Genie - We have a diagnosis

miss_c

miss_c

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It's not brilliant, but it could be a hell of a lot worse.

Are you sitting comfortably? Good, then I'll begin.


At some point almost certainly before I bought her Genie has had liver damage. As a result her liver cannot process the chlorophyl found in grass and other green growing things. This has built up in her system over time and with the most recent flush of grass it's overrun her, hence the enormous temperature and the swellings. This also explains why not even 30mins in a paddock almost killed her last Wednesday.

A side effect of this is hyper sensitivity to UV light, so in an ideal world we would be keeping her out of sunlight full stop. That's not possible so she's having a UV mask - it's only the non-pigmented skin that's affected.

Long term her liver can regenerate and she should be able to go back out in the field, but will have to be carefully managed. The vet who diagnosed her said he has seen this just twice before in his very long and busy career.

So, like I said, it's not great, but it could be a lot worse! I'm just relieved that we now have something we can combat and know how to treat/manage her.

Thank you for all your continuing support and vibes.

Fi and Genie
(And Titchy)
 
I'm sorry to hear about your horse. I would also like to offer you a guardian mask for riding in, it offers 95% UV protection. I brought it for my horse who had Uevitis but sadly never used it. It is brand new and is just sitting in my box going to waste. If it will help your horse I will happily post it to you.
 
Though it may have been some sort of photosensitisation reaction as her nose was so sore. Did the liver damage not show up in the initial blood tests? Did you get a second opinion, or did the bloods get sent again?
Glad that you know what you are dealing with now, at least you can go forwards and manage it.
 
Bet you are glad to know what it is at last. Always think the not knowing is worse as your mind can just run riot and its always the very worst scenarios it comes up with :(


What treatment has the vet suggested to best help her? I've heard good things about using Milk Thistle to support the liver and help it regenerate



Continuing to send healing <<<vibes>>> for Genie. Glad she is going to be ok :)
 
fantastic news that you have a diagnosis, as you say, it could be far worse and you have now got a starting point from which to manage her. Good luck to you both, onward and upward now I hope X
 
Glad you have a diagnosis and big big vibes for her and you.

There was a horse at my old yard with the exact same thing, who the vet only found out the cause of it far too late, I'm glad you've caught it in time xxx
 
Thanks for this update now if my memory serves me right (sorry dont know the details) there was a horse at my old yard who got so ill it was going to be a PTS scenario and I am almost certain the the Vet diagnosed it as Liver Damage and she lived to be a very old lady. Vet was John Killinbeck mare was called Tamsin.
 
Glad to hear you have a diagnosis. Often I think once you know exactly what you're dealing with it does make it easier to handle mentally. Fingers crossed and (((vibes))) for speedy recovery of your gorgeous girly xx
 
It must be a relief to have a diagnosis at last and know how to manage/avoid a recurrence. Not ideal but liveable with, good luck with managing Genie going forward and helping regenerate her liver x
 
Well, at least you can now do something to prevent further reoccurrence and treat the underlying problem with a view to strengthening her liver. As the prognosis is reasonable, look at the positives :) Good luck x
 
glad you have a diagnosis, my mare has sensitivity to UV rays and will get weepy scabs where she has white hair on her. she has to wear bandages and a fly rug to go out in the sun and if it's really hot she needs to come in. But so far as we know she doesn't have associated liver problems
 
Have you any idea what caused it? Any chance it was due to ragwort? There is a field next to mine that is full of the stuff and for the last 2 years I have painstakingly pulled and sprayed my field to try to eradicate it, knowing full well it will come back as owner of deadly field unknown. I feed my 2 milk thistle seeds daily just in case they find and eat some.
 
CeeBee said:
Have you any idea what caused it? Any chance it was due to ragwort? There is a field next to mine that is full of the stuff and for the last 2 years I have painstakingly pulled and sprayed my field to try to eradicate it, knowing full well it will come back as owner of deadly field unknown. I feed my 2 milk thistle seeds daily just in case they find and eat some.
Click to expand...

The horse I'd commented about in my previous post, they thought it to be a small amount of ragwort that had been ingested as a youngster which had caused the damage to it also.
 
Oh Miss C, that's the best news I've heard all day - it's not a grass allergy!

Thanks heavens you have something to work on now; the road to recovery starts here!

G will be most relieved that she does not have to spend the rest of her life in her 5* cave!

Hugs to you both (and Titchy of course!). :):D
 
So glad you have a diagnosis - at least you now know what you are dealing with.

And as you say, it could be worse news.

For what they are worth, a few more of those <<<<<vibes>>>>> to help Genie along - they wont do any harm! ;)
 
A friend of mine had something similar happen to both her horses, they were out in the same field last year and both came out it lisions on their white legs and muzzles. After many test was found to be photo sensitivity due to liver damage.
Unfortunately one of her mares liver was damaged beyond the point where it can repair itself, she had to have a liver biospy which determined the amount of damage and was found to have less than 25% functioning. She was sadly put to sleep....BUT her other mare has made a full recovery and is now back living a normal life a year later as although there is slight damage to the liver it has pretty much repaired itself.
It was found to be some kind of poisoning from the field they were in that had caused it.

Hope Genie makes the same recovery my friends mare has xxx
 
miss_c said:
It's not brilliant, but it could be a hell of a lot worse.

Are you sitting comfortably? Good, then I'll begin.


At some point almost certainly before I bought her Genie has had liver damage. As a result her liver cannot process the chlorophyl found in grass and other green growing things. This has built up in her system over time and with the most recent flush of grass it's overrun her, hence the enormous temperature and the swellings. This also explains why not even 30mins in a paddock almost killed her last Wednesday.

A side effect of this is hyper sensitivity to UV light, so in an ideal world we would be keeping her out of sunlight full stop. That's not possible so she's having a UV mask - it's only the non-pigmented skin that's affected.

Long term her liver can regenerate and she should be able to go back out in the field, but will have to be carefully managed. The vet who diagnosed her said he has seen this just twice before in his very long and busy career.

So, like I said, it's not great, but it could be a lot worse! I'm just relieved that we now have something we can combat and know how to treat/manage her.

Thank you for all your continuing support and vibes.

Fi and Genie
(And Titchy)
Click to expand...
I'm glad you have a diagnosis and a way forward that is very hopeful. What an interesting diagnosis though and thanks for sharing.
 
So glad to hear they know what it is at last, has been such a horrible time for you and genie, now at least you know what to do to keep her well, fingers crossed for you both.
 
A friend of mines horse is just coming out the other side of this. If you want to PM me I will answer all that I can.

Fingers crossed genie recovers quickly and returns to her normal self.
 
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