Bad blood results - please help!

[anon1997]

I’m wondering if anyone can help me in my desperate attempt to save my beautiful grey pony who I have loved since I was 12.
I was away on holiday 3 weeks ago and came back to ride him and he was extremely slow and not his usual self. When I turned him out that evening he was struggling to lean down to graze and looked a bit weak, so I called the vet and stayed with him for an hour and he managed to graze and the vet came the next day.
We have since had him xrayed, blood tested and then ultrasounded. His blood results were poor and the ultrasound showed inflammation of the colon and the blood results showed liver enzyme issues.
We then put him on a course of antibiotics and tested again a week later. To our disappointment this GGT is still at 384 but now he is showing to be anemic with low iron and low rbc. SAA 349. Vet has asked us to put him on an iron supplement as he is seeming very tired and weak as the days go on. Vet also wanted to do a 5 day panacur guard to rule out any larvae. His bilirubin and bile all ok.
He isn’t eating his hard feed anymore because we have been tampering with it so much and he is not very trusting. Maybe if I changed him to something different he would show interest but he is sick of us syringing him with things at the moment. He is still happy eating grass but has been licking mud.
My poor pony is looking sad and I can’t see him suffer for too long but I am desperate to get him right as I never expected this to happen. Before I went away we were hacking as normal and I am so shocked and heartbroken at this situation please help!

 

[SEL]

Have you tested for tapeworm? What liver supplements is he on?

Sorry to hear he's so unwell - have you checked the field for any plants which could cause a problem?

 

[motherof2beasts!]

Oh no how sad for you both . Can you speak to trinity consultants I had a really good liver supplement think it was called L94. You’re doing all the right things.

My gelding is good at sussing hidden meds but will take bute etc in a jam sandwich , not very healthy but worked a treat.

Fingers crossed for you both

 

[anon1997]

Interestingly we did recently, just before I went on holiday so I didn’t get time to address it. He did have tape but our vet wanted us to treat with panacur first and then when we called west gate labs they said we would have to wait 4 weeks from the panacur to treat for tape. They did advise that his result wasn’t deadly but it was high enough that he needs treating

 

[anon1997]

Oh no how sad for you both . Can you speak to trinity consultants I had a really good liver supplement think it was called L94. You’re doing all the right things.

My gelding is good at sussing hidden meds but will take bute etc in a jam sandwich , not very healthy but worked a treat.

Fingers crossed for you both

Thank you, I have just emailed them actually so I am hoping they will come back with something! It is just heartbreaking watching them be unwell

 

[ycbm]

I'm sorry he's so ill and it's even sadder that he was your childhood friend, but how old is your pony anon?

ETA I've just seen on another thread that he's 23, too young to accept defeat yet, I hope you get him back on track.

 

[anon1997]

I'm sorry he's so ill and it's even sadder that he was your childhood friend, but how old is your pony anon?

He’s 23 now

 

[anon1997]

I'm sorry he's so ill and it's even sadder that he was your childhood friend, but how old is your pony anon?

ETA I've just seen on another thread that he's 23, too young to accept defeat yet, I hope you get him back on track.

Thank you so much I am praying for a miracle as before this he was happy in work no other issues :-(

 

[SEL]

Thank you so much I am praying for a miracle as before this he was happy in work no other issues :-(

L94 is great stuff and I would have recommended it too.

I have treated horses for tapeworm straight after panacur so it's worth checking in with your vet given how poorly yours is. The saliva test shows the antibodies but a friend had a moderate score with her mare that suddenly started bolting - went back to sane once the saliva test was negligible. It made me wonder if some tapeworm attach themselves particularly painfully.

I hope you get to the bottom of everything - it's awful when they're ill

 

[Orangina]

Sorry your pony isn't doing great right now.
Definitely try some really appealing feeds, for some reason mine go crazy for Bailey's Ease and Excel (,no idea why, i tend to only feed straights but someone else has some and a grabbed some to entice a pony and it went crazy!), couls you try something like that with some Pro-Pell Plus?

 

[anon1997]

Sorry your pony isn't doing great right now.
Definitely try some really appealing feeds, for some reason mine go crazy for Bailey's Ease and Excel (,no idea why, i tend to only feed straights but someone else has some and a grabbed some to entice a pony and it went crazy!), couls you try something like that with some Pro-Pell Plus?

To add to my woes, my pony suffers with choke - seemingly unrelated to this as he hasn’t had it in a while now but we’ve had about 3 experiences in the past 10 years so he can only really eat sloppy mash, I have just ordered a sample of saracens veteran mash to try

 

[anon1997]

L94 is great stuff and I would have recommended it too.

I have treated horses for tapeworm straight after panacur so it's worth checking in with your vet given how poorly yours is. The saliva test shows the antibodies but a friend had a moderate score with her mare that suddenly started bolting - went back to sane once the saliva test was negligible. It made me wonder if some tapeworm attach themselves particularly painfully.

I hope you get to the bottom of everything - it's awful when they're ill

This is really interesting as I am really keen to treat tape aswell so I know I can say I ruled that out but my vet views unlikely in this case to be causing him to be so unwell. I will ask him if I can give him it as I know you can get one type of wormer than only treats tape. I have been to see him today and he looks a little brighter than yesterday but he is now 24 hours into his painkiller (which we took him off to help his liver) but hopefully if we can address some of the other issues in the mean time I am prepared to give him that

 

[Comet1]

As others have mentioned, L94 is really great. I’ve used it quite a few times on my gelding for various different things, mostly after he’s appeared run down after an allergic reaction. I also use it twice a year at coat change time.

In respect of hiding his medicines in feed, many horses seem to love Saracens feed and it comes in all sorts of flavours. If he’s not restricted what he’s allowed to eat then they might be worth a try. I know some people don’t like their feeds due to some of the ingredients, but I sort of think when you’re desperate anything is worth a go! My horse is fed on Saracens shape up and does really well on it. They also do a small packets of their recovery mash which are about £7ish so not too much to waste if he doesn’t like it (you don’t have to make it super mashy/sloppy if you don’t want).

ETA just seen you’ve mentioned mash (sorry, missed that first time). I find their feeds great for fussy ones, so hopefully that’ll entice him.

 

[anon1997]

As others have mentioned, L94 is really great. I’ve used it quite a few times on my gelding for various different things, mostly after he’s appeared run down after an allergic reaction. I also use it twice a year at coat change time.

In respect of hiding his medicines in feed, many horses seem to love Saracens feed and it comes in all sorts of flavours. If he’s not restricted what he’s allowed to eat then they might be worth a try. I know some people don’t like their feeds due to some of the ingredients, but I sort of think when you’re desperate anything is worth a go! My horse is fed on Saracens shape up and does really well on it. They also do a small packets of their recovery mash which are about £7ish so not too much to waste if he doesn’t like it (you don’t have to make it super mashy/sloppy if you don’t want).

ETA just seen you’ve mentioned mash (sorry, missed that first time). I find their feeds great for fussy ones, so hopefully that’ll entice him.

Thank you very much for the helpful suggestions. He is usually on a low sugar mash as we try to keep him light in fear of laminitis but as you said, being poorly we are happy to give him anything he will actually eat. He has lost weight and condition being poorly so he could definitely afford to eat what he likes at the moment. Off to the horse shop I go!

 

[Little Loli]

Spiller senior mash smells of apples. It defintely smells enticing. Might be worth trying.

 

[Lucky Snowball]

Spillers speedy mash smells nice to me. I’d advise asking friends for samples of their feed. Everyone will be pleased to be able to help, try anything. Cubes can be mashed with hot water. I hope your pony picks up soon. Is the vet aware if there are liver fluke in the area, might just be worth checking. Good luck.

 

[holeymoley]

Another vote for L94. Good luck

 

[anon1997]

Spillers speedy mash smells nice to me. I’d advise asking friends for samples of their feed. Everyone will be pleased to be able to help, try anything. Cubes can be mashed with hot water. I hope your pony picks up soon. Is the vet aware if there are liver fluke in the area, might just be worth checking. Good luck.

Thank you, I am going to pick up some spillers senior mash as my mum recalls giving it to him before and he ate it. I don’t know much about liver fluke? How is it treated? I will ask him

 

[HollyWoozle]

I’d also try Spillers Senior super mash to get him eating again. All of ours love it.

 

[SO1]

He needs to be treated for tapeworm. I had a new forest that got bad tapeworm and he was really ill with it so much so he was hospitalised as they thought it was either a heart problem or stomach cancer. Treated the tapeworm and was back to his normal self within a week.

The whole herd was tested and they were all infestated but he was the only one that was really poorly.

Vets could not believe it was the tapeworm that was making him so ill.

 

[anon1997]

He needs to be treated for tapeworm. I had a new forest that got bad tapeworm and he was really ill with it so much so he was hospitalised as they thought it was either a heart problem or stomach cancer. Treated the tapeworm and was back to his normal self within a week.

The whole herd was tested and they were all infestated but he was the only one that was really poorly.

Vets could not believe it was the tapeworm that was making him so ill.

Thank you I really want to, do you have any advice on giving this after the panacur 5 day guard. West gate have said no and need to wait a month but not sure I can wait that long , my vet definitely doesn’t think it’s that but I don’t want to have missed it

 

[anon1997]

Thanks all for feed suggestions, he has just eaten his first bucket of spillers senior super mash so crossing my fingers we can get back to him eating his hard feed

 

[SEL]

Thank you I really want to, do you have any advice on giving this after the panacur 5 day guard. West gate have said no and need to wait a month but not sure I can wait that long , my vet definitely doesn’t think it’s that but I don’t want to have missed it

I've definitely treated after panacur on vet instructions - we went straight to Equest Pramox but I would use something else given your horses history. Ask your vet rather than Westgate.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

In regards to syringing I use the Dr Oatker peppermint essence to help disguise medication both my horses will take a syringe happily now.

Also feed wise the saracen recovery mash is loved by most horses and its great for getting extra water into them as well.

 

[Domirati]

Hi, I feel your pain. I have a 26 year old Exmoor who has also tested dangerously high for liver enzymes this year. She has had Hepalyte, prescribed my vet (ate the first bottle then refused to eat any more, have two bottles if you want to try it), no change in her readings. Steroids, which she refused to eat. I put her onto Spillers Senior mash as she had dropped weight and seems to enjoy it. Just started her on milk thistle seeds which she is currently eating . I did a liver fluke test with Westgate which came back clear.

Another thread on here suggested that poor quality hay can cause problems which would fit with her as our hay last year was baled a day too soon due to torrential rain being forecast and was a bit musty.

 

[anon1997]

Hi, I feel your pain. I have a 26 year old Exmoor who has also tested dangerously high for liver enzymes this year. She has had Hepalyte, prescribed my vet (ate the first bottle then refused to eat any more, have two bottles if you want to try it), no change in her readings. Steroids, which she refused to eat. I put her onto Spillers Senior mash as she had dropped weight and seems to enjoy it. Just started her on milk thistle seeds which she is currently eating . I did a liver fluke test with Westgate which came back clear.

Another thread on here suggested that poor quality hay can cause problems which would fit with her as our hay last year was baled a day too soon due to torrential rain being forecast and was a bit musty.

Thank you for your comment, it is slightly refreshing to know I am not the only one going through this. I am hoping to try the supplement from trinity consultants as others have suggested. Now he is back on his painkillers he is looking brighter and has eaten the spillers mash again today which is important as I want him to have his strength.

Would you mind sharing your GGT level for comparison and is your pony’s SAA level high? If you would prefer to share privately please message me I would be interested to know for comparison. I agree about the hay, we have had some ropey bales recently but he has always been on hay due to my worries about his sugar levels however after some research I have changed him to to haysoft Timothy haylage which he seems to be enjoying. I had to change hay immediately as it is one thing I was worried may have affected him and he had recently completely stopped eating it.

As long as my boy is eating and is happy in the field (which he is) I am going to keep trying. The despair comes from feeling like he’s looking weak but if the painkillers are helping I will keep going. I hope your pony recovers soon.

 

[Domirati]

Hi, happy to share results but can’t find the email so I will contact the vet tomorrow and ask them to send again as I can’t remember the exact figures. She had had two blood tests with a month apart with no change but I have decided just to keep an eye on her, so far she seems quite happy but she is unridden. Her symptoms were similar to mild colic and just being quiet, lying down in the field, not eating (she is on restricted grazing so makes the most of her time out), drinking a lot of water and scouring she is a feisty little thing, I just knew she wasn’t right. Seems to have picked up on the mash and is ruling the roost again. she continues to do so.

 

[anon1997]

Hi everyone, me again. Does anyone have any advice how I can thicken up the L94 for my syringing. He is eating his feed again (thankfully) but I don’t want to put him off it again so I’m sticking to syringing the meds, however we lose some as it’s too runny and he spits it out. Have tried mixing with yoghurt but still losing some, thanks!

Also - vet has ordered us a tapeworm only wormer so getting that addressed too thanks to those who suggested it. Vet coming back next week to take bloods again for review.

 

[angel7]

"Thick and easy" is a tasteless power you mix with any fluid to make it thick. You can make it any consistancy you want - wallpaper paste or porridge like, £8 off amazon. Used for people with swallowing difficulties, should be ok for horses.

 

[Domirati]

As requested Anon1997. As you can see her levels are/were very high. I tried to sneak milk thistle into her feed and she is now refusing to eat it!