2nd Referral Wobbler Diagnosis (grade 3), humane destruction

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Chipmunk1

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Sorry, about the blunt heading, but at my wits end. I have a young horse diagnosed at a second referral to being grade 3 ataxic (wobbler). The first referral put him as lame on a hind leg, but he showed no improvement after following advice, so we took him for a second referral, and ended up with such a sad diagnosis. Since then he has lost all muscle tone over his quarters, and with my vets input, it has been decided that it would be kinder to have him pts, in case he has an accident. My vet has spoken to the consultant vet at my insce co. and today I received a letter from them stating that his illness is not covered under the humane destruction guidelines, and so they will not pay out if we have him pts. As it is Saturday and my post is always late, I have not been able to contact my vet, and wondered if anyone has had a similar situation with an insce co? Just feeling so sad.
 
Hi I am sorry to hear your news I have a friend and she is on here I will contact her as her horse has Wobblers and has loads of information on this and I know will be a great support for you, I will text her now and see if I can get hold of her and get her to have a chat with you. She is still riding her horse so I think you would do well do speak with her. You take care, sending you a big hug Chrissie xx
 
Its not unusual for them to refuse on wobblers as it is indeed not covered by the BEVA guidelines however they will pay if an accident happens and destruction is the consequence. I have in the past claimed on two wobblers many years ago both with the NFU with no questions asked . However a lot of companies have tightened up considerably on non essential euthanasia recently . It is difficult however to be honest whether you get the insurance or not, should not stop you doing the right thing for your horse.
 
ebonyallen said:
Hi I am sorry to hear your news I have a friend and she is on here I will contact her as her horse has Wobblers and has loads of information on this and I know will be a great support for you, I will text her now and see if I can get hold of her and get her to have a chat with you. She is still riding her horse so I think you would do well do speak with her. You take care, sending you a big hug Chrissie xx
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Am I misunderstanding. Did you mean she is riding a horse diagnosed with wobblerrs? That would be like playing Russian Roulette!!.
 
A rotten situation for you, I'm sorry. I haven't insured for many years now, partially for being refused humane destruction payment, as the horse wasn't in "enough pain" to warrant their approval.

My best advice is to do the right thing for your horse regardless of money, for your own peace of mind.

:( & hugs
 
Chipmunk1 said:
I will always do what is best for my horse, but am however just surprised at the response from my insce co.
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You will see in all insurance that the death part covers just that Death or destruction on humane grounds which are set out in the BEVA guidelines . Basically they are based on the degree of suffering a horse is experiencing. Wobblers is usually accepted to be an issue affecting coordination and not causing pain so it is not accepted as a reason for humane destruction unless it is severe. They use exactly the same arguments when owners decide to PTS horses with long standing injuries as they say if the horse can have a life in a field thats OK its immaterial whether it can be ridden or not as thats what loss of use covers.
 
yes I had this with my 6 year old and rested her and did everything possible. She would have been suitable for a field companion although had unsafe balance! so I pts and did the right thing for her.
 
I really feel for you. This is one reason why my wobblet was not insured. I put him down, I did not think it was fair to leave him in a state where he could go down at any time and be unable to get up. If you can afford it, I would put him to sleep. So sorry.
 
I had my 4yr old wobbler PTS 4 years ago, my insurance (Petplan) paid out no problem as they agreed with my vet that it met BEVA guidelines, in fact they were superb throughout. It broke my heart (still does) but I know it was the right thing as he'd already fallen over 3 times in the field when cantering.
 
My beautiful big horse was diagnosed as grade three wobbler 2 years ago- 6 weeks before diagnosis he was out eventing!

He was immediately retired on safety grounds, I gave him a year in the field with his friends (and also to give me time to come to terms with the inevitable).
He was pts last September as I didn't think another wet winter was fair or needed with a degenerative problem and I was worried about him slipping over in a gateway or getting stuck rolling.

Insurance did not pay which was a bit gutting but it didn't affect any of my decisions for him.
 
I think for BEVA guidelines the horse has to be grade 4 or 5 for them to consider it a human destruction case.

Has the vet recommended trying any further treatment?
 
Just wondered if you've considered some options for treatment. I'm definitely no expert on wobblers, but came across a few articles when I was researching a different disorder. From my recollection, sometimes youngsters can overcome wobblers if given box rest and taken off all hard feed in order to slow down their growing and allow the neuro/muscular system to catch up with growth spurts. As with many neurological disorders, Vit. E is recommended. I think the articles may be found on Horse.com

Sorry if all this has been covered/considered - I don't wish to make a difficult time even more distressing.
 
The BEVA guidelines for humane destruction followed by insurance companies are a bone of contention with many horse owners & their vets.

A friend of mine had a horse that had a really bad tendon injury, they followed everything by the letter to try & fix it (she was happy to keep him as a gentle hack)
Horse didn't respond well so tried turning him away for as long as he needed. Horse lost huge amounts of weight & was really struggling.
Vet was quite frank & told her in the best interests of the horse he should be PTS.
She was devastated & then when she called her insurance company she was told there would be no pay out as it didn't fulfill the BEVA guidelines. Her vet & a 2nd opinion both wrote statements stating that although the horse had been turned away it had shown to be a welfare issue as he couldn't manage it (possibly due to be in constant pain)
The word 'possibly' was what the insurance clung to & still refused to pay out as horse could live as a companion if correct management was found (despite the vets saying my friend had done everything they could for the horse)

She had him PTS with no pay out.
She had paid 7 years of premiums only claiming for a scan & bute at the start of his injury (about £400 after excess)
So unfair.
 
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