AZZA
New User
My 24 year old mare has suffered seizures do you all think I would be unwise to stable her overnight ?
Horse seizures
- Thread starter AZZA
- Start date
ozpoz
Well-Known Member
Depends how often, and what triggers them. What does your vet think?
Puddleduck
Well-Known Member
Have you seen her having a seizure? What happens when she has one?
My mare had Cushings and started having seizures for about 3 years before I made the decision to pts last October.
We didn't know she was having them at first. She was stables at night and we'd find her bed disturbed, water bucket over turned and odd scrapes on her head. We thought she was either colicking or suffering night blindness due to cataracts at first until she went into one during daytime.
Vet advised to stop riding as she was dangerous so she was retired immediately. I had no option regarding stabling at night as she was colic and laminitis risk due to medical history and Cushings.
Has your mare been tested for Cushings, has she just started the seizures? We are coming into the seasonal peak which causes the pituitary gland to react and any tumour that may be present could be increasing in size and putting pressure on the brain/ nerves (this was the vets theory for my mare as her seizures always coincided with seasonal ACTH peaks).
Speak to your vet they may try her on steroids to manage possible tumour swelling - my mare was treated with prednisolone which helped but did not completely stop the fits.
I would think that she's better off staying out if she's happy in the field as there's less for her to hit herself on if she goes down whilst having an episode.
My mare had Cushings and started having seizures for about 3 years before I made the decision to pts last October.
We didn't know she was having them at first. She was stables at night and we'd find her bed disturbed, water bucket over turned and odd scrapes on her head. We thought she was either colicking or suffering night blindness due to cataracts at first until she went into one during daytime.
Vet advised to stop riding as she was dangerous so she was retired immediately. I had no option regarding stabling at night as she was colic and laminitis risk due to medical history and Cushings.
Has your mare been tested for Cushings, has she just started the seizures? We are coming into the seasonal peak which causes the pituitary gland to react and any tumour that may be present could be increasing in size and putting pressure on the brain/ nerves (this was the vets theory for my mare as her seizures always coincided with seasonal ACTH peaks).
Speak to your vet they may try her on steroids to manage possible tumour swelling - my mare was treated with prednisolone which helped but did not completely stop the fits.
I would think that she's better off staying out if she's happy in the field as there's less for her to hit herself on if she goes down whilst having an episode.
AZZA
New User
Hi I have never witnessed but my friend says she just drops twitches for a few seconds then gets up and wanders off as if nothing happened. My vet said she is old and the reason she having fits is almost irrelevant outcome pretty much the same 😞Monitor her , she eats well and is in good shape for her age she hasn't had one( that I know of ) for well over a year , never injured herself .
fatpiggy
Well-Known Member
If that is all she does, then unless she falls in a position she can't get back up from, then she will probably be ok. Sometimes its better to keep them contained as the seizure may cause them to run about and then you are looking at collision injuries, crashing through fences, etc. Bear in mind that each seizure causes microscopic brain damage and makes the brain more trigger happy, so there is a chance that they will get worse and more frequent. Does she always have them at the same time of day?