SandyMM
08-05-2006, 01:58 AM
Have you seen any horses in your area with these symptoms? Horse in question is in NW GA.
Quarter horse mare was fine in the morning in the pasture she has been in for nearly a year.
In the afternoon, she was found in yard next door standing over a Japanese Cherry tree branch on the ground, but no one actually saw her eating the leaves.
Later that evening about dusk, she was discovered huddled in a run-in shed, sweating profusely, all muscles completely rigid, unable or unwilling to move.
Vet came out and ran blood tests, tubed her w/fluids/electrolytes. Possible diagnosis - tying up, HYPP, colic, founder/laminitis... nothing conclusive that night.
3 more vets have seen the mare over the past two-three days. No conclusive diagnosis. Owner told not to give her any pain meds first night as it could be poisoning and the liver might not be able to handle additional stress of processing pain meds. They did tell owner to hose her down frequently and she does appear to get some minor relief frm this and walks around for a few minutes after being hosed down.
Farrier saw her today and concurs with all four vets that it is not hoof-related at this point. Hooves were relatively cool to the touch from the onset.
First vet said it was the 5th case she had seen this week, but this mare was by far the most severe.
Owner has been told he can now give bute.
As of today, mare spends most of her time lying down. She is peeing and pooping normally. She appears hungry and thirsty, but has trouble standing long enough to eat and drink much.
I called Vicky T for advice and to see if she could come out to evaluate. She says she saw two nearly identical cases a several months ago. There was no conclusive diagnosis, but the owners did the following:
Hosed down repeatedly with warm/hot water, feed 'cool' feeds - barley - no oats, grass hay, no grazing, handwalk several times a day.
She said the horses made a full recovery, but it took nearly two months.
According to the information she had, the cause of the rigid muscles, profuse sweating, and inability to stand or walk was _severe_ joint pain throughout the entire body. Without some walking and 'upright' time, the horses would not eat or drink enough, could possibly get pressure sores or even pneumonia from lying down for long periods of time.
We discussed trying to soak the mare's hay to get more fluids/food into her and also feeding small amounts of soaked beet pulp several times a day.
Any experience with similar symptoms would be appreciated. Anybody in GA know of anything blooming/growing right now that could cause this type of reaction?
(Added) vet did not notice any swelling the first night, but light was poor. Yesterday she said there appeared to be some swelling at the base of the neck where it joined the chest.
Quarter horse mare was fine in the morning in the pasture she has been in for nearly a year.
In the afternoon, she was found in yard next door standing over a Japanese Cherry tree branch on the ground, but no one actually saw her eating the leaves.
Later that evening about dusk, she was discovered huddled in a run-in shed, sweating profusely, all muscles completely rigid, unable or unwilling to move.
Vet came out and ran blood tests, tubed her w/fluids/electrolytes. Possible diagnosis - tying up, HYPP, colic, founder/laminitis... nothing conclusive that night.
3 more vets have seen the mare over the past two-three days. No conclusive diagnosis. Owner told not to give her any pain meds first night as it could be poisoning and the liver might not be able to handle additional stress of processing pain meds. They did tell owner to hose her down frequently and she does appear to get some minor relief frm this and walks around for a few minutes after being hosed down.
Farrier saw her today and concurs with all four vets that it is not hoof-related at this point. Hooves were relatively cool to the touch from the onset.
First vet said it was the 5th case she had seen this week, but this mare was by far the most severe.
Owner has been told he can now give bute.
As of today, mare spends most of her time lying down. She is peeing and pooping normally. She appears hungry and thirsty, but has trouble standing long enough to eat and drink much.
I called Vicky T for advice and to see if she could come out to evaluate. She says she saw two nearly identical cases a several months ago. There was no conclusive diagnosis, but the owners did the following:
Hosed down repeatedly with warm/hot water, feed 'cool' feeds - barley - no oats, grass hay, no grazing, handwalk several times a day.
She said the horses made a full recovery, but it took nearly two months.
According to the information she had, the cause of the rigid muscles, profuse sweating, and inability to stand or walk was _severe_ joint pain throughout the entire body. Without some walking and 'upright' time, the horses would not eat or drink enough, could possibly get pressure sores or even pneumonia from lying down for long periods of time.
We discussed trying to soak the mare's hay to get more fluids/food into her and also feeding small amounts of soaked beet pulp several times a day.
Any experience with similar symptoms would be appreciated. Anybody in GA know of anything blooming/growing right now that could cause this type of reaction?
(Added) vet did not notice any swelling the first night, but light was poor. Yesterday she said there appeared to be some swelling at the base of the neck where it joined the chest.