variety of conditions: “We will use it for navicular, but also severe degenerative joint disease of the hocks, kissing spines and, occasionally, horses with evidence of subchondral bone injury that isn’t responding to rest and more conservative therapy.”

Osphos isn’t a first-line treatment for any of these, however, says Bowman. “I like to base it on evidence of bone involvement, like x-rays or a bone scan, and then only when other more typical therapies haven’t produced results.” Overall, however, he and his clients have been satisfied with the results. “I can tell you anecdotally that I think horses are responding well. We’ve had success in all four of those scenarios—navicular, hock disease, kissing spines and subchondral bone injury.”

Bowman informs all clients prior to treatment—which he says costs “in the hundreds” of dollars—that “some horses don’t respond at all. Otherwise, it would be magic, and we wouldn’t need any other drugs. As nice as that might be with any treatment, that’s just not the case.”

The only side effect Bowman says he’s observed with Osphos is localized irritation at the injection sites although others in his practice have seen mild colics. “We tell the client it’s a possibility and to have Banamine ready,” he says.