Any thoughts or ideas (horse health related)

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Monkeymoo

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Please can I rack your brains because I am stumped....

My boy (homebred 9 year old) is off his food - which is unheard of for him, he is the greediest thing of four legs!
He started not eating and generally looking miserable last Monday prior to which he was eating okay but very lethargic in his work. Vet came and took bloods which all came back within normal limits but slightly low red cell count. Temperature of 40.2. They advised to put him on bute for 6 days and see how it went and I also gave him propell to increase his red cell count.

After a couple of days of bute he was eating better but not with any great gusto like he normally does. He fininshed his bute on Sunday and now he's off his food again and not being his usual cheeky self but not quite as miserable as before. The vet has advised feeding him aloe vera juice - which I have to syringe down his neck as he isn't eating. (This is the horse that will eat his feed with bute in no problem!) If no improvement then to get him scoped.

I haven't changed any of his feed or hay (we make our own weed free hay). He does have quite restricted turnout as he suffers from very bad sweet itch but is in a stable that is 30 foot by 15 foot and prefers to be in than out.



So... any ideas or thoughts greatfully received. I have no experience of ulcers or any gastric problems - do his symptoms point towards these from any of your experiences? Could it be something else? Does the fact that he was eating whilst on bute indicate that it is some way pain related?

Thank you for taking time to read this and any help you can offer. I am genuinely quite worried about him :-(
 
I think that your vet needs to do more tests and take it a bit more seriously, is his temp. still high? that, with the bloods would indicate infection somewhere to me. If he ate on bute that indicates reduced pain and inflammation so he was more comfortable to eat.

I would think he needed anti-biotics rather than aloe vera, how are his other signs, is he drinking, passing normal droppings, it sounds gastric to me but more than that I have no idea but I would not be waiting if he is still the same.
 
A friend's horse showed similar symptoms a few weeks ago - off his food and high temperature indicating an infection of some sort.

Treatment was series of antibiotic injections followed by antibiotic powders.
The horse lost quite a bit of weight in a short space of time but once the antibiotics done their job he started to eat normally again and appears to be OK.
 
Thanks for your replies.

His temperature is back down to 38.1. He's drinking less than normal. His droppings are a bit more "nugget-like" (probably due to drinking less) and he's urinating ok but more frequently - his kidney reading came back ok from the blood sample.

I think basically I'm going to have to push to get more tests done sooner rather than "waiting to see how it goes" (!)

Thanks again.
 
I haven't actually had a look at his teeth. Had the EDT at the end of january and they were ok then - but alot can change in 5/6 months.

Will have a look...
 
Have you checked his sheath? He may have a build up of Smegma (a Bean) causing urethral compression/discomfort and urethritis....which would fit the clinical picture...especially as he had an improvement in symptoms with the use of Bute. If this is the case, a low grade Urinary Tract Infection, caused by back pressure due to partial obstruction of the urethra by the Bean, could be the cause of the raised temperature. Any sort of raised temp, even a low-grade one, will usually put most horses (and people) off their chuck.
Just something to consider....and hope you get to the bottom of it
 
Can i ask what about ulcers,
earlier this year my mare went down with similar symptoms but kept lying down as well, no actual colic but totally off and showing a fever. Her first blood came back abnormal so thought to be a virus, then given bute, and returned couple of months later with abnormal white cells, again. It turned out eventually after several tests and investigations, to be ulcers.

Good luck
 
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be positive said:
I think that your vet needs to do more tests and take it a bit more seriously, is his temp. still high? that, with the bloods would indicate infection somewhere to me. If he ate on bute that indicates reduced pain and inflammation so he was more comfortable to eat.

I would think he needed anti-biotics rather than aloe vera, how are his other signs, is he drinking, passing normal droppings, it sounds gastric to me but more than that I have no idea but I would not be waiting if he is still the same.
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His white cell count was normal it says (thats the cells that indicate infection) Red cell count being off could indicate a few things. Maybe try some red cell? That worked for my mare and she sounded similar. She also had some rest, her white cell count was high though as she had a virus and a secondary infection somewhere, could have been resp but no obvs signs (=high white cell count).

She had 8 weeks off but came right after that.
 
The problem with banging Red Cell and Propell and other such iron rich supplements in is that it's highly unlikely to be dietary anaemia.

Dietary anaemia is usually a copper issue - not iron. If you bang them full of iron supplements you just rob the body of copper and zinc and you overload them.

And they can't get rid of iron very easily.

I'd be looking at the causes of the anaemia before using special supplements.
 
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