Cauda equina syndrome

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jmd481

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I sadly had my girl pts last Wednesday as after many visits from vets pysio and mctimoney.... told it was possibly arthritis locking stifle and many other possibilities she was finally diagnosed with cauda equina syndrome...... her back end was just giving up and after 48hrs on high dosage of bute there was no signs of improvement..... so vet then checked her bladder which was very full tho he thought she was still passing, it was becoming sluggish and wouldn't be long before it paralysed so while she was still in good health and was still happy I decided to let her go, before she fell and couldn't get back up or her bladder gave up completely...... it's been heart breaking but after it all happening so quick I'm now wondering what actually happens and has anyone else had any experiences with this?
R.I.P my beautiful Jill xx
 
Have never heard of this in a horse (but no reason why it should not happen) but in humans it is a real medical emergency with serious consequences if not treated quickly. So sorry to hear about this, it must have been very upsetting.
 
This is the only information I have found online is the human type. I presume it's the same but not much they can do with horses. This is why I put a post on here simply because I just don't know. I asked numerous of times was she in pain because thats what would of hurt the most knowing she was in agony and I had allowed it but both vets said it caused her no pain at all.
 
Sorry for your loss OP.

I lost my horse in 2014 to Polyneuritis Equi (this is the modern term for Cauda Equina Syndrome in horses). He was poorly in 2010 when he went down with colic and it transpired that he had an impaction due to paralysis of his rear end. To cut a long story short, he made a pretty good recovery for a time, but the PE came back with a vengeance in 2014. If you search 'Polyneuritis Equi' on this forum you should be able to find a couple of threads about the disorder.
 
So sorry to hear that it's so heart breaking watching them slowly deteriorate..... thano you for that.... at the time my mind was just blank so you tend not to really listen just did everything they told me to then after 48hrs I made that horrible decision and all I was left with was a piece of paper saying cauda equina syndrome. Sort of felt alone as after I spoke to everyone physio, mctimoney, farrier and so forth no one had ever heard of it never mind come across it.
 
jmd481 said:
So sorry to hear that it's so heart breaking watching them slowly deteriorate..... thano you for that.... at the time my mind was just blank so you tend not to really listen just did everything they told me to then after 48hrs I made that horrible decision and all I was left with was a piece of paper saying cauda equina syndrome. Sort of felt alone as after I spoke to everyone physio, mctimoney, farrier and so forth no one had ever heard of it never mind come across it.
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It's a horrible illness OP. For a time I thought we'd cracked it with my horse, but in my heart of hearts I knew that it would get the better of him. It's very similar to MS in humans. I was lucky in that the illness went into remission for 4 years, but he was left with some bladder weakness which came and went from time to time and he had a paralysed tail.

Take comfort in the fact that there was nothing you could do - there is no cure for PE and I only treated the symptoms to buy some time for my horse and was fortunate enough that the disease didn't affect his legs the first time around.
 
I was warned to look out for the symptoms of this when I first slipped my disc and also when I had a subsequent bad fall and suffered severe bruising to my back.It is a serious condition, and like a previous poster has said, its nigh on impossible to treat in a horse.

I've found an ariticle on this http://www.thehorse.com/articles/14780/cauda-equina-syndrome-in-horses

In humans its caused by problems with the lower back (lumbar and s/i) in horses I think it can be caused by tumours on the spine and other severe back related injury. So sorry to hear story OP but there was nothing to be done, and you undoubtedly did the right thing by your girl. x
 
I'm slowly realising why she ended up like she did. Her tail was paralysed too and that's the 1st thing they showed me when telling me she had CES........ luckily her bladder had just started to become sluggish and that was my main reason for letting her go..... her back end was awful tho she would sway and frighten the life out of me because she looked as tho she was going to fall but the tough old bird never did and not once did it ever affect her personality and miserable old mare attitude. I can never thank her enough for giving me confidence to ride again and for that I had to allow her to go while she was still happy and had all her silly ways still shining through..... my other biggest fear was turning up and her being down and not being able to get back up, I think that would of been the hardest part watching her lose all her natural ways of surviving..... thank you so much for all the information.
 
I'm so sorry for your loss, but at least she was lucky enough to have a kind, brave owner who did everything right for her until the very end.
 
Thanks you. I think everyone always has that touch of guilt when they have a horse pts but although it's devastated me, the kids and most of all my other mare who was calling for Jill for days after she went, it was also a massive relief that she's no longer suffering. Just so sad how it comes to us all and we have to let our best freinds go.
 
jmd481 said:
Thanks you. I think everyone always has that touch of guilt when they have a horse pts but although it's devastated me, the kids and most of all my other mare who was calling for Jill for days after she went, it was also a massive relief that she's no longer suffering. Just so sad how it comes to us all and we have to let our best freinds go.
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Oh yes, there is always the guilt when we make that decision, especially when it is for an illness that so little is known about. I hung onto the thought that remission would come a second time in 2014 but it didn't. I spoke to the vet a few times towards the end, almost begging for him to announce some new treatment to make my horse better. There was no miracle treatment.

Take comfort in the fact that PE isn't one of those illnesses where the horse goes in absolute agony. And there really was nothing you could do, the illness is progressive - I tried everything and ultimately PE won the battle.
 
Sounds like you had a long heartbreaking battle and like you said when it is so rare and not much is known about it that's when it hits harder because you just don't know.... luckily for me and jill it all happened so quickly but having it happen twice must of been hurrendous...... I also have alot of hatred towards her previous 2 owners one of which was a riding school and the other a stupidly novice woman that hacked her out and when my farrier came to look at her feet he said there was 0% hoof she was walking on her frogs...... then I had an amazing couple of years with her for this to happen so suddenly...... but I'm just happy I ended up with her and she wasn't passed to someone else with no clue..... I can't blame other people but it always sits in my mind about the way she was treated more or less ran into the ground...... really happy I have found people that have experienced PE/CES and I know a little bit more about it
 
jmd481 said:
Sounds like you had a long heartbreaking battle and like you said when it is so rare and not much is known about it that's when it hits harder because you just don't know.... luckily for me and jill it all happened so quickly but having it happen twice must of been hurrendous...... I also have alot of hatred towards her previous 2 owners one of which was a riding school and the other a stupidly novice woman that hacked her out and when my farrier came to look at her feet he said there was 0% hoof she was walking on her frogs...... then I had an amazing couple of years with her for this to happen so suddenly...... but I'm just happy I ended up with her and she wasn't passed to someone else with no clue..... I can't blame other people but it always sits in my mind about the way she was treated more or less ran into the ground...... really happy I have found people that have experienced PE/CES and I know a little bit more about it
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Well it was tough, but I wouldn't be without those 4 years. I tortured myself, thinking I'd done something to make my horse ill. I'd owned him from being a foal, so the buck stopped with me.

Initially the vet thought the paralysis was due to injury - all he had in is his veterinary 'bible' was a quarter page of info from the 1970's. I honestly could think of nothing, not even a slight trip that could have caused such an injury and as my horse was 80% white, I'd have noticed grass stains if he'd tumbled in the field.... and he just wasn't the sort to hooley around. It was later that the vet re-diagnosed the cause as auto-immune mediated.

In hindsight, I think he always had it, but the signs were so subtle for many years. His rugs always moved over slightly to one side, as did his saddle just by a touch. I thought it was me sitting with a twist as his gait looked straight and thought the rugs slipped to the same side because that was the side he slept on. My boy's left hand side was more affected than his right.

Like similar diseases in humans, such as Motor Neurone Disease and Multiple Sclerosis, it's unknown why certain individuals succumb to those dreadful illnesses and it seems that it matters not whether the individual led a charmed life, or had a rotten life prior to onset.

It's early days for you and inevitable that you will look for answers as to why - I still look myself, but there seems to be no known cause and it is just one of those things.
All the best.
 
Thinking about it now after you said about rug and saddle Jill was the same I spent many of times trying to level my saddle or out adjusting her rug but like you just thought it was something she was doing like lying down and so on and as for saddle it was just slight and thought it was me (unfit recently back in the saddle after a while off) towards the end the only way she could get about was by walking sideways, tho the high dosage of bute straightened her up but once it was wearing off she slowly went back to walking sideways...... she was also cow hocked and walked slightly funny so maybe this had set in when I brought her, after having mctimoney out she had said due to being ex riding school she had never been taught to engage her back end which resulted in her funby walk..... but now it all makes much more sense...... tho no one was too know as its so unknown...... certainly don't blame them in any way and jilly quite enjoyed her treatment from physio so worth every penny even if it didn't help. Let's hope one day they will find out everything about PE and there will be something more we can do to help horses with PE
 
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