All the horses on my yard have Azoturia?!

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stacey222

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All the horses on my yard have Azoturia?! They have been out of work for 2 months now recovering but their blood still has not come back down to normal levels. They are all being fed on a low energy diet and being fed the supplement of selenium and vitamin E. They are not on rich grass or haylege. One of the horses we have had for 2 years and never tied up but we brought a new horse onto the yard and since then they have been tying up! They are all Appaloosa's with distant related bloodlines, I just don't understand why they are all tying up, please help me... all ideas welcome!!
 
How weird! I have never heard of a whole yard getting it!

Off the top of my head, it sounds like there might be an environmental trigger. Can you get the feeds, grass and water analysed in case something pops up? Have there been any gas leaks or similar that may have affected the air (thinking out of the box here!)?
 
my initial thoughts were that they werent tying up as such, but that there is some underlying condition that is contagious - one of the symptoms of which, may be tying up.

there have been some odd viruses out there recently...

i got this email recently and have heard of a few with it unfortunately.. it might not be related, but just incase.. one of the ones i heard of had symptoms like tying up.ive also heard of another yard where the 2 ponies that had it,are recovering.

Would you mind publicising this to BHS members in Highland South, please? We have unfortunately had three cases of atypical myoglobinuria, a fatal disease of young grazing horses, within our region and we would like to raise awareness of the disease.

Three horses have been destroyed after a diagnosis of atypical myoglobinuria was reached by Kessock Equine Vets this autumn and early winter. The signs include stiffness, depression with a low-head carriage, a high heart rate and a high breathing rate. Very dark brown urine is produced and the animals eventually collapse and can't get back up onto their feet. There has been an outbreak of this disease throughout Western Europe and over 200 horses have died. The disease mainly affects young stock, grazing permanent pasture with close proximity to water courses, such as lochs and rivers. A link has been suggested with pastures which have lots of deciduous trees and hence leaves on the ground. Prevention advice is limited to providing shelter and supplementary feeds when the weather is damp or wet. Providing stabling for part of the day, also helps reduce the risk. We have placed a notification on our web site at www.kessockequinevets.co.uk and more detailed information can be found at www.myopathieatypique.be.

Suffice to say, that this is a very serious disease and early treatment is essential for any hope of success. If owners notice stiffness in a horse or pony that looks under-the-weather, they should contact their vet immediately.
 
There's a post further down this forum about a pony which collapsed and wouldn't get up. The poster goes on to say some others had been similarly affected, according to the vet. Didn't take any notice of the location (if it was mentioned).
 
just by some slim chance - you don't feed bran to keep the calories down, do you? Probably a dumb question if you know about azoturia, as you probably do.
 
"It is known, for example, that herpes virus infection can predispose horses to azoturia, and so it would seem possible that a virus of some type might have been involved here ...."

Google.
 
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