Have I lost it or did I give my horse Covid

[tyner]

Viral Enteritis in horses

This article suggests that coronaviruses are one of a few viruses that can can be responsible for enteritis in horses.

Covid-19 in Horses

This one elaborates on the specific symptoms "These can range from fever, depression, diarrhea and colic to fever, diminished appetite, depression without any enteric (in the intestines) or intestinal involvement to asymptomatic infections. Based on field outbreaks of the disease, only about 20% of infected horses develop signs of clinical illness.."

Stay Away from Horses if You Have Covid
There's a lot of research out there from racing yards and elsewhere that suggests pretty clearly horses can get covid from people. Most downplay the risk.

Here's the thing -- vets came out to see Piglet today for a suspected colic. Thankfully not a impaction but they diagnosed a viral cause for slowing his gut down. The symptoms were not extreme, slower gut motility and lethargy. They were not too worried about the prognosis and suggest it should clear up within 24-48hrs. Hope so.

But a virus from where? No horses have been on or off the yard since September 13. The yard is not good about a lot of things but quarantine is strict here and no other horses have been ill.

Curiously I have been fighting off an illness for about two and a half weeks now, that I got from my OH and he got from his parents. The four of us were quite sick and took us all a while to get over, I'm only starting to feel better. We didn't test it for covid but the illness in all of us didn't have the normal cold or flu feeling to it. Independently we all thought it was covid.

It just so happens that while I was fighting off whatever I had, Piglet seemed to get a bit run down himself. He's been a bit quiet the past few days but nothing worrying. I brushed it off and attributed to the crap weather and the changing light.

But then today happened, with all those symptoms listed above loud and clear. No other horse is sick but mine. Vet pretty confident it's not colic and everything points to virus.

I know it sounds insane, but what is the likelihood I gave my horse Covid? It would be a convenient explanation. But it sounds crazy. There are other more likely viral sources, surely? What is the chance? Has anyone else had any experience with this?

 

[SilverLinings]

That is very interesting. I finally caught Covid at the end of September, and was really very unwell for a month before the symptoms started subsiding. I had help with the horses, but three weeks in I had to go a couple of times to check them (they are out) when no one could help. The one who likes to be very physically close to me (would live in my pocket if he could) became unwell; very depressed and unhappy, diarrhoea, loosing weight. The vet couldn't find a cause, and I tried worming and having teeth done early to no avail. He wasn't seriously ill, but clearly unwell. He started to improve around the time I did, and is now back to his usual self. It was a puzzle for the vet and I, and all the vet could suggest was a virus of some kind, with further investigations to be made if it had persisted any longer.

Funnily enough, one of the people helping me out joked that maybe he had caught Covid from me, but I thought it unlikely.

Research papers on CV in horses and transmission of CV from humans to horses here:

Equine Coronaviruses - PubMed

Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In equids, equine coronavirus has been associated with diarrhea in foals and lethargy, fever, anorexia, and occasional gastrointestinal signs in adult horses. Although horses seem to be susceptible to the...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Equine Coronavirus-Associated Colitis in Horses: A Retrospective Study - PubMed

Equine coronavirus (ECoV) is a known cause of fever, anorexia, and lethargy in adult horses. Although there are multiple reports of ECoV outbreaks, less is known about the clinical presentation of individual horses during a nonoutbreak situation. The purpose of this study was to describe the...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

equine coronavirus - Search Results - PubMed

equine coronavirus - Search Results - PubMed

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[tyner]

That is very interesting. I finally caught Covid at the end of September, and was really very unwell for a month before the symptoms started subsiding. I had help with the horses, but three weeks in I had to go a couple of times to check them (they are out) when no one could help. The one who likes to be very physically close to me (would live in my pocket if he could) became unwell; very depressed and unhappy, diarrhoea, loosing weight. The vet couldn't find a cause, and I tried worming and having teeth done early to no avail. He wasn't seriously ill, but clearly unwell. He started to improve around the time I did, and is now back to his usual self. It was a puzzle for the vet and I, and all the vet could suggest was a virus of some kind, with further investigations to be made if it had persisted any longer.

Funnily enough, one of the people helping me out joked that maybe he had caught Covid from me, but I thought it unlikely.

Research papers on CV in horses and transmission of CV from humans to horses here:

Equine Coronaviruses - PubMed

Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In equids, equine coronavirus has been associated with diarrhea in foals and lethargy, fever, anorexia, and occasional gastrointestinal signs in adult horses. Although horses seem to be susceptible to the...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Equine Coronavirus-Associated Colitis in Horses: A Retrospective Study - PubMed

Equine coronavirus (ECoV) is a known cause of fever, anorexia, and lethargy in adult horses. Although there are multiple reports of ECoV outbreaks, less is known about the clinical presentation of individual horses during a nonoutbreak situation. The purpose of this study was to describe the...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

equine coronavirus - Search Results - PubMed

equine coronavirus - Search Results - PubMed

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

That's really interesting, I'm so glad to hear you and your horse are feeling better.

The research does suggest there's a clear link we can pass it to them, of it is covid I'm heartbroken imagining it could have been me.

 

[Phoenix/Max]

This is a very interesting topic. 2 years ago my boy became extremely ill, blood tests showed an elevation, indicating virus/infection. His symptom's at the time, complete shut down within himself, high temperature, projectile diarrhoea which smelt, in a lot of pain, completely off his food. He was treated at the time with antibiotics, painkillers and steroid injections, unfortunately he didn't respond immediately. We felt at the time that he was better out in the field and kept comfortable, the vet visited everyday, sometimes twice a day. At one point he started to struggle to walk, and at this point it was decided that the kindest thing to do was to PTS, the boy had a different idea he chose to live and is still going now. To date the vet and myself have no idea what caused the illness, but at the time I mentioned about horses getting covid and he confirmed that they could. At the time I had just recovered from Covid

 

[tyner]

This is a very interesting topic. 2 years ago my boy became extremely ill, blood tests showed an elevation, indicating virus/infection. His symptom's at the time, complete shut down within himself, high temperature, projectile diarrhoea which smelt, in a lot of pain, completely off his food. He was treated at the time with antibiotics, painkillers and steroid injections, unfortunately he didn't respond immediately. We felt at the time that he was better out in the field and kept comfortable, the vet visited everyday, sometimes twice a day. At one point he started to struggle to walk, and at this point it was decided that the kindest thing to do was to PTS, the boy had a different idea he chose to live and is still going now. To date the vet and myself have no idea what caused the illness, but at the time I mentioned about horses getting covid and he confirmed that they could. At the time I had just recovered from Covid

Oh my goodness I am so glad your boy is ok, what an awful thing and how close things came..

 

[FFAQ]

A horse I know of locally was diagnosed with covid a couple of weeks ago. I didn't get the chance to ask much about it, but I was surprised the vet thought to test for it!

 

[ycbm]

There are a huge number of corona viruses. Equine corona virus is well known and not the same as human corona virus that is Covid 19. I doubt there is a test available to a vet for human Covid19 in a horse.

There does seem to be quite a possibility that humans can infect horses though with some difficulty.
.

 

[Goldenstar]

My horses all got a respiratory virus all living out at home .
This was at the height of the foot and mouth outbreak they went no where I was having no contact with other horses or going anywhere horsy .
It’s always bothered me how it got here .

Tyner I hope you horse is better soon

 

[ecb89]

I was shocked to read equine flu can travel 5km on the wind so it wouldn’t surprise me if other viruses can also spread a decent distance.

 

[ycbm]

My horses all got a respiratory virus all living out at home .
This was at the height of the foot and mouth outbreak they went no where I was having no contact with other horses or going anywhere horsy .
It’s always bothered me how it got here .

Tyner I hope you horse is better soon

Mine got a snotty nose 48 hours after the vet had done their teeth with no apparent disinfection of her tools. They hadn't met any other human or horse for weeks.

It may simply have been an attempt to evade blame, but the senior partner told me that the coldy version of EHV sits in the system and can reactivate any time, especially under stress.
.

 

[Patterdale]

My horses all got the most dreadful respiratory virus about 3 weeks into the first lockdown. None of them had left the premises for weeks and the next nearest horse to mine is 4 miles away as the crow flies. One of them became very ill, never really recovered and has had to be retired. Exactly like long covid.

I always said it was covid related, and I’m still sure it was.

 

[Hobo2]

Coronavirus and rotavirus have been around in cattle for 40+ years. We vaccinated our cows 6 weeks before calving so they made the antibodies to protect the calves from it . It presented as scours in baby calves .
I don’t think we need to panic about passing our covid on to our horses ect as it is usually a different strain of the virus. I believe there are many, many strains of the virus around us all the time.
After all I do not think that it presented as scours in humans. Though I wonder if the panic buying of toilet rolls in the early days of human covid was started by us farmers somehow .
I guess when we are ill with any virus type illness good hygiene is sensible.
All very interesting.

 

[OrangeAndLemon]

My friend lost his young cat when it caught covid 19 from him.

 

[Smogul]

There are a huge number of corona viruses. Equine corona virus is well known and not the same as human corona virus that is Covid 19. I doubt there is a test available to a vet for human Covid19 in a horse.

There does seem to be quite a possibility that humans can infect horses though with some difficulty.
.

Apparently cats have been infected with the human variant Covid 19. Just realised crossposted.

 

[Kaylum]

They can also get strangles and don't show the full signs. Many years ago a horse on our yard had it and most of the horses had a higher than normal temperature and were a bit off for about 3 weeks. Bearing in mind vets didn't know much about strangles then. That's how they get herd immunity.

 

[blitznbobs]

Mine got a snotty nose 48 hours after the vet had done their teeth with no apparent disinfection of her tools. They hadn't met any other human or horse for weeks.

It may simply have been an attempt to evade blame, but the senior partner told me that the coldy version of EHV sits in the system and can reactivate any time, especially under stress.
.

This is probably true … the human version lasts a life time

 

[SEL]

Given its a new virus and it took a while before they realised it could be passed to cats I wouldn't be surprised if horses could catch it - it would take an on the ball vet to test.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Ohh my goodness! I hadn't a clue about the possibility of horses getting COVID.

Reading what everyone has said here, it is a bit overwhelming!

Thinking about it, my pony was diagnosed with Asthma during the epidemic.............. I was poorly too with something, tested negative, but my symptoms were the same as friends who'd had Covid, so wonder whether I had a faulty test kit.

Gobsmacked TBH.

 

[Indieanna6]

Two years ago, my mare suddenly went extremely lethargic and unwilling to move at all, wouldn’t eat a thing and was running a temp of 41. 9 hours after the first vet visit they were telling me to be prepared to lose her. Bloods were clear, after three days of painkiller and antibiotic injections she all of a sudden was back to herself. I’d had covid the week before and did ask the vet about it at the time but they said they didn’t think it was connected, we never found out what the cause was but it’s certainly something I never want to go through again.

 

[Indieanna6]

This is a very interesting topic. 2 years ago my boy became extremely ill, blood tests showed an elevation, indicating virus/infection. His symptom's at the time, complete shut down within himself, high temperature, projectile diarrhoea which smelt, in a lot of pain, completely off his food. He was treated at the time with antibiotics, painkillers and steroid injections, unfortunately he didn't respond immediately. We felt at the time that he was better out in the field and kept comfortable, the vet visited everyday, sometimes twice a day. At one point he started to struggle to walk, and at this point it was decided that the kindest thing to do was to PTS, the boy had a different idea he chose to live and is still going now. To date the vet and myself have no idea what caused the illness, but at the time I mentioned about horses getting covid and he confirmed that they could. At the time I had just recovered from Covid

Crikey @Phoenix/Max, this sounds about identical to what I had, it wasn’t in the July was it?!

 

[tyner]

Thanks everyone for your replies, really some concerning things.

On Sunday morning he was bright as a button, hungry and eating great.

But on hearing he could have a virus yard owner was livid and basically forced him into quarantine stable (he was already separated from other horses in his own barn) that was unfamiliar to him and he got mightily upset and worked himself into a lather. 3 vets called her and said given his symptoms (temperature high normal not fever, passing manure normally no diarrhea, no respiratory signs, no snotty nose) they would not isolate.

She wouldn't budge on that so I stayed with him the whole day so he wouldn't be upset and was finally able to make a quarantine paddock 30 meters from all others. He calmed down when outside and was doing fine. Eating and relaxed. But his routine seriously disrupted and the quarantine paddock has much better grass than his normal one so really don't have a good comparison.

Brought him inside for his evening dinner and he ate almost all of it, big change since day perviously. Picking at hay and generally seeming fine. I'm thinking everything is going to be ok. When he was in the stable I took his temperature and got readings of 38.8, 39.2 and 39.4. Fever and higher than yesterday.

Not wanting to panic as everything else was seemingly fine (fever really not fine), I put him back out in the quarantine paddock and observed. He went to lay down and relaxed for about 10 minutes. He got up and then layed down again on the other side. I thought it was unusual but then I'm thinking to myself he's had a stressful day and a long night in the stable on his own and been though a lot with me watching him all day. And maybe it's because me watching all day I'm dissecting each time he lays down, every roll as a sign it's colic.

I call the vets to fill them in and they want to come check. I go out with the halter and leadrope to bring him in as it's now pitch dark. He high tails it away, taking off and refuses to get caught. Oh no he's never done this before but it's a pretty clear sign he wants to be left alone.

After a few minutes of him taking off at a brisk trot and flailing around in the dark to catch him, I call the vets and say don't bother, he's obviously feeling well enough and I don't know if I'll be able to catch him anyway. And maybe it can wait until Monday morning. They are very concerned and insist on coming. I'm able to get him not too long later when he stops to drink some water.

Vet arrives right on time and she was feeling pretty good about his condition with the exception of the temperature (well now hard to judge accurately as he was running around). Eating and comfortable but maybe a bit tucked up. Gut sounds about the same as yesterday a bit slow but things are moving. She gives pain relief and then an antibiotic suggesting maybe it is an idiopathic peronitis. If things don't clear up in the morning then it is time to be very concerned.

We will see how he is in the morning hopefully there is no fever. If there is, they want to do a belly tap and see what could be there.

I'm in complete knots.

 

[Kaylum]

Hope he is OK xxx

 

[Hormonal Filly]

Hope he is ok @tyner, sending healing vibes

 

[southerncomfort]

Thinking of you Tyner and hoping he's a bit better today.

 

[tyner]

Update this morning: relaxed and quiet, temp 37.5
Ate breakfast fine, seemed in good spirits drinking water. What a relief.

She did an injection of some antibiotics last night so maybe there is something bacterial.

Manure pile in field looser than normal, but not watery, I am going to attribute to the antibiotics and the richer grass in the quarantine area.

Will let him be and not panic until the next check up

They've prescribed a course of antibiotics so really hoping this is swiftly on the mend.

Thanks everyone