ANNEMIA/BILE DUCT INFECTION/POSSIBLE LIVER DAMAGE

[loveacob]

Has any one had a horse with any of these symptoms? I have a horse on loan who came in one day very distressed, sweating profusely with no stomache sounds at all. The vet thought at first it was colic but took a blood test and the next day said that the results indicated liver damage anemia and and infection in the bile duct which is similar to ragwort poisoning. Two weeks later and his blood levels have risen by 2% (32%) and there is a very slight decrease in the bile duct infection. I would really appreciate any help in this matter as I am really worried. He has good days and some not so good, where he seems to be depressed and totally indifferent to his surroundings. I am not riding him as I don't want to put too much strain on him but I am long reining him just to get him out and about. Thank you.

 

[Oldred]

Have you seen my post in Veterinary - Is your straw toxic? What is the management system for your horse? E.g. food, bedding, hay etc.

 

[Llwyncwn]

PM Star, our own HHO vet. A number of other users are very good too. Please let us know how he is

 

[loveacob]

Hi, Thank you for replying, I have not seen any of your posts, how do I find them? Shadow is stabled on straw, made by the livery owners. Hifi original, Baileys economy cubes, Feedmark Hardy Hoof, garlic and Procell for his Iron. He is out during the day and in at night. He has his good and bad days, on his bad days he just doesn't want to do anything and gets very stroppy when I try to get him ready to long rein. On his good days he just stands and lets me do anything I want (I am not really sure if this is good). The vet has not really told me much at all, with regards to working him, but I assume he will get very tired if asked too much of him.

 

[Oldred]

To find old posts you can do a search or click on the poster's name on the left and then click on 'show all user's posts'. There seems to have been a problem with my friend' straw (last year's of course) possibly with a toxin caused by a type of mould that gets into cereals - in this case barley straw. The straw is being tested at the moment and I will post results. If you can think of no other cause at all it might be worth trying switching bedding to shavings, changing hay supplier and making sure you use a good animal feed company's products, e.g. Spillers who do test for mycotoxins.

 

[loveacob]

Thank you I will certainly look into this.

 

[Rueysmum]

"on his bad days he just doesn't want to do anything and gets very stroppy when I try to get him ready to long rein. On his good days he just stands and lets me do anything I want (I am not really sure if this is good)"

I think if it were my horse I wouldn't be asking anything of him at all at the moment. At least he is still able to go out in the field during the day, so he is moving around a bit.

I wouldn't be asking him to long-rein because he probably isn't feeling up to it.