EPNS?

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yorks

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Has anybody any experience of (I think) EPNS in horses? It is where the white blood count is very high and the muscles won't produce energy properly, rather like ME in humans.
My daughter's pony has been diagnosed with it. He caught a virus at PC camp (don't they all?) and has never recovered. Any effort tires him out. The vet has suggested it may be genetic. He is now 15 and has been healthy all this time. Do they recover from this or does it mean retirement?
 
Probably. I got it second hand over the phone from a tearful daughter. The vet is sending blood samples to America !!!! and it will take about 3 weeks to get the results. We are thinking of bringing the pony to my house where we have a very very good vet practice in the area for a second opinion. It sounds hopeful if diet will help. My grand-daughter was just starting to go places with the pony and is very upset at not being able to ride at all. Thanks for the info
 
Worth doublechecking with your daughter exactly which condition it is.

Muscles sounds like it could be EPSM (equine polysaccharide storage myopathy, also known as PSSM (polysaccharide storage myopathy)) but I've not heard of that being associated with high white cell count, so maybe it's something else

The only other thing I could think of with similar initials is EMND equine motor neurone disease, but that didn't seem to fit with your description really, so not sure.

If it IS EPSM then you might be able to get a result for type 1 EPSM more quickly by sending a hair sample to a lab in Cornwall called Avian Biotech:
http://www.avianbiotech.co.uk/horse-dna/EquineUK.pdf
£30 for testing one sample.

RVC in London also offer the type 1 EPSM test, but I think theirs is on blood rather than a hair sample.

They can test for the one type of EPSM for which the genetic mutation is known (known as type 1). Everything else which causes the same condition but doesn't have that mutation is currently called "type 2 EPSM" and that can only be tested for by muscle biopsy so is more invasive.

If it IS that, then there's quite a good support group run by Dr Kellon :
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/EPSM/

If it's not that condition, but the horse is showing raised muscle enzyme levels in the blood, then it'd be worth having his forage analysed to check for dietary selenium levels, and if the total amount of selenium per day (in hay, grass and any other feeds, balancers, supplements) is less than 1mg/day for a 500kg horse then it would be worth talking to a good feed company like Topspec (Nicola Tyler) and getting the horse onto a full ration of one of their recommended vit/min mixes or balancers. I mention this because I looked into EPSM as a possible cause of problems in some of my ponies, but as time goes on it is looking more likely that it was a selenium deficiency and several months down the line we have had one more optimistic blood test result, so are hoping we continue in the right direction.

Good luck, and do let us know for sure what the condition is that they think he has.

Sarah
 
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