Equine Shock

[ElectricChampagne]

Only home and trying to figure this one out do apologies if this doesn't make sense.

Got a call from my yard late this evening saying my gelding appeared to have been suffering from shock. Vet was already on the way out.

My poor fella was shaking all over and cold to the touch. He had been lying down but got up and started pawing. Then started shivering all over like he was cold. He was warm under his rug but his neck was quite cold to the touch. No signs of colic but a very loud gut. Heart racing and breathing was elevated. No external injury or visible bite or sting marks. No swelling, no lameness. He was drinking a good bit.

Vet sedated him, checked him over and was gone before I got there. I think he was administered a painkiller too. Apparently there's been a lot of colicking horses so he had to go to another call out.
He was gone before I arrived.
When I got there my fella was still sedated so I stayed with him till he came round. Once he did, he was back to his usual self, and called happily to me when he realised I was there.

I'm concerned he won't make through the night. Yard will check him in about an hour and again later on. He was perky and happy when I left, and has eaten up his hay, and had a big pee. He happily called me when I was near his stable as if nothing happened.

Has anyone experienced anything like this before? I'm going to call the vet in the morning anyway but worried there's a lot more to this...

 

[View]

So sorry you are worried about your boy.

It does sound as if he was uncomfortable/in pain, perhaps the start of colic?

Hope he recovers well and uneventful from whatever it was,

 

[ElectricChampagne]

He had droppings in his stable and no signs of colic at all. But definitely seems like he was in pain from something, or got a bad fright in his sleep, or got a bad cramp which frightened him. He is a bit of a wimp.

I've not slept well, but no news from the yard yet. I'd have been contacted if there were any issues. YM is on site and monitors them overnight.

 

[CanteringCarrot]

Could it have been a tying up episode as opposed to colic?

 

[PapaverFollis]

That sounds very odd. But I did think a tye up too maybe, although it doesn't sound quite like the ones I've seen... Hope he's ok this morning and you get some clarity from the vet.

 

[ElectricChampagne]

I was leaning towards thinking he was tying up too myself.. he's never had that before, and it seems the only thing that makes sense. He is a total panicker when something scares him. But usually it takes a good bit to scare him. Seems ok this morning, so wondering if he has an imbalance of some sort.

 

[OldNag]

Glad he's better today. It must have been very worrying.

 

[Goldenstar]

Get some blood off him and get them to look at the muscle enzymes

 

[ElectricChampagne]

Thinking more about it, he can be grass affected, and we had a hard frost then rain the other day so I do wonder if it could be grass tetany.

He hadn't been getting out much due to the bad rain, but out more in the last few days than normal and in a different paddock.

His pee was clear last night just before I left, and he is apparently in great form this morning.

I'm exhausted from not sleeping, and haven't been able to get a hold of the vet yet...

 

[Melody Grey]

Hopefully you’ll get some bloods done which might help.

could it have been a seizure of some kind? Not wanting to worry you, just wondered whether it might have occurred to you?

 

[ElectricChampagne]

He was lucid during it and vet ruled out seizure. It did cross my mind through.
Not knowing is worse than anything!

 

[Melody Grey]

He was lucid during it and vet ruled out seizure. It did cross my mind through.
Not knowing is worse than anything!

Based on my experience of human seizures, I wouldn’t rule it out so quickly- shaking, sweating, cold to the touch but aware are symptoms. Presumably it would be the after effects your vet would have seen?

not in any way trying to contradict your vet, and my experience is human but food for thought?

 

[ElectricChampagne]

Absolutely, unfortunately I didn't witness it myself so I can't comment. I definitely won't rule it out. Vet is away until Tuesday, so I'll try talk to him then.

 

[southerncomfort]

I didn't want to say anything and worry you unduly, but this is how my old mare was post-seizure.

I think coming round from a seizure can be very frightening for them and it actually caused mine to colic on one occasion.

I would suggest that if it happens again, see if you can get some CCTV rigged up so you can see exactly what's going on.

 

[ElectricChampagne]

Both yard and vet don't think it was a siezure, and he's been absolutely fine since.

I genuinely don't know what to think and don't feel safe riding him until I have gotten to the bottom of this

 

[bonny]

Both yard and vet don't think it was a siezure, and he's been absolutely fine since.

I genuinely don't know what to think and don't feel safe riding him until I have gotten to the bottom of this

Sounds like you might never know, I would probably give him a week or so off and if he seems fine then try and put it behind you

 

[ElectricChampagne]

Possibly not, but the thoughts of it happening again scare me, particularly if it was a siezure.

I had originally thought he might have a mineral imbalance, which caused muscle tremors, and he was pawing as he was trembling, fully aware of what he was doing. YM was seconds from his stable when he started it and the vet was out within 20 mins of him starting to behave this way. YM said it was like he was trying to get the circulation back into his legs. He was tossing his head a little too. YM said he had been asleep about half an hour before it started. The bed was kicked up, but maybe this was because he was down and having the siezure. YM felt the pawing had kicked the bed up as he saw him kicking it up as he pawed.

 

[Murphy88]

From a vet's perspective - this all sounds like colic. Pawing and laying down are classic, the shivering was likely muscle fasciculations which are also common. The fact that it resolved with just sedation and pain relief also fits with a simple colic. If he has been fine since I would just give him a few days off and then if no further problems bring him back to work as usual. Although impossible to rule out a seizure, they are very uncommon in horses, most horses will have some degree of self trauma if they have a true grand mal seizure (often wounds to head), and have abnormal mentation for a while post-seizure - ie blind or not responding to stimulation. Remember, common things are common, so far more likely your boy just had a colic episode that has now resolved.

 

[ElectricChampagne]

Thank you Murphy88. He wasn't sweating and was cold to the touch at the time. His heart rate was very high and his breathing rate was very fast. Apparently it was only his hind end shivering. My initial reaction was a hindgut issue.

He did sweat once the sedation kicked in, and was bright as a button afterwards, calling to me.

I do prefer to think it's something simple! A friend suggested the vet would not have left if he was not happy with him.

 

[cobgoblin]

I keep reading your description of what happened and I wonder if he either tweaked something when he got up or he gave himself a ' dead leg' whist lying down and had a little panic... Glad he's back to normal.

 

[ElectricChampagne]

Finally got the vet, he reckons it was spasmodic colic and treated him for such which worked. The poor fella panicked more than most would over it as he's a little bit of a whimp.

He's happy as Larry, pooing for Ireland (and fairly impressed with himself for it). He's also telling anyone that would listen (you need to speak horse though) about his misadventure.
I think my mare is a bit sick of the story though and keeps telling him off.

Thankfully it's nothing worse so I'm gonna keep an eye on him over the next few months. He's not colicked before so he probably didn't know what happened.