I thought seren was going to die today

[Moggy in Manolos]

I have had the most awful day, it just feels so surreal.

I was up making serens paddock bigger for her first thing this morning and she was stood there happily one minute, and the next minute she started to have a very very strange episode.

It started in her lips and face, she started having spasms in her lip and then her head and then neck, and her body, mostly on one side went all tense and she was shaking, she almost went to keel over, it frightened her and she began to try and trot around to get away from this odd feeling she was having.

She was all over the place bumping into the fence all the way along but she was obviously finding it hard to control herself, my poor baby. She seemed completely disorientated and scared.

This lasted five minutes and i thought she was dieing in front of me. I kept trying to call the vets but i could not get through, i rang my friend who was engaged, tried the vets again, then my friend again and got through, she got the vet out and came down to the field.

Apparently the phone lines had gone down, it was the longest 5minutes of my life, she seemed subdued afterwards and now you would not know anything happened at all.
It was awful and today has been so surreal.

The vet did not know what it was but was happy she performed normally on all the tests when she arrived and checked her over.
She said it was either poisoning or a tumour.
Seren has not shown any signs of anything being wrong before now, and the vet did say that you may have expected to see some signs before now.

I do hope it was something she ate and that it has passed, but i just don't know. I am terrified and know i will not sleep well tonight, my poor beautiful girl.
The vet said there was no point in doing tests as there have been no other signs of a problem and she seems as normal now.
I left her turned out in the main field overnight last night, and although i have not seem anything harmful growing there is just so many different plants and trees growing there something could be lurking

I moved her to the yard we were due to move to in two weeks this afternoon at the last minute, as she has a stable and a very very quiet mare to be out with, we had neither of these things at our field so it was a 5minute drive there.

I was so relieved she travelled ok, she has had a terrible day and i didnt know what to do for the best, not that she seems affected, its me that left scarred just now
So please your good vibes would be most appreciated for my darling girl, who has had quite a rough time of late.
Thanks for listening

Has anyone else ever had any such experiences? If you have i would really appreciate hearing from you

 

[MrsMozart]

Aw hunny! Thinking of your babe (and you!). All crossed that it was a passing 'thing' and that now it's gone.

Hugs.

 

[Bowen4Horses]

oh god, poor you. poor seren too. i hope she's ok. and settled nicely into her new home.


xxx

 

[Paint it Lucky]

That must have been awfull for you

I'm glad she seemed ok afterwards, hopefully it was just a one off? Good luck Seren, hope you are ok (and Puss_in_Boots) (((((((hugs)))))))

 

[JoBo]

Oh your poor girl!

Yes, it was my friends’ pony. The pony had what seemed like at the time a stroke, shaking, loss of balance etc. However by the time the vet came up the pony had recovered but was subdued. They found nothing wrong with her and she has been absolutely fine ever since (this was before Christmas). It was all very odd.

 

[Quadro]

im so sorry hope everything will be ok and keep us updated

 

[teresagarsden]

How awful for you and your ned. I hope she has a good night and feels much better. As for you choccy bickies are good for shock so enjoy.
teresa

 

[Slinkyunicorn]

How awful for your and your girlie. Hope it was a one off and she is all better now. Hugs for you both. xxx

 

[3BayGeldings]

It sounds like when my dog has an epilectic fit - did the vet mention this as a possibility at all?

Really hope she is ok from now on

x

 

[tasel]

*HUGS*

Hope she gets better soon and it was just something she ate. Felt like that when my little dog had some sort of epileptic fit...

 

[Bay_Beasty]

I was thinking epileptic fit or stroke when I read that..hope it is neither and just a reaction to something in the field. Poor girlie, hope you and her are O.K. and tomorrow she is fine and dandy. (((((HUGS))))))

 

[_OC_]

Feel for you,must have shaken you up,I hope she is OK now.
It may have been a one off experince in your mare,and may never manifest again.......I would just keep a close eye on her,and try(Difficult I know!)not to send yourself insane with worry...I would think if another episode happens again your vet will investigate alot futher.With a change of grazing this might help,all the best.

 

[Moggy in Manolos]

Thank you so much to you all, it really has been a hideous day,i really thought she was going to die in the most awful way infront of me.

I hope its a one off, will keep you all posted, she seemed perfectly happy this afternoon, she was out a on nice big bare paddock with some hay and her best mate bonnie, if i get a chance i will take some pictures soon and post them.
It is a yard we were at before so she is settled straight away, plus being in with her best mate who is a sweetheart cob will keep her company if she does have another episode, which i hope she does not.
Also the YO lives on site so will keep a close eye out, plus its a big yard with people up there for alot of hours of the day, so lots of eyes to keep a look out.
Thanks again everyone, will keep you updated xx

 

[scotsmare]

Hugs to you and Seren - fingers crossed she is ok tomorrow

 

[marlyclay]

I have heard on rare occasions that migrating worm larvae can sometimes cause problems in the brain which may cause neurolgical symptoms such as you experienced today.My friend had a similar experience with an old horse of hers many years ago,he suffered two attacks and then was succesfully treated with a cattle wormer.Ask you vet if this could be a possible.I believe he was diagnosed after blood tests.

 

[charlie55]

Aww god, how scary for you, bug hugs and ill keep everything crossed that shes ok x

 

[silverbullet]

I have PM'd you!

 

[Moggy in Manolos]

Thanks again all, and thanks for your thoughts, ideas and experiences.
Thats a very interesting thought too marlyclay, i shall look into it, i need to worm her tomorrow anyway as have just moved her so shall make sure we get the relevant stuff to try at the country store tomorrow

 

[kerilli]

ask vet about "ryegrass staggers" (not necessarily caused by ryegrass fwiw). one of mine had a similar-ish episode years ago, vet came and gave her a massive dose of vitamins and minerals (i have no idea what) and she was absolutely fine ever after. it was really frightening at the time, she was staggering around as if drunk and obviously couldn't control herself properly and was getting panicky.

 

[natalia]

We had a riding school pony have something similar, it was going back from a hack and just went o keel over, thought it was going to die, but it recovered pretty quickly. Vet coudn't fnd anything but again thought it may be a stroke. he was withdarwn from RS work as obv. you can't risk clients on something like that.

 

[Cash]

Well done for reacting well, hope it is a passing thing, ****vibes**** xx

 

[Moggy in Manolos]

Thanks everyone,so many more stories in response than i had expected, a real range of experiences and ideas.
I am going to keep a very close eye on her and hope it never happens again, my poor girl, not that she seemed remotely effected some time after, thanks again

 

[gails]

Poor you, it is horid isnt it. Dexter when he was going down and not getting up ( fingers crossed it has passed) his eyes would roll and bared teeth, then all of a sudden jump up as though nothing had happened, fingers crossed it is the first and last time for you.

 

[Keltic]

It sounds very similar to when my old mare had a stroke. I was there when it happened and I called the vet as I didnt know what was happening she started twitching and shaking and being very strange etc my 1st thought was colic but it was like no colic id ever seen, my vet confirmed she had had a stroke, that was over 5 yrs ago and im pleased to say she has had no other episodes and has continued to be happy and healthy and she loves being retired.
Hope Seren is ok let us know how she goes on.

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Llwyncwn posted a week ago on something similar. Her rescued pony mare's whole body was quivering in random muscle spasms and tics. Even her face and rear end and mouth. Went on for hours. Ponio very subdued and eyes staring. Even her startle reflex was subdued and the vets weren't sure if she could see at all! The vets came and first gave her an injection of diazepam to sedate her a little to see if that would help. It didn't. Then they gave a tiny injection of steroids because they were afraid it was a brain/spinal cord injury and the steroids would have stopped further inflammation. Nothing really helped except time. 3 days after this episode, ponio was fine and everyone hoped it was a one-off. To my horror though, I learned that she is having another attack as we speak. I think Llwyncwn has posted on the Forum but haven't found it yet. Good luck with your ned and please let us know how she gets on PiB x

 

[Grey_Eventer]

did the vet mention epilepsy, not sure if horses get it but as someone else said it does sounds like what happens to my dog when he has a fit. hes always very quiet after it and then after a while hes fine. but it starts in his feet and nose and they sort of twitch a bit, then he goes shaky all over and runs about well not runs but crashes, he just flys into things... could it have been similar to an epileptic fit?
hope shes ok now

poor you

 

[Moggy in Manolos]

QR

Thanks to you all,just heading up yard to see her now.

The vet didn't talk about epilepsy at all being the case, i think i had asked about it in my shocked ramblings but she didn't say much. I think as it was a one off she was saying that if/when it happens again, then we investigate.
But until then she did not want to give a definitive answer.

I cant believe how many people have experienced similar horrific experiences, it gives me some comfort, so thankyou very much for sharing.

I will try and find the post from Llwyncwn, though i suppose it may have disappeared if it was in NL.
Thanks again, i will keep you posted on how she is doing

 

[Llwyncwn]

Hi PiB, Box_of_Frogs has alerted me to your post and on reading of your experience, it is very similar to Bonnie's and very frightening.

Last weekend Bons 'episode' began after a visit from the EDT. Her spasms began along her backbone, individual muscles twitching independently, then her quarters, belly neck and shoulders, until every part of her body was twitching. As BoF said, vets came out and they had only seen something similar in a new born foal with meningitis.

They ruled out wobblers, narcolepsy etc. It is definitely neurological and felt that she had banged her head at some stage that day possibly causing the brain to swell or bleed. The steroids were a must to reduce any swelling in the brain and outweighed the risks of laminitis. Her blood profiles came back as perfectly normal, heart and breathing normal along with her temperature.

She had been fine all week with increasing amounts of turnout with her companion, but last night she had another turn.

There is a forum user called fatpiggy who's mare suffers with epilepsy (which can take many forms) and I would recommend you have a chat with her, as I am doing - she has studied these symptoms over many years so is pretty well clued up!

Another avenue to discuss with vets on Monday was a suggestion one of the girls on the yard made this morning. Could it be diabetes or hypo-glycemia ? Could she have eaten something in the field? But surely bloods would have shown this up?

Hope this is a one-off for you and Seren, do please let us all know how you get on.

Hx

 

[Moggy in Manolos]

Hi Llwyncwn.
Thanks so much for your post, i will pm fatpiggy also for her experiences.
The vet said there was no need to take bloods or do anything after the tests she did on site.
She said there was no need if it was just a one off. She seemed to sway towards it being a one off caused maybe by something she ate, which in some respects i do hope is the case, but i dont know.
I will just have to keep a close eye and see how we go, and if there is any sign of anything remotely odd like that again, i will make sure they take bloods.
I had assumed thats what they would do, even though she has recovered from her episode but the vet was quite sure we should leave it and see.
I hope your bonnie is ok, let me know how she goes, i am off up to the yard again now to see her.
She has appeared completely normal since, but my god did that frighten me, she looked like she would just drop dead in front of me.
All the best with your horse too and keep me posted.
Thanks so much for your reply, i must try get on again and pm fatpiggy later too
A x

 

[fatpiggy]

Hi Puss-in-Boots - have pm'd you.