EventingMum
Well-Known Member
This is probably more veterinary but there's more traffic in here.
Long story short one of our horses was looking really miserable with half shut eyes and rubbing them, he was also tossing his head and resting his chin on the stable wall. The vet came and couldn't see anything in his eyes and flushed his tear ducts although only managed to flush one through.
Two days later he became very distressed so was referred to the vet school where his worst eye was nerve blocked and both eyes ultra sounded. Although not a completely normal presentation a diagnosis of posterior uveitis was made, his pupils dilated with atropine and steriod ointment prescribed. During his four days there he behaved impecably with no head tossing.
He was home three days when he started showing signs of distress again so was readmitted. The effects of the atropine had worn off, much sooner than expected and so he was kept in to allow more optical examinations. The following day I got a call to say he was head shaking so violently they had to sedate him to prevent him injuring himself or the staff. Having seen him as his normal well mannered self this was something of a shock to the vets and they said it's the worst case they have ever seen. The videos they showed me are awful, he was throwing himself about and rearing in the stable. They have scoped all his trachea, nasal passages, and guteral pouches and x rayed his head but have found nothing.
They suspect idiopathic headshaking but are sending him to Edinburgh on Monday for a head CT scan assuming he's settled enough to travel. If nothing is found then they suggest trying PENS Therapy with him, they have sent videos of him the the vet who pioneered this therapy and she thinks it's worth trying. I'm completely devastated, it's horrible seeing him so distressed and has come on so quickly, a couple of weeks ago nothing seemed wrong with him. I'm also aware that the long term sucess rate of PENS Therapy isn't that great. Does anyone have any experience of it? Any insights would be most welcome. TIA
Long story short one of our horses was looking really miserable with half shut eyes and rubbing them, he was also tossing his head and resting his chin on the stable wall. The vet came and couldn't see anything in his eyes and flushed his tear ducts although only managed to flush one through.
Two days later he became very distressed so was referred to the vet school where his worst eye was nerve blocked and both eyes ultra sounded. Although not a completely normal presentation a diagnosis of posterior uveitis was made, his pupils dilated with atropine and steriod ointment prescribed. During his four days there he behaved impecably with no head tossing.
He was home three days when he started showing signs of distress again so was readmitted. The effects of the atropine had worn off, much sooner than expected and so he was kept in to allow more optical examinations. The following day I got a call to say he was head shaking so violently they had to sedate him to prevent him injuring himself or the staff. Having seen him as his normal well mannered self this was something of a shock to the vets and they said it's the worst case they have ever seen. The videos they showed me are awful, he was throwing himself about and rearing in the stable. They have scoped all his trachea, nasal passages, and guteral pouches and x rayed his head but have found nothing.
They suspect idiopathic headshaking but are sending him to Edinburgh on Monday for a head CT scan assuming he's settled enough to travel. If nothing is found then they suggest trying PENS Therapy with him, they have sent videos of him the the vet who pioneered this therapy and she thinks it's worth trying. I'm completely devastated, it's horrible seeing him so distressed and has come on so quickly, a couple of weeks ago nothing seemed wrong with him. I'm also aware that the long term sucess rate of PENS Therapy isn't that great. Does anyone have any experience of it? Any insights would be most welcome. TIA
