Hope has Wobblers.

S

Spotsrock

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Hi, just as promised to let you know, Hope has a positive Wobblers diagnosis from the vet.

He says treatment will be about £2-3000. I'm not sure what to do now. I can't afford it myself but I don't want to ship her straight back to sales, (yes I'm soft and an idiot!!).

I'm trying to get your horse and the like involved raising awareness and try to raise the money to fix her with sponsored stuff and magazine features. What does anyone think?? Do you reckon it's do-able?

If I do this then obviously she will have her own bank account with two trustees and everything will be done properly. I've got a fundraising rules and regs pack from the fundraising council GB. Any ideas?
 
The operation is very risky and has a poor success rate so i wouldnt even bother. Try physio first. It is much cheaper and you will know if it has made an impact fairly quickly. Video her now and then video her after about 4-6 treatments.

Have you had xrays and a myelogram done? Xrays give a clue but myelogram is the definitve way of diagnosing.

Vets dont know alot about wobblers and will diagnose it even when there are other possibilities such as an injury to the neck or the spine in misalignment both of which can possibly be helped with physio. Yes your horse has symptoms of wobblers but without a myelogram you dont know for certain. That is one reason why I would question the diagnosis of wobblers in the untreatable form. Plus the genetic factors.

Sorry but it actually makes me very angry when vets say an animal has wobblers without having a myelogram or even xrays done. Your horse has a neurological problem which may or may not be wobblers. It may or may not be treatable without going under the knife.

From my own experience, I would look at alternative treatments. Chiro and physio.
 
PTS. This horse does not have a future. You've been unlucky but its the risk you took buying from sales. You won't be doing the horse a favour sending her back there. You do not owe this horse that kind of money for treatment. Please be realistic.
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People who try to raise money to pay their vets bills as charity are not looked upon favourably.
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Really sorry to hear the news. We had an ex bsja mare that we only owned for 6 mnths when diagnosed as 'ataxic' (having passed a 5 stage vetting!). We were advised to pts as although she was happy as a companion, our vet felt she would only get worse, with the possibility of coming down in the field and unable to get up.
Very sad situation for you but please do not sell her on - not fair on the horse or whoever buys her.
 
Am sorry to hear the news. Your vet should have graded the Ataxia as either 1,2 or 3 for severity. 1 is just detected in normal gait, 2 is easily detected & exaggerated by backing & neck extension & 3 is very prominent both walking, trotting & with turning, loins pressure & neck extension.

There can also be signs such as facial paresis, muscle wastage, stumbling, lameness, parked stance etc.

Radiographic examination in my opinion, is the main method of an accurate diagnosis, & I trust your vet did that when assessing?

Unless the horse is complety unsafe to be around due to falling over etc, I would suggest sports massage or physio. I am biased as I'm a sports massage therapist, but on horses I've worked on regular treatment plus an exercising regime to retrain the neural pathways has made a big improvement.

Good luck & keep us all posted on your progress.
 
my mctimoney won't treat, says nothin she can do I do use a second who I will try, I've also spoken to one of those retirement home thingys, not sure I agree with them as far as keeping elderly horses proped up for people to gorp at but in this case it may be a good option. I think I've found a good one. they have an on site vet so they'll give her best care while monitering her closely.
 
nope, no gadgets, machinary or utensils were used to diagnose, he just watched her walk, made her turn tight circles, kinda like a turn on her quarters, then some very tight serpentines, then he pulled her tail to either side as she walked which threw her off balance. Then he confirmed he had wobblers.
 
Sorry to hear your news but i'm afraid the kindest thing you can do as a responsible owner is to put her to sleep. I know it's a very hard decision (had quite a bit of experience unfortunately) but palming her off to a retirement home is not fair on the horse or the home, especially if it is a chaity funded one, as ultimately you are passing the problem - and final decision when it comes - to someone else.

If it is a retirement home where you have to pay for the keep then i suggest the money would be better spent on further diagnosis instead.

Sorry if this all sounds harsh, it's not meant to be.
 
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nope, no gadgets, machinary or utensils were used to diagnose, he just watched her walk, made her turn tight circles, kinda like a turn on her quarters, then some very tight serpentines, then he pulled her tail to either side as she walked which threw her off balance. Then he confirmed he had wobblers.

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Sorry but had to laugh. No nerve blocks? no painkillers? No xrays? No myelogram/radiogram? No nothing? Sorry but your vet is out of touch with current research and thinking. He cannot diagnose wobblers from those tests. He might suspect, but cant diagnose. Yes he can possibly diagnose neurological problems but he cant diagnose true wobblers. There are other possibilities, that are treatable, that could give the same symptoms.
 
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