another mystery illness.... please not GS :(

MrVelvet said:
He also has a bucket of readigrass over night too - I have so many buckets and feeds I'm forgetting what I'm doing :(
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Write a daily planner and stick it on the wall outside his stable, get it laminated and get a black pen so you can add notes on a daily basis, I told you mrs, write it down to help you keep as calm and clear and focused as you can :D glad to hear your goody bags arrived from baileys this morning xx
 
Little update right from his stable! This is day 1 on his conditioning mix and oil - he had an hour or so in his paddock this morning. No poos yet... :/ eating well with lots of oil so hopefully poos tomorrow! Shaking seems to have subsided a bit now! :) started a diary today too!! With pics :) he looks worse in my head. His ribs are only just visible from a certain angle - its muscle he's lost most from his topline. Today is day 14!! Feeling - happy and hopeful!!!!!! Thankyou again for all you words of support .. It really helps having something to read whilst sat on this cold stable wall! ;) x
 
Little update right from his stable! This is day 1 on his conditioning mix and oil - he had an hour or so in his paddock this morning. No poos yet... :/ eating well with lots of oil so hopefully poos tomorrow! Shaking seems to have subsided a bit now! :) started a diary today too!! With pics :) he looks worse in my head. His ribs are only just visible from a certain angle - its muscle he's lost most from his topline. Today is day 14!! Feeling - happy and hopeful!!!!!! Thankyou again for all you words of support .. It really helps having something to read whilst sat on this cold stable wall! ;) x .. Also - he still isn't sweating or showing signs of difficulty swallowing! Still greedy too :) yay!
 
so glad he is doing well. Ellie has now been ellie for 11 days and had a down day today she is quite depressed today although still managed her bucket feed and some grass no visible signs of poo's as she is outside at vets advice
 
My vet told me that Mr V could do as he pleased! He is happy out so at first he was out all the time - now he won't eat his hard feed if he's out so he has to come in so he can concentrate. I started using veg oil and yesterday he did his first soft poo!! So defo worth doing if your not already! Literally as much as you can pack in per feed! If you want to PM me your email I can talk to you about how we're doing and vice versa :) I can't PM coz I'm on my phone! X
 
Hi mrv, glad to hear things are going in the right direction. My mare is currently on day 38. She still can't/ won't eat hay/haylage/short chops/beets but is very content with dry feeds which she swills down with a drink. Funnily enough if you offer a wet feed she turns her nose up. To give you an idea of quantities, she is a 16.1 wb, she is currently on 4k build up mix, 2k leisure mix, 2 k alfalfa pellets, 1.8k equi jewel, 600g topspec. I also leave with a various array of forage replacers but as a general rule doesn't eat these! If you wanted to have a chat feel free to pm me. Any sign of rhinitis sicca
 
Well today is day 16! Last night we had at least 4 proper poos and lots of wee - he's eating 4 meals a day each one 3 scoops of sugarbeet, 1 scoop of dengie apple, 2 scoops of baileys conditioning mix, pink powder, veg oil and safe and sound for chewing :) over night he has a big feed and then a bucket of readigrass and another of something fibrey mixed with sugarbeet :) I'm also adding baileys outshine too his tea time feed. I'm really hoping things are on the up!!!! :) his symptoms now are - still tucked up, lost a bit of a condition, slight muscle shakes when he's been still for a bit, won't eat hay/haylage or a lot of the forage replacers.... Do you think its too early for him to start getting better? Vet tomorrow to do heart rate and listen to gut sound etc :) glad you mare is doing well too.... Dry food is better than no food! :) I can't PM as I'm on my phone but if you PM me your email I can email you :)
 
MrVelvet said:
Well today is day 16! Last night we had at least 4 proper poos and lots of wee - he's eating 4 meals a day each one 3 scoops of sugarbeet, 1 scoop of dengie apple, 2 scoops of baileys conditioning mix, pink powder, veg oil and safe and sound for chewing :) over night he has a big feed and then a bucket of readigrass and another of something fibrey mixed with sugarbeet :) I'm also adding baileys outshine too his tea time feed. I'm really hoping things are on the up!!!! :) his symptoms now are - still tucked up, lost a bit of a condition, slight muscle shakes when he's been still for a bit, won't eat hay/haylage or a lot of the forage replacers.... Do you think its too early for him to start getting better? Vet tomorrow to do heart rate and listen to gut sound etc :) glad you mare is doing well too.... Dry food is better than no food! :) I can't PM as I'm on my phone but if you PM me your email I can email you :)
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Once he stops the shakes and isn't tucked up, plus starts to put weight on, then he will have turned the corner - all sounding good though. You are so lucky he will eat! Not surprised he doesn't like hay - gully wouldn't eat it for a long time x
 
Eek :/ so basically he can still go downhill? I know I have been lucky with this - someone is definitely watching over him! How is gully now? Does he have a sensitive gut? What is he fed now? What's the aftercare like? Xx
 
MrVelvet said:
Eek :/ so basically he can still go downhill? I know I have been lucky with this - someone is definitely watching over him! How is gully now? Does he have a sensitive gut? What is he fed now? What's the aftercare like? Xx
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I don't know Mr V - it doesn't sound like he is going to go downhill, but I don't have experience enough to give you an answer. Why don't you chat to the EGS at Edinburgh Dick? They are really helpful and can give you far more informed answers on that sort of Q than me. All I know is that when Gully finally recovered, all of the symptoms, rhinitis sicca, shakes, sweating, tucking up, HR etc had gone or were normal.

Gully is great now. He suffered from a slight lack of stamina for the year or so after he recovered and he tends to run a bit 'hot' if you like (thermoregulation is affected by GS) as he perhaps sweats a bit earlier than other horses would, but other than that, he is fine.

He doesn't get fed anything special, and though he eats hay, I don't think he is a keen on it as he was before GS. He prefers grass. I always feed with lots of water in his mix and tbh, if I feed hay ad lib in the winter, he can live on not very much at all - keeping weight off, as usual for a warmblood, is my main concern!

What I do make sure is that at all times of the year, I have a lick in the field (horselyx usually), so that I know that they always have access to a full range of nutrients and I try not to harrow the field more than once or twice a year.

I'm sure you have realised, but that is him (dark bay) in my signature, so you can judge for yourself how well he is!
 
I left an answerphone message at Edinburgh Grass Sickness place as it was advised by my vet to speak to them too. Just waiting for a reply - since I changed his feed I am seeing results. I have ordered some rugs incase I need them over winter as I've heard about the thermoregulation being affected. I've also made plans for summer - to feed hay and not have him out 24/7 etc etc.... Its helping me to plan for the future! :) Gully is gorgeous.... A really heartwarming inspiring story! Thankyou for all your help - I can't tell you how much I appreciate it! :) vet is coming tomorrow.. Hopefully he will be pleased and can tell me he's getting better on the inside too! :)
 
Things are going good thankyou :) vet is impressed at gut movements! He's eating lots, seems much happier - doesn't sulk at the back when he's in! Muscle tremors seem to have reduced in severity and poos are almost those of a normal horse! Vet has warned me not to get too excited as the disease can be full of ups and downs... But I need to stay positive! I also think he's started to put a bit of weight back on! Happy meeeee!!!!! :-)
 
Sounds brilliant - in my experience, when they look like they are on the way back up, they are on the way back up! Fingers crossed.

Just to give you another boost, you do know that once they have had the disease, they don't seem to get it again.....I stand to be corrected if anyone knows of a horse getting GS for a second time, but that was the general wisdom given to me by my vet and the Dick Vet EGS fund at the time of Gully's disease.

xx
 
this is fantastic news mr v needs to keep up the good work. ellie has also been improving although has had a few down days along the way but now having more up days than down. muscle tremor also not as sever poos getting there still would like a wee bit more but wee are getting there and vet is happy with the progress
 
Well I'm not so happy with him today - his actual symptoms do seem to be getting better but he's losing weight despite getting all his feeds of alfa oil, baileys cond mix, mollichop, sugarbeet and soya oil :( he looks no worse than a RSPCA poster which is quite heartbreaking to see xx
 
Yeah I guess so :/ he just seems to be losing more though! But your right the symptoms are the most important ones! I'm just knackered! Had a poorly toddler, I've had a sickness bug too so this week has just taken it out of me and I feel run down - I'm sure things will seem brighter nxt week :-) x
 
Nothing useful to add. Just to say I have been following your story and send best wishes for his recovery x
 
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