Dehydrated, Melanomas & infection in 18yr mare - PLEASE help(long post

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suegc

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My grey Trakhener got v.dehydrated last week (4 hrs in trailer on hot day) & 2 days later couldn't push droppings out. Vet stomach tubed with water & electrolytes, and took bloods which showed very raised white cell count so prescribed antibiotics for infection. Droppings were returning to normal consistency and number then 4 days later went to bring out of stable in morning & couldn't walk - severe pain in hind legs/quarters. Also strange swellings on buttocks either side of tail and going just inbetween legs - very hot & feeling sore. Vet out and diagnosed mastitus (teats also very swollen & hard and vet could produce clear liquid). Gave strong penicillan injection but had a very bad reaction to the stimulant in it (forget what he called it) and I thought I was going to lose her there & then. Walked her about & back to normal in 10mins. More bloods taken - again showed nothing abnormal & white cell count dropping. Next morning all seemed ok and turned her out - walking normally and grazing. Checked in day and standing quietly but went to bring in and couldn't walk again wouldn't put weight on left hind. Very distressed and blowing hard with each couple of steps. Vet out & tubed again as straining to pass droppings again. Said thought arthritus aggravated somehow whilst out. Gave injection of bute. Now on one sachet of Norodine per day (was 2) till Sunday (now Fri) and 2 Danilon twice a day for 2 days then 2 a day for 2/3 days .
then 1 per day. This morn very bright and waiting to get out so now grazing in field but didn't drink overnight. Still got hind end swelling but teats looking better and no sign of lameness.
Vet could feel melanomas in rectum & feels this will eventually make it imposs for her to poo atall. She has had them under tail and around anus for years but the ones around anus suddenly got twice the size since all this started. Also detected a bad heart murmour, loudest it can get (grade 5 ?) So she seems to have a lot going on and I am devastated - I've had her since she was 3 and she is wonderful in every way. Does anyone have any thoughts atall ???
 
My initial thought is that your vet is floundering about for a diagnosis and I would be tempted to get a second opinion.

Could she have gone down in the trailer, to me this sounds much more like an injury rather than an illness.
 
Ditto Spaniel.

Your vet has given some quite diverse diagnosis over a short space of time. I would ask for a second opinion and make sure someone looks at the whole picture rather than individual symptoms one at a time.
He may of course be right but your mare sounds as if she needs serious help and you are obviously distressed.
Good luckx
 
I echo the others, I would be looking for a second opinion too. Are her lymph glands infected? has anyone mentioned this?
 
As far as the heart murmur is concerned, my horse gets one if she has colic and last year she was very ill with septicemia and had a bad heart murmur through all of that. It disappeared soon after.

Mine also had an attack of lymphagitis at the turn of the year, for which she had to have antibiotics. They just don't agree with her at all and we ended up with one very unhappy horse, so stiff she couldn't put her head down to eat and walking was a major effort. She also had oedema under her belly. Once off the antibiotics and eating again, she loosened up and was fine. Pain can have a huge effect on a horse.
 
Is she now managing to pass droppings?

I lost my little grey a month ago. He had had chronic diarrhoea since April that stopped being controlled by steroids. Then we managed to get it slightly under control and his Melanomas suddenly went mad (within a week) and he stopped being able to pass anything. I had no other decision but to have him PTS. otherwise he would have collicked. It was inevitable and I wanted to do it before it got to that stage. He was going downhill fast. It would have been hours. He was 17.

Just before the end, he got strange swelling either side of his tail and a temp etc. The vet said the the melanomas had got infected due to straining etc. There was nothing we could do. A post mortem confirmed all this and he had melanomas throughout his intestines that had been causing the diarrhoea.

I really hope you manage to turn it around.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Is she now managing to pass droppings?

I lost my little grey a month ago. He had had chronic diarrhoea since April that stopped being controlled by steroids. Then we managed to get it slightly under control and his Melanomas suddenly went mad (within a week) and he stopped being able to pass anything. I had no other decision but to have him PTS. otherwise he would have collicked. It was inevitable and I wanted to do it before it got to that stage. He was going downhill fast. It would have been hours. He was 17.

Just before the end, he got strange swelling either side of his tail and a temp etc. The vet said the the melanomas had got infected due to straining etc. There was nothing we could do. A post mortem confirmed all this and he had melanomas throughout his intestines that had been causing the diarrhoea.

I really hope you manage to turn it around.

[/ QUOTE ]

THis sounds very similar to my boy although the first signs with him was large swelling around his muzzle. The diarrhoea came next and although controlled with massive doses of steroids I had him PTS before it turned more serious. He had hundreds of internal melanomas, the vet was not able to rectal him past his wrist.
 
yup, sounds indentical except for the muzzle bit. Some of his melanomas in his large intestine were 5 cm big. Poor chap.

Horrid things.
frown.gif
I'm never having another grey.
 
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