Ataxia

Sorry, our 31 yr old didn't recover.

In Spring '13, just before all that disruptive snow, she appeared to have a problem with one back hoof, neither farrier nor vet could find an abscess, we had x-rays and nothing showed up in the foot. We kept her on bute for about 6 weeks, they had to stay in for a week in the worst of the snow but for the rest of the time she was out in a small paddock, so that she wasn't harried by the others. There were small improvements but over time she deteriorated, the nasty cold, wet weather didn't help. The vet and farrier were involved throughout.

Then she was struggling to know where her back feet were when she walked down hill, which is unavoidable here! Vet came out immediately and thought that she had a tumour in either spine or brain. The decision was taken to pts that afternoon.

I hope yours has a better outcome.
 
How severe is the ataxia? Has there been any gradual progression or was it a bolt from the blue? i.e. could it be the result of an accident?

Obviously you need to consult with your vet but 5 years on, we are certain that the diagnosis of arthritis-caused Wobblers in my then-18 year old (same as yours, effectively) was incorrect and that his "moderate" ataxia was actually the result of a trauma. I am aware of a bad fall he had on the yard which is the likely culprit. He as tied up, slipped and his shoulder crashed into the corner of the feed room door way, which was breeze block, and his back end went into the feed room. He ended up with C3 out of alignment and also had C1 issues - I believe the problems at C1 were the cause of the ataxia. I don't disagree that he has arthritis in his spine; I saw the x rays, but given he hasn't shown any signs of ataxia for over 2 years now...

Bute and box rest did nothing. We have used turnout (accident in August, neurological issue identified in September, diagnosed in November, and it was that horrific winter we had so it was arena turnout and stabling until Spring) alongside Bowen and SCENAR. He still has other issues, but I'd say he recovered fully from the ataxia.
 
I cared for a pony its 40s that came in totally ataxic behind when it had been perfectly ok 12 hours earlier. I asked its owner to call the vet and said I was happy to agree to PTS. Vet didn't see it for a week (now you know why I was caring for the poor little soul) and it was PTS immediately. I had tried it with some bute but there was no discernible difference. It was never obviously in pain and seem its usual cheerful self with good appetite etc.
 
Penny Less said:
This has come on within the last 10 days, 25 year old horse. Anyone any experience of horse recovering from this ?
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They gave my 10 year old gelding finadyne as a first line treatment when he had his first episode of ataxia. Its a powerfull anti inflammatory and pain relieving drug. His ataxia was caused by a fall in the field, onto his neck. He had xrays from the vets but unfortunately the portable xray machine they used wasn't powerful enough and gave a false reading - the neck muscles are very thick. He was eventually diagnosed with something else completely but on my insistence was eventually referred to Liverpool where they gave him xrays of his neck using a very large powerful machine and he was diagnosed with CVM/Wobblers.

He was pts because he was very ataxic, Grade 3 - 4 wobblers grading. His spinal column instead of being 51mm was 17mm in places and was compressing on the nerves causes standing one front foot on the other, and loss of awareness of limb placement.

I would get your horse refferred to a veterinary hospital with a powerful xray machine for a diagnosis of how bad the problem is before you can discuss any possible way forwards. My understanding of the situation is that sometimes the consultant at the hospital will do a myleogram (dye injected into cord) to see exactly where the compression is sited, but this is normally where the site of compression cant be located. This is under a general anaethetic so obviously carries its own risks.

Sometimes ataxia is caused by chemical spraying of crops which the horse then either digests directly or the spray is airborne and carried on the wind to the horses field where it is then digested. Eating lots of clover (think its red) causes ataxia, as does the disease EPM, tetanus and botulism. Also horses with EHV (Equine Herpes Virus) will display ataxia. I think bracken poisiioning and lead posioning can also cause ataxia so there are many causes.

However in your horses case if the vet says its because of compression in the spinal cord then my guess is your horse has had a fall in the field or maybe got cast or banged his head in the stable causing the calcification which then builds up putting pressure on the cord and nerves associated with the cord, thus making the horse ataxic.

I hope you get a clearer answer for your horse but I truly think your way forward is with comprehensive xrays to decide his future treatment, if there is any available. Sorry I can't be more positive. I hope you get it sorted.
 
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I´ve been looking for information of the possible coincidences that could exist between what you say that you observe in your horse and what your veterinarian thinks that it can be (Wobbler's syndrome, since already they have commented previously in another case). Wobbler's syndrome consists of the fact that the vertebral channel becomes closer and it produces the compression and / or injury of the spinal marrow.

The symptoms that are detected are descoordinación and ataxia, and loss of the propiocepción. The detection of this symptomatology as prematurely as possible is the key to achieve that a horse with this serious problem could recover.

The symptoms that can be observed when the syndrome starts being established are, since the horse has days in which one does not think well, in general, up to sudden problems of weakness, light ataxia, that the horse moves simultaneously both extremities of the same side on having gone, appearance of muscular spasms … The horse continues being alert, but these first problems can owe to the initial phases of Wobbler's syndrome.

There seems that it exists certain genetic predisposition to suffer this problem, so this one is another important factor that you can bear in mind according to the precedents. Animals of rapid growth also have certain trend to suffer it. If it is detected in initial phases, both in colts and in adults, a managing of the diet can help to that it does not go to any more (in colts there are studies that affirm that to stop the speed of growth controls the problem). Also it is possible to carry out a surgical intervention that relieves the pressure on the spinal marrow when the vertebral channel already has begun to become closer, but his efficiency depends on the speed with which it is realized, before the marrow has suffered irreversible injuries.
There is an article in TheHorse.com that indicates a simple neurological test that the owners of the horses can do, periodically, to see if his animals do not have any problem of this type:
- Pressing on the back of the animal and seeing if it reacts.
- Stretching of the tail towards both sides and verify that the horse does force to avoid it.
- Making walk the horse backward and see if it drags the hoof or if it does a too long pause between step and step.
- Doing the horse walks in a closed circle: if one of his extremities of the exterior part of the circle remains much opened or journalled on one of those of the interior part, it can be a symptom of a problem.
- Crossing the previous extremities of the animal and seeing how much is late in uncrossing them. If it is late too much, it could be a problem.

I hope to have helped yourself with my answer!
 
Thanks so much everyone. Mariangeles vet did all tests you mention. Today I can see a small improvement so am crossing my fingers !
We decided not to go down the transporting to horsepital etc, due to horses age, and in the end theres not a lot that can be done anyway, probably except bute up, which we are doing.
 
Penny Less said:
Thanks so much everyone. Mariangeles vet did all tests you mention. Today I can see a small improvement so am crossing my fingers !
We decided not to go down the transporting to horsepital etc, due to horses age, and in the end theres not a lot that can be done anyway, probably except bute up, which we are doing.
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I hate to be negative and I really hope your horse is okay, but just be aware that with this type of condition horses can be great one minute and ataxic the next, the condition varies, and like people who suffer arthritis sometimes they may have good days and bad days. My horse was competing BSJA discovery level in April 2014 and although he had a weird canter, and was PTS 4th June 2014.
 
Well after the improvement for a week or so today she is wobbly on the other hind leg! Things not being helped by the fact that the fields are on a slope and the ground is sodden and slippery. I am wondering if I should stable her for the time being. I have in the back of my mind that she will deteriorate and wouldn't let her get to the stage when she couldn't get up or had to lean on something to stay upright !
Life would be simpler ( but lacking) without animals, my dog is not well either!
 
Penny Less said:
Well after the improvement for a week or so today she is wobbly on the other hind leg! Things not being helped by the fact that the fields are on a slope and the ground is sodden and slippery. I am wondering if I should stable her for the time being. I have in the back of my mind that she will deteriorate and wouldn't let her get to the stage when she couldn't get up or had to lean on something to stay upright !
Life would be simpler ( but lacking) without animals, my dog is not well either!
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Yes, the 40 year old I described earlier seemed to improve a little and then went to leaning in the opposite direction. I used to try to give her muscles some relief by propping up her quarters myself and bracing myself on the fence ( she was only little) while she ate her feed - her muscles used to shake with the effort of trying to balance herself.
 
Penny Less said:
Well after the improvement for a week or so today she is wobbly on the other hind leg! Things not being helped by the fact that the fields are on a slope and the ground is sodden and slippery. I am wondering if I should stable her for the time being. I have in the back of my mind that she will deteriorate and wouldn't let her get to the stage when she couldn't get up or had to lean on something to stay upright !
Life would be simpler ( but lacking) without animals, my dog is not well either!
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Stabling is just going to be putting off the enevitable. I would still go down the route of xrays personally. It must be dreadful for them as a flight animal not to be able to use their legs correctly. Maybe hire a large lorry without a partition and well bedded with straw. If she does go down at least she won't hurt herself. I just can't see how you can progress without a diagnosis. And like I was in your position, the thought of finding my horse recumbent and unable to rise was a bridge too far for me and the consultant.
 
Applecart, what do you mean progress? The vet has told me his diagnosis ,what would be achieved by travelling quite a long distance for xrays as the outcome will be the same. Also horse is on loan to me so not my decision ultimately
 
I had a very old pony mare (age unknown, but likely around 30) who was eventually PTS due to ataxia. This was only the last straw though, on top of poor dentition (mare needed lots of sloppy feed buckets) and had Cushings, which was medicated, but led to loss of appetite. The onset was very gradual, but more noticeable when she was stressed. She had lost proprioception in her front feet and started stumbling a lot and dropping to her knees. I decided to call it a day then. She had no in-depth investigation, but she'd always had a bit of a kink in her neck/spine, and the vet figured the ataxia may have been due to arthritis of her spine starting to affect the nerves. He said I could keep her going a bit longer by providing a non-slip flat surface, but considering this mare didn't like people and herd life was everything to her, this seemed pointless, particularly in late autumn.
Hope your horse's case turns out to be treatable!
 
Interesting to see this thread.

I have a 7 year old Falabella diagnosed with Ataxia around Feb this year. My vet thinks it's been caused by an accident or trauma to his spine somewhere at some point in his life. I'd only had him around a month when I noticed something wasn't right with him.
 
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