Ideas, advice, help. Please - at my wits end.

N

NewHeights_SJ

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I realise this should be in vetinary but this is the only place i really post, there is a wealth of knowledge and i would apprieciate your advice.

Alot of you might remember than after The Royal International at Hickstead (In Aug/sept 2010) Arctic wasnt right (very lethargic, loss of performance) and after blood testing we found that he had a virus. The vet concluded this through low white blood cell count. He was given a broad spectrum antibiotic, red cell and echinacea as well as his work load reduced. After two weeks his blood work was done again, and he was no better. Further rest and treatment, including reduced turnout (because he was coming back in far too run down) and no work what so ever. The vets advised that we simply might not have give him enough time.

Soon after this he hurt his leg quite badly resulting in 4 months box rest. No more bloods were done because we were dealing with this and it was assumed that by the time his leg was healed, the virus would be gone.

Six months down the line from the inital diagnoses, his leg is better and he has started light work. As a precaution i decided to get his bloods done again, they came back better - but both white blood cell and red blood cell levels were still below normal. However, he also had his flu jabs and the vet thought it might be due to this. The vet advised we continue work as it was only light and it would be a good way to kick start the low red cell count, and then to re blood test again in 4 weeks. I put him back on red cell and echinacea. He seemed to be fine and was very lively to work so i thought we'd finally cracked it.

He has been fine until yesterday. At first he had colic like syptoms and we treated him for this, he picked up over night and was fine this morning. The vet took bloods because of his history. Bloods came back and his white cell count is LOWER than 4 weeks ago, though the red cell count is normal. He is bad again today, presenting with a temperature, lethargy and uninterested in his feed. He picked up after some bute.

Im at my wits end. Ive talked with the vets who sent his blood to Rossdales 4 weeks ago and further tests on that show no clear signs that help pinpoint a problem. We are now treating for ulcers to try and eliminate that.

Does anyone have ANY ideas? Or dealt with anything like this before? I know viruses can hang around but my vet agreed with all the treatment and rest, 6 months is unusual. We both believe there might be an underlying cause, but the syptoms are so vague is difficult to pinpoint.

I need help.

Sorry for the ramble. ANYTHING would be appriecated - including hugs.

N x
 
Hugs from me. There's only one thing worse than a sick horse and that's an undiagnosed/ vet confounding sick horse :(.
Hope you get to the bottom of it soon and more hugs x
 
big hugs. umm, i'd suspect a totally different new virus, tbh. if his immune system was still weak, he may have fallen prey to a new one. i'd keep him in light work, keep on with the Red Cell, and if he was mine i'd probably give him a herbal Liver Tonic, Kidney Tonic (either Silverlining Herbs or Ellen Collinson's) that sort of thing, as an additional pick-me-up, then have more bloods done.
hope he gets back to normal soon. more hugs and sympathy.
 
a friend of mine had an intermediate event horse who had very similar symptoms - very low white blood cell count - lethargy etc. He had time off, bloods tested better, came back into work, got ill again - same cycle.

He did get better but it took about 18 months before the "feeling well" period stayed and he still had limited energy reserves for some time afterwards - it was a bit like equine ME to be honest - he felt fine until he did something!

I hope you get to the bottom of yours - it's better knowing than not knowing xxxx
 
Dont want to teach grandmother to suck eggs but obviously antibiotics would have no effect on virus. However the time scale does seem excessive even for a virus. what is your horses worming history? Red worm can damage the gut and cause bloods to be confusing. Is there a history of weight loss or energy difficiencyin which case get a worm count. finally are you using an equine vets because by this stage you would be wanting every test available, assuming you are insured which would influence tests available. finally steroid treatment may give your horse the lift it needs, subject to your vets agreement, obviously. Do remember to hastle your vet a little bit, an owner on the phone, constantly, tends to focus the vet on your case a little more. good luck & keep us all posted.
 
Have they been doing biochemistry as well as Haemotology when they have done the bloods?

Do you have any idea what his liver readings are like?
 
Hellspells - Everything was run the first time round (before the leg injury) and came back normal, liver normal too. However i have only had basic bloods run this time.

Kerilli - Vet advised this could be the case, especially as bloods seemed to be on the way up and have subseqently dropped again. And in light of his flu jabs.

lynda_griffiths - Your advice is very interesting. Antibotics were used incase of secondary infection, but i have not had a worm count done and the yard we are on are currently using a questionable worming routine. I will get this done asap. I think i'd push for a referal before steroids as im sure something else is happening that we are missing.
 
Just on the worm front - friends horse was just not right for months - they turned him away for a few months and he was still not right. His blood would just not come right, he was worm counted but nothing spectacular showed up but the vet suggested giving him the 5 day panacur guard anyway and then checked his bloods again and there was an improvement. She spoke to Global Herbs and they recommended I think it was restore, which also helped and she keeps him on a low dose of coligone powder to help with his digestion and a high fibre diet and he is thriving now. The vet did say that worm counts can be unreliable as unless you put an entire dropping in a blender, the small amount that you send for testing is not always representative of the whole.
 
Was going to suggest detailed worm count,worms,combined with worm and larvae damage and ulcers? Endescopy?
Also have you tested for Lymes disease? A friend of mine had a SJer who had symptoms for 6 months before the vets (in Gent university) finally found out that he had it....
Good luck to you both x
 
Ted's liver counts are dreadful :( As you know, I had to pull out of the MW lesson because of them! He was on Lygphyton from the vets and that didn't do much at all, and then I spoke to the guys at Horse First when I was at an event and they gave me some New Blud and some Back To Form to try - this did work and his bloods started to improve and he was much more energetic. When that ran out (only for short term use) the lovely people at Equiform sent me some Equicell to use and this maintained him really, really well.

We have had a quiet winter due to the weather and fuel prices, but I am hoping that he continues on well once I pick the work back up next month. I haven't bothered to have continuous bloods done as the vet was not offering any advice other than a livery biopsy if they got worse. I will have some done in April/May just to check tho.
 
I had a TB that I bought out of the field as an unbroken 6 year old in the spring time. I broke him and rode him all summer then he got a virus. He had the winter off and came back in the spring, worked through the summer and he did some shows, seem well enough in himself but never looked that good, coat wouldn't really shine, couldn't get much of a neck on him etc. He had from September to Christmas off, came back into work, did some hunting and was about to do hunter trials when the ground got really hard.

I turned him out for the whole summer in the end and when I got him back in he was a different horse. I'd always thought he didn't really enjoy jumping, this time he loved it. He looked fab and he was amazing to ride.

It took him all told 2 years to really come back to form after the virus. They take as long as they take to get better like people and some bounce back in weeks others take years to fully recover.
 
Jane_Lou said:
.. vet suggested giving him the 5 day panacur guard anyway and then checked his bloods again and there was an improvement.
Click to expand...

Ditto this my vet recommended 5 day course of panacur guard as its a gentle way to cleanse encysted worms (versus sledgehammer of paramox)

I was recommended when mine got a virus.

I hope you find something that works, as been far too long :-(
 
Sorry not read all the thread but have you had any other test done other than a blood test?! I think the vet needs to run some more tests such as peritonial fluid, ultra sound scan of spleen and stomach and exammination of rectum. To tell you my story, my mare presented with low white cell count for about 6 weeks and the vet had us in to run some more tests. It turned out that she did have a virus but also had tapeworm (she was on a full worming programme!!) and it was probably likely that the tape worm made here more susceptible to viruses. Before we got to that stage though she was incorrectly diagnosed with lymphoma (very long story) so that could be an option in your case too. I don't want to worry you as in all likelihood it isn't lymphoma, but i certainly think the vet should be running more tests, if they haven't done so already.
 
Hi, i know your post is a couple of years old, but we have a 5 yo with exactly the same symptoms and has been ongoing for 18 months now. The vets are confused, other than doing monthly blood tests and suggesting a bone marrow biopsy, which we dont really want to do because of the risk. Wonder if you ever got to the bottom of it
 
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