Grass Sickness

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I don't often venture in here, so please be gentle with me! I am also going to post this in veterinary in the hopes of getting some ideas.

A horse at my yard has Grass Sickness :( I have never seen such dramatic weight loss in my life. The vet has told us that there are 3 types of the illness all with differing prognoses. The horse at the yard has the 'milder' version of it. He has spent time in horspital and is now back on the yard to be nursed at home and hass a 50/50 chance. In himself he seems bright enough, has a spring in his step and seems interested in his surroundings. However he is having trouble eating, most of what he takes in, he dribbles back out and seems unable to swallow. The vet has given him a week to start eating or time will called as he is starving to death :( Between us we have been wracking our brains trying to come up with things that he can easily eat and will tempt him. It is absolutely heart breaking seeing his teenage owner spending every day and half the night sat with him, with bowls of different things trying to get him eat and she is breaking her heart.

Does anyone have any tips? Has anyone been through this and come out the otherside? How did you manage it? Please help.
 
Sorry have only been thruogh this once and horse did not come out the other side Heartbreaking to watch as did not seem ill in himself Good luck my thoughts and prayers are with your yard, as it affects everybody
 
If the horse cannot eat, why is it home? Surely it should be at the vets with a stomach tube and be on a drip?
It sounds like he has some sort of paralysis or something preventing him swallowing.

The only experience I have with GS was an acute case where the horse sadly deteriorated and had to be PTS very quickly.

I hope this one pulls through.
 
Poor girl, its such a horrible illness, i have'nt personaly been through it, but when mine have been unable to eat, i soaked their feeds with hot water to make it very soft and mushy and they sort of sucked it up, i also pureed apples and carrots. I really hope the horse recovers.
 
Have you tried bran mash and getting his head right up above whats "normal". Sounds silly but thats how Honey ate when she hurt her mouth.

Hope horse recovers :( Keep us updated! x
 
I am nursing a case like this right now, she too is at home, the stress of going into a strange environment would have tipped her over the edge - so yes in some cases of this type it is better to keep them at home.
 
a friends horse was in the same boat and we tried all types of food i used to bring home some of the different mixes from work, she used to feed him like someone said at a higher level than normal which helped.
just a thought what about phoning feed companies and seeing if they will send out samples of their different feeds,
I hope the horse gets better and starts to eat a heartbreaking disease.
By the way the friends horse did make it through.
 
Laafet and YeehaRider- thank you
Roody2 - because the vet would rather he was home, with his owner in familiar and comfortable surroundings. There is no paralysis, he is simply finding it very hard to swallow - ever had a sore throat?
Tinkerlily and bettyboo - we are trying all of that and he manages small amounts.
Montyforever - we tried a bran mash and he refused point blank to even try it!
 
Thank you Winslow, a good idea but as we only have a week to 'turn him around' I'm not sure the feed companies would be able to respond in time to be useful. I will suggest the higher level of feeding tomorrow and see if that makes any difference to him. Glad to hear yours pulled through. I have never had any experience of this illness and know very little about it, what I learned in my BHS exams has long since vanished from my memory!
 
From my understanding of grass sickness - known two horses come down with it near by and pts, so talked to our vet about it trying to dampen down the risks etc.

However, from what I understand, whatever toxin is produced then eaten somehow paralizes the gut from mouth to bum, it literally stops the nerves from working.

I hope for the best. But all the horses I know from around my area this year whom have had it sadly haven't come through it.
 
Have you tried Fast Fibre from Allen and Page. You can make it as sloppy as you like so they just slurp it up and most seem to really like it. You could add mollasses to it to make it even more appealing.

Hope the poor horse pulls through.
 
(((Hugs)))
Its an awful illness, You can feel so useless. My friends horse had it just over a year ago and very luckly pulled through!!
Try getting a big syringe and blend carrots put in a sloppy bran mash and syringe down horses neck.

Good luck!! hope all works out well!!
 
Thanks kandm, we all have our fingers crossed too, the vet said some do recover but it is a long old haul :( I didn't know about the paralysis thing, that is awful
 
JackFrost said:
Thanks kandm, we all have our fingers crossed too, the vet said some do recover but it is a long old haul :( I didn't know about the paralysis thing, that is awful
Click to expand...

If you want the best advice/knowledge, try researching Edinburgh University research on grass sickness. They tend to have some of the best and most resent knowledge of it :).
 
Hi Jack Frost, have replied to you in veterinary.

My boy had it and we nursed him through. See my other reply and pm me if you want anymore help.

The syndrome affects the sympathetic side of the nervous system and there are varying degrees of paralysis of the digestive system, depending on the degree of neuronal damage along its length. So for example some horses loose the ability to swallow effectively, making nursing pretty ineffective, while others, like Gully, still can swallow but don't want to eat. I have read some post mortem accounts where, if I remember correctly, up to 50% of the neurones in the gut wall were found to be destroyed in a horse that had actually survived the disease.

It's blummen awful, and I understand anyone not being able to find the strength to do the nursing- I nearly gave up but I'm so pleased I didn't as I wouldn't have my lovely boy today. He seems to have made a full recovery to all intents and purposes.
 
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Bounce - his owner started trying mollases in feed tonight, I don't how it went as I had to get my baby home for her tea. I know she has tried loads of feeds so not sure about that particular one, I will mention it to her.
Brighteyes - not sure which it is.
Diamondgeezer - that's an interesting idea! I will pass it on. You're right about feeling helpless, that's why I am posting now because I feel I can't just sit by and watch but don't know what, if anything I can do to help, so all idea's you lot can give me will be passed on to his owner and I thank you all very much for them and for your good wishes.
 
there's a whole host of info on diet for EGS cases ont he Grass Sickness Fund website and the Dick Vet at Edinburgh have really done the most work in nursing chronic cases-please call them tomorrow as they have a dedicated GS nurse with lots of experience. sugar beet, bananas, molasses-anything soft and high calorie is good and lots of human company-stops them getting too depressed.

best of luck.

oh, and stomach tubing/drips are not always the best thing for grassers-lots of gentle TLC and high calorie diet is.
 
Sound like you have already received some great help here but thought i'd also give you some hope, my friend is currently nursing her mare through this, she is on about week 10, she too had trouble eating, feed and water just falling back out of her mouth, but after much tears and perseverence she is coming through very very very slowly, she does now look like she is putting on a tiny bit of weight, she's gone from skin and bone to having a very slight covering, its been heartbraking to see her but inspiring because all along she's had a fighting spirit, my friend said all the while she wants to live, she will try to keep her alive, when she gives up she'll know she can't do it anymore, and bless her the mare has never given up so nor has my friend and its paying off in dividends, she's even starting to be a bit naughty this week so really is starting to feel better, my friend has never been so happy about her horse being naughty :D

Sending you all the huge good luck vibes possible, I hope you pull him through ;)
 
Thank you all so much for all this wonderful advice and great ideas. I am going to print this thread off in the morning and give it his owner. I can't thank you enough and I will try to keep you updated to his progress. Please carry on if you come up with anything else, I'm off to check out some of the websites you have suggested and find some important phone numbers. Thank you again I really really appreciate this.
 
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