Good news or bad news? Update on my horse...

SpottedCat

SpottedCat

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I am sure no-one is v interested, but hey ho.

The good news - all my obsessive chaff feeding has paid off and the splash ulcers are gone and have not returned. Marvelous.

The bad news - my horse has inflammatory bowel disease, the base of his stomach 'looks very odd' and is slightly ulcerated (I caught it early this time!) - so odd the vet took a biopsy for free because he was interested to see what it showed up for research purposes!, oh yes, and he has a (totally unrelated) fat leg after Blenheim RC thing yesterday (scraped it in the lorry I guess).

I am back to syringing stuff twice a day (horse hates me less as after last time I am using apple juice which means he swallows it and I don't wear it), he's back on gastrogard, I am pulling out of eventing this weekend and may not bother next weekend at Monmouth too, and frankly I am sick of the whole bloody thing! Just as he was starting to go well again. At least I spotted it early and did just assume I needed to ride him forwards more/get a better canter - truth is I can't consistently get that canter and this is why. He is also not happy through doubles either
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Anyway, so I suppose the other bit of good news is I am not going mad and I was right he felt off!
 
Youve always known your horse doesnt just throw the towel in for no reason, i guess this was a good enough reason to do so.
Equally what a bloody pain
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Sorry to hear Blenheim didnt go to plan either, but yet again he has a good reason.
Hope he starts feeling better soon
x
 
how weird - just turned on my computer to see your post - poor you and poor boyz. Didn't realise you were off competing this w/e - how gutting, I bet you were so looking forward to it. As you say, at least you've discovered it early and know the score re treatment but what a pain for you. What does the vet reckon causes the IBD (can't help but think of IBS?!) and what's the long-term treatment?

So sorry for you,

K x

ps, if it makes you feel any better, I'm off riding at the moment cos I've got another sprog on the way.
 
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how weird - just turned on my computer to see your post - poor you and poor boyz. Didn't realise you were off competing this w/e - how gutting, I bet you were so looking forward to it. As you say, at least you've discovered it early and know the score re treatment but what a pain for you. What does the vet reckon causes the IBD (can't help but think of IBS?!) and what's the long-term treatment?

So sorry for you,

K x

ps, if it makes you feel any better, I'm off riding at the moment cos I've got another sprog on the way.

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Oh congratulations!

Yes, after returning all guns blazing at Aston le Walls with 28 dressage, 1 down SJ and clear XC, last weekend he started to feel really stuffy when SJ again, so I booked him in for scoping - good blooming job too! Was meant to be doing West Wilts this weekend but his leg is still really fat and TBH I'd rather give the drugs a week to work than end up where we were last time with him refusing to jump a stick when SJ.

The IBD (diff from IBS in that there is clear inflammation of the large intestine wall as shown up on ultrasound today) was entirely caused by us - the antibiotics we gave him to clear the glandular ulcers started it off
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However, the slight ulceration shown now is probably linked, so the treatment he's on for the IBD should help apparently. And there are two other courses of treatment to try after this if it doesn't work. The biopsy should tell us more too. Anyway, hopefully I can crack on and go to Monmouth, but we'll see, no point in planning right now! Once it is all under control he shouldn't need any more treatment....apparently
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Arghhh!!!
Rubbish news but at least it's curable. Blooming animal!!

Wanna come spend your afternoon at Pontispool instead on Sunday
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Picnic on me this time
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[ QUOTE ]
Youve always known your horse doesnt just throw the towel in for no reason, i guess this was a good enough reason to do so.
Equally what a bloody pain
frown.gif

Sorry to hear Blenheim didnt go to plan either, but yet again he has a good reason.
Hope he starts feeling better soon
x

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He's not thrown in the towel this time, just felt really stuffy and given me the odd stop this week.
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Blenheim was a farce of gargantuan proportions (not their fault I hasten to add) - we had a day worthy of any black comedy! The actual event was great, I could have just done with slightly more time to learn the course. As it turns out he tried bloody hard considering leg and stomach - just one SJ down (coming out of the double, of course) and a glance off XC which was basically coz I did not walk the course and the line I took placed me under a tree and he did not have room to take off - not his fault poor sod. Did not help that I was v harassed and stressed after the day we'd had and so rode like a complete cretin.
 
Oh I didn't realise you'd already been out (and what a brilliant sounding outing - 28? Blimey!)- at least you've got that under your belt. I assumed you were lining up for your first outing since you got him back, which would have been really frustrating.

Thank God that all sounds quite fixable though - pain about WW but if you can get back on track for Monmouth then there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Are there any probiotics for horses that he could take to prevent anything else like this since he seems prone to stomach issues?

Fingers x-d for monmouth x
 
It's because pre and pro biotics and rice bran have not worked that we're onto this route - he's been on pre and pro biotics since Pontispool ODE earlier in the summer - both biotal equine gold and Protexin, plus he is fed topspec balancer which has them in too
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As always, it could be worse, you are right, would have been dreadful if it had been our first one back! It is 'probably' fixable - but I am trying not to be too optimistic as there is the possibility he falls into the 20% of horses for whom the glandular ulcers are not solveable, which would be heartbreaking as he is the best horse I've ever had.

Still, he owes me nothing and if the worst comes to the worst I can loan him as a hunter or Team Chaser (or both!) as he is still a complete doddle XC and will jump the biggest fences. He be an awesome field masters horse as he will go in front and jump anything, preferable with as little input from the rider as possible!
 
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Youve always known your horse doesnt just throw the towel in for no reason, i guess this was a good enough reason to do so.
Equally what a bloody pain
frown.gif

Sorry to hear Blenheim didnt go to plan either, but yet again he has a good reason.
Hope he starts feeling better soon
x

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He's not thrown in the towel this time, just felt really stuffy and given me the odd stop this week.
frown.gif


Blenheim was a farce of gargantuan proportions (not their fault I hasten to add) - we had a day worthy of any black comedy! The actual event was great, I could have just done with slightly more time to learn the course. As it turns out he tried bloody hard considering leg and stomach - just one SJ down (coming out of the double, of course) and a glance off XC which was basically coz I did not walk the course and the line I took placed me under a tree and he did not have room to take off - not his fault poor sod. Did not help that I was v harassed and stressed after the day we'd had and so rode like a complete cretin.

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Okay, throw the towel in was fairly wrong choice of words. I meant that when he doesnt feel great *stuffy* or has a stop its always because he's not felt very well.

Sounds to me he's done pretty well, his problems sound nasty
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BBs that's true, it's just not his nature
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Poor horse, I do feel bad for him as he does keep trying. I guess when he had the ulcers though, he really did throw in the towel SJ, couldn't get him over the tiniest fences, so that's my benchmark!
 
Oh, how upsetting.

there's the possibility but, so as not to be glass half empty, it's always better (though admittedly harder when everything seems against you) to look at the probability - and that is that there's 80% chance he'll recover and be back on form. It's possible he'll be in the 20% but probable that he'll be in the 80%.

Forget loaning him out as a teamchaser/hunter - he's be great and have a lovely time but it wouldn't satisfy your needs. I'm sure he'll be back on cracking form, ready for you to take the bull by the horns at monmouth.

Keep us posted x
 
No, but he doesn't deserve to be stuck in a field when he could be having fun and then I could buy something to event - it's time which stops me getting a second one now really! I don't think he'll make a nice hack, do you
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I am sure it will be ok in the end, everything does usually work itself out, but this feels like it has been going on forever and I don't have any horribly high aims, just to get back to Novice and have a crack at intermediate would be nice....oh and I would like to not be covered in diarrhea all the time when dealing with him too
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How frustrating! However, at least hes curable. Have you tried turning him out for a short holiday , say 2 months, then bring him back into work with a fibre based diet? again, keeping him out as much as is possible.
 
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How frustrating! However, at least hes curable. Have you tried turning him out for a short holiday , say 2 months, then bring him back into work with a fibre based diet? again, keeping him out as much as is possible.

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He has only ever had a fibre based diet - even before the initial problem. And prior to him being diagnosed last year (when I knew there was something wrong but couldn't get him diagnosed) he had a couple of months off. He always lives out 24/7 in the summer, events off the field, and only comes in in winter once he absolutely has to as dictated by YOs.

Sadly all those angles have been covered so far.
 
Sc very sorry to hear this but sounds like there is a good plan for treatment so fingers crossed for you both that it works.
If it helps mine is off games as well now, sorted the front feet but now the back and back feet are all wrong. Just forked out £50 for a saddle check only to discover saddle is straight but horse is well wonky.
 
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Good luck SC, you know how much I like him!

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MDS and Chatter1 were playing 'lowest unique bid wins' for him at Blenheim yesterday - MDS offered me a fiver and Chatter1 suggested I drop him and the lorry off at hers for free! I felt like giving him away yesterday - now he comes with truck loads of expensive medication too!
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MDS is more keen on him I think, Chatter1 was only playing to be polite....
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Sc very sorry to hear this but sounds like there is a good plan for treatment so fingers crossed for you both that it works.
If it helps mine is off games as well now, sorted the front feet but now the back and back feet are all wrong. Just forked out £50 for a saddle check only to discover saddle is straight but horse is well wonky.

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Oh really sorry to hear that PB - horses are rubbish!
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Fingers crossed your guy gets well soon.
 
SpottedCat, I might be completely barking up the wrong tree here but have you asked your vet to try him on a course of antibiotics? In humans, ulcers are strongly associated with H. Pylori bacteria and are treated with clarithromycin and amoxicillin (along with omeprzaole which is the stuff in Gastrogard). Omeprazole on its own, without antibiotics, has a very high ulcer reoccurence rate. I haven't done a literature search but might be worth a try?
 
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SpottedCat, I might be completely barking up the wrong tree here but have you asked your vet to try him on a course of antibiotics? In humans, ulcers are strongly associated with H. Pylori bacteria and are treated with clarithromycin and amoxicillin (along with omeprzaole which is the stuff in Gastrogard). Omeprazole on its own, without antibiotics, has a very high ulcer reoccurence rate. I haven't done a literature search but might be worth a try?

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LOL - yes, we have been through the whole antibiotic thing with him last year - that's what has triggered this IBD and the slight ulceration which we are now seeing. You have to be careful which antibiotics you use on horses as many of the ones effective in humans on H.pylori kill horses - so he was on doxycycline for a month, which cured him.

Trouble is since then (so 9 months later) he has had persistent diarrhea which has resisted everything thrown at it, so today was a rescope and an abdomen scan to see if there was anything else going on. He has thickening of the wall of the large intestine - in places it is 8.8mm thick when it should only be a max of 5mm, and it is diffuse through the whole LI. So there are 3 possible treatments and we are starting with one and moving to the others (which are progressively more horrible) as and if this doesn't work.

He's under the care of one of the leading gastric ulcer vets and so is in v good hands - my vet actually did a lot of the research into antibiotic treatment in horses, and also did the clinical trials on one of the ulcer supplements available.

Thanks for the thought though.
 
What a nightmare
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and very very frustrating.
Really hope that he comes right soon! The fact that he is still doing runny poo's over what has been such a long period of time now? must have understandably taken its toll on his stomach. Hopefully its just a matter of time plus meds for his gut to repair itself and get back to normal - fingers crossed for Monmouth, we really want to see you both back out eventing this season!!
 
Argh! Bugger
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BUT on the bright side, alot better than originally, so he is moving in the right direction....
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I know it may sound far fetched, but have you thought about using a calmer? Its juts alot of them control the nerves, so therefore may prevent as much acid build up in the stomach when competing?
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Thanks everyone.

Kat - good thought, but I have in the past had him on a calmer and still this happened
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I think it is just one of those things and whilst I hope I get my lovely brave pony back one day, if I don't we'll just have to find him another job.
 
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