Bowen4Horses
Well-Known Member
Hi all
A friend of mine has a horse, who is poorly, and has us all a bit flummoxed. I thought i could try asking you guys for some ideas about what could be wrong, or at least what to test for next...
the horse in question is a 17yr old mare, been with her current owner for years, and until very recently was very fit, happy, healthy etc.
three months ago, if you'd just met the horse, she could have passed as a 7yr old. now she could pass for 27.
a couple of months ago, the mare was in season. she had a very long, heavy season. her 'lady goo' literally dripped off the back of her legs/stuck to her rug for a few weeks. she backed up to other mares in the field and was humped by them. she was seriously horny...
owner says she'd never had such a long season before.
as season was ending, she became VERY tucked up, over night. she went off her food. and her weight dropped immensely. within a fortnight she went from being a bit on the porky side, to underweight.
also, her rear end action became a bit odd. as she walked away from you, you could see her feet sort of twisting on the ground a bit. and she seemed a bit stiff.
vet came out, checked her over. took blood and stool sample. bloods came back clear. poo showed she had a bit of worms.
she was wormed, and kept in for a bit. and for a couple of days she was REALLY not herself. she fell over in her stable, as if she'd fallen asleep on the spot.
as wormers kicked in, she perked up a bit. but still not right.
back man came out, said her pelvis was out, did stuff to it.
vet came out, checked her heart, put ECG on, had owner lunge her (she was very reluctant to go forward, very unusual for her) and said her heart was okay.
gave her bute. which seem to perk her up a bit.
couple of weeks later, she's being turned out in the day, brought in at night (to be given bute and plenty of hay). she's got her appetite back but is still not putting weight on like you'd expect her (although is looking much better than before), and isn't herself. and her back end still doesn't look quite right.
also, her coat isn't quite right, it's quite coarse, and she's hairier than you'd expect at this time of year.
she got turned out the other day 24/7 for the first time since being poorly, in the hope that grass would perk her up. the next morning her face was so swollen you could barely see her eyes. vet came out, said it was a something oedema and he didn't know what could cause it. now her face/neck swells up when she goes out at night time/long time. (it's not the normal grass glands thing... it's her whole face and throat area). when it gets really swollen it affects her breathing - but vet says this is just the pressure on her breathing bits in her face (nostrils etc)
vet came back, took more bloods. they were clear. he scoped for ulcers. all clear (but he did say there was more yellow than ideal in her stomach which is sometimes an indicator that the tummy fluid is sitting too high up in there).
um, i've probably forgotten a load of symptoms... does anyone have any idea? we're all very fond of this darling horse, and her owner is such a sweety.
in summary (might not all be relevant):
long season
strange backend
mega tucked up
very rapid weight loss
lethargic
swollen head
hairy - maybe that's a bad word to use, it's more coarse than normal
all bloods clear...
thank you all. hot milk and baileys for y'all xxxx
A friend of mine has a horse, who is poorly, and has us all a bit flummoxed. I thought i could try asking you guys for some ideas about what could be wrong, or at least what to test for next...
the horse in question is a 17yr old mare, been with her current owner for years, and until very recently was very fit, happy, healthy etc.
three months ago, if you'd just met the horse, she could have passed as a 7yr old. now she could pass for 27.
a couple of months ago, the mare was in season. she had a very long, heavy season. her 'lady goo' literally dripped off the back of her legs/stuck to her rug for a few weeks. she backed up to other mares in the field and was humped by them. she was seriously horny...
owner says she'd never had such a long season before.
as season was ending, she became VERY tucked up, over night. she went off her food. and her weight dropped immensely. within a fortnight she went from being a bit on the porky side, to underweight.
also, her rear end action became a bit odd. as she walked away from you, you could see her feet sort of twisting on the ground a bit. and she seemed a bit stiff.
vet came out, checked her over. took blood and stool sample. bloods came back clear. poo showed she had a bit of worms.
she was wormed, and kept in for a bit. and for a couple of days she was REALLY not herself. she fell over in her stable, as if she'd fallen asleep on the spot.
as wormers kicked in, she perked up a bit. but still not right.
back man came out, said her pelvis was out, did stuff to it.
vet came out, checked her heart, put ECG on, had owner lunge her (she was very reluctant to go forward, very unusual for her) and said her heart was okay.
gave her bute. which seem to perk her up a bit.
couple of weeks later, she's being turned out in the day, brought in at night (to be given bute and plenty of hay). she's got her appetite back but is still not putting weight on like you'd expect her (although is looking much better than before), and isn't herself. and her back end still doesn't look quite right.
also, her coat isn't quite right, it's quite coarse, and she's hairier than you'd expect at this time of year.
she got turned out the other day 24/7 for the first time since being poorly, in the hope that grass would perk her up. the next morning her face was so swollen you could barely see her eyes. vet came out, said it was a something oedema and he didn't know what could cause it. now her face/neck swells up when she goes out at night time/long time. (it's not the normal grass glands thing... it's her whole face and throat area). when it gets really swollen it affects her breathing - but vet says this is just the pressure on her breathing bits in her face (nostrils etc)
vet came back, took more bloods. they were clear. he scoped for ulcers. all clear (but he did say there was more yellow than ideal in her stomach which is sometimes an indicator that the tummy fluid is sitting too high up in there).
um, i've probably forgotten a load of symptoms... does anyone have any idea? we're all very fond of this darling horse, and her owner is such a sweety.
in summary (might not all be relevant):
long season
strange backend
mega tucked up
very rapid weight loss
lethargic
swollen head
hairy - maybe that's a bad word to use, it's more coarse than normal
all bloods clear...
thank you all. hot milk and baileys for y'all xxxx
)
) as it can cause a general suppression of the immune system I think.