Keimanp
Well-Known Member
Hi all,
I am wondering if you can offer me any thoughts/advice, things to look out for.
Prince is 18.5years old a Welsh Section D and is a relatively bouncy, forward horse. Over the past couple of years I have been having trouble keeping his weight on. I initially put this down to having poor grazing but it persisted and after increasing forage with ad lib hay and still needing to feed I knew something was wrong.
Back in September I got the Vet out and had a range of blood tests done. The results of the test were most things were in range however the following were out
Biochemistry
Albumin 29g/l (should be between 30 - 42)
GGT 75iu/l (should be <49)
Endocrinology
ACTH 86.8pg/ml (seasonally adjusted should be <47)
Haematology
Monocytes 9% 0.59 (should be <0.5
Neutrophils 60.1% 3.97% (range 2.4 - 6.6 but a note saying shows slight left shift)
Clinical comments some evidence of inflamation here and a mild ggt increase of mild hepativ damage. The low albumin level sound be due to inflamation or perhaps intesinal disease, very modest change though.
high ACTH concentration suggestive of PPID. (extra notes recommend starting pergolide and and retesting)
Following this he was started on prascend 1mg tablet a day, he is now on day 26ish and there has been improvement in his attitude, he is a lot more like he used to be, happier in himself with more energy (I was expecting him to be more depressed and him to show some of the side effects). I had asked for a tapeworm test with the initial bloods but this was not done.
he was retested after two weeks on prascend (slightly sooner than I would have liked but I wanted the tapeworm doing aswell as he is underweight)
The second blood test (I asked for another complete blood screen but they haven't done haematology this time!) shows most to be within range as before and changes to the ones highlighted above as follows
Biochemistry
Albumin 32g/l (should be between 30 - 42) (were back in range!!)
GGT 78iu/l (should be <49) (this has gone up 3 points!)
Endocrinology
ACTH 40.9pg/ml (seasonally adjusted should be <47) back below what would be expected, medication working. (he didn't have a typical cushings coat but within a week he had a heavy coat shedding and he looks remarkably better)
and the tapeworm test
Serology
Tapeworm ELISA 0.902 (>0.700: high infection intensity)
He has lost some more weight in some areas (around his hips) although he does have a slightly better covering over his back/ribs. He will be wormed for tapeworm this weekend and I will then be moving him on to fresh pasture to try and break the worm cycle. He was last wormed for tapeworm last autumn time and has had worm counts done which have come back with very low egg counts)
I am however worried about the GGT increase and possible causes. Could the combined cushings and tapeworm be having an affect on his liver or could it be more sinister? Possible causes... liver disease, fluke worm? (the field is adjacent cattle that are very poorly managed) any others?
How long does it take for the tapeworm marker to drop back and return to lower levels? When should I do the next test for tapeworm to make sure it has gone!?
Apologies for the long post, but I would be very grateful for any thoughts/opinions/help
Robert
I am wondering if you can offer me any thoughts/advice, things to look out for.
Prince is 18.5years old a Welsh Section D and is a relatively bouncy, forward horse. Over the past couple of years I have been having trouble keeping his weight on. I initially put this down to having poor grazing but it persisted and after increasing forage with ad lib hay and still needing to feed I knew something was wrong.
Back in September I got the Vet out and had a range of blood tests done. The results of the test were most things were in range however the following were out
Biochemistry
Albumin 29g/l (should be between 30 - 42)
GGT 75iu/l (should be <49)
Endocrinology
ACTH 86.8pg/ml (seasonally adjusted should be <47)
Haematology
Monocytes 9% 0.59 (should be <0.5
Neutrophils 60.1% 3.97% (range 2.4 - 6.6 but a note saying shows slight left shift)
Clinical comments some evidence of inflamation here and a mild ggt increase of mild hepativ damage. The low albumin level sound be due to inflamation or perhaps intesinal disease, very modest change though.
high ACTH concentration suggestive of PPID. (extra notes recommend starting pergolide and and retesting)
Following this he was started on prascend 1mg tablet a day, he is now on day 26ish and there has been improvement in his attitude, he is a lot more like he used to be, happier in himself with more energy (I was expecting him to be more depressed and him to show some of the side effects). I had asked for a tapeworm test with the initial bloods but this was not done.
he was retested after two weeks on prascend (slightly sooner than I would have liked but I wanted the tapeworm doing aswell as he is underweight)
The second blood test (I asked for another complete blood screen but they haven't done haematology this time!) shows most to be within range as before and changes to the ones highlighted above as follows
Biochemistry
Albumin 32g/l (should be between 30 - 42) (were back in range!!)
GGT 78iu/l (should be <49) (this has gone up 3 points!)
Endocrinology
ACTH 40.9pg/ml (seasonally adjusted should be <47) back below what would be expected, medication working. (he didn't have a typical cushings coat but within a week he had a heavy coat shedding and he looks remarkably better)
and the tapeworm test
Serology
Tapeworm ELISA 0.902 (>0.700: high infection intensity)
He has lost some more weight in some areas (around his hips) although he does have a slightly better covering over his back/ribs. He will be wormed for tapeworm this weekend and I will then be moving him on to fresh pasture to try and break the worm cycle. He was last wormed for tapeworm last autumn time and has had worm counts done which have come back with very low egg counts)
I am however worried about the GGT increase and possible causes. Could the combined cushings and tapeworm be having an affect on his liver or could it be more sinister? Possible causes... liver disease, fluke worm? (the field is adjacent cattle that are very poorly managed) any others?
How long does it take for the tapeworm marker to drop back and return to lower levels? When should I do the next test for tapeworm to make sure it has gone!?
Apologies for the long post, but I would be very grateful for any thoughts/opinions/help
Robert