Blood test result - can anyone shed further light on this..

squiz22

squiz22

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Hi All,

I've got a horse that has just seen 'off' since the end of the event season. He's had one thing after another with the most recent being an abscess on this throat which gave us all a strangles panic. Its cleared up nicely but he's still not right.

I had a blood test done and most of it came back fine but one element of it showed that there was inflammation internally. His vital organs have been checked so they are fine. My vet is awesome and very good at explaining things but he's also very Scottish and sometimes I find it hard to catch everything he's saying (especially on the car phone). Has anyone else had this before? Can anyone explain this further to me please? If its inflammation then could it be anything that's inflamed..?? He's got an asymmetric pelvis which sometimes gives him a bit of trouble but he's regularly seen by the chiro. He's also recently thrown a splint but its tiny and hard and he's sound. Any info would be much appreciated!

Thanks xx
 
he's away until Tuesday when he's coming down to scope winnie. He's been a bit gulpy and the abscess was on his throat. I'm just trying to do a bit of background/research on my own to further understand this.
 
Hi - why would you say intestine? We noticed some discharge from his bottom a few weeks ago. It was suggested we double dosed him with a strongidp and it did go away but I'm not ruling that out. Just frustrated :(
 
I only suggest it as the vet has mentioned inflammation - but major organs not affected. Something of significance must be going on for the horse to be 'off' for so long, but bloods ok. So that would be my next port of call.

But purely guess.

Hope you get some answers soon though.
 
Do you know his complete worming history? It's relatively rare but horses do sometime sustain permanent worm damage. It wouldn't explain the abscesses but it's possible there is something underlying dragging him down and making him susceptible to other infections.
 
He's being scoped on Tuesday so the vet has said to just continue with light work until then. He is fed the following..
Ad lib soaked hay - as much as I can stuff in the net.
He's out from 7am to 4pm (longer during the summer).
Feed - the same twice a day
1/2 Baileys No.1
1 Alpha A oil
1/2 Pony Nuts
3/4 Sugar Beet
Equi4s joint supplement
Garlic
Biotin
magnesium

He's a 17hh big warmblood who events (in my avatar). He's obviously not doing much at the moment but I'm reluctant to cut him down too much because he drops off. Me and vet have both discussed this knowing how it happened before and are keen to keep it up.
 
TarrSteps said:
Do you know his complete worming history? It's relatively rare but horses do sometime sustain permanent worm damage. It wouldn't explain the abscesses but it's possible there is something underlying dragging him down and making him susceptible to other infections.
Click to expand...

I have wormed him properly since I bought him as a young 3yo - now 6. I thought this and had a worm count done but it came back fine. I noticed some discharge on his bottom which is why I did the count in the first place - thinking pinworms but they were picked up and wouldn't be. We gave him strongid p and the discharge stopped. Thats not sorted him out. Its just an odd decline.. nothing major or dramatic (except abscess) but I know him well enough to know so I'm just going through what feels like the worlds longest list of things to eliminate.
 
Stop the Garlic immediately. It will not help any inflammation, especially if it is the gut.

I read Tempi's post in Comp Riders, where she speaks about the possibility of Strangles - worth noting I'd say.

But perhaps in the meantime, discuss with your vet about putting the horse on a high fibre low starch diet and having a course of gastrogaurd to see if that helps at all.
 
amymay said:
Stop the Garlic immediately. It will not help any inflammation, especially if it is the gut.

I read Tempi's post in Comp Riders, where she speaks about the possibility of Strangles - worth noting I'd say.

But perhaps in the meantime, discuss with your vet about putting the horse on a high fibre low starch diet and having a course of gastrogaurd to see if that helps at all.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I have just replied to her - its very long!
He had a swab taken from the abscess and it was negative as well as bloods so I think he's def clear of strangles.

I'll stop the garlic. Thanks :)
 
Do you know what was raised? That usually helps - did he have electrophoresis on The bloods?

A simple cough can be inflammation - it just depends if it is an allergic inflammatory reaction (eg copd, fly bite etc) or infection
 
He's being scoped on tuesday.

I had a quick call from the vet yesterday which is when he said about the inflammation and I am waiting now for a call to go through it in a bit more detail. Like you say it could be anything at this stage - I'm hoping to narrow it down a bit shortly. My friend is a research doc at the Royal Vet Collage so she's going to explain it in 'idiot' for me later if I'm unsure.
 
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