Lawsonia Intracellularis - anyone?

whirlwindhorses

whirlwindhorses

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www.whirlwindhorses.co.uk
Anyone had or know anyone who has had a foal or young horse with Lawsonia Intracellularis? How long were they treated with antibiotics for? How long did it take them to recover from it? I have a 22 month filly with it, she has had it for the last 5 months. I have contacted a couple of people on here but would like to hear from anyone else who has had a foal/young horse with this.
 
We have a mare who had it as a yearling. She was on the treatment for a couple of months but the Lawsonia Intracellularis became secondary to life-threatening laminitis caused by toxins leaking from her gut. In all, it took 10 months to get her right again but most of that was from the laminitis which was caused by the Lawsonia Intracelluraris. We also had her on probiotics for more than a year.
 
To the above poster. Lawsonia is tricky to diagnos. I'm not a vet but I think it's the small intestine not being able to absorb protein correctly due to some sort of bacteria. I'm pretty sure it's foals and young horses. At any rate horse does not present as sick but over time you notice a pot belly and scruffy coat. Similar things to a baby needing worming or different feed program. It's not normal to say, hmmm, baby looks a little backwards, bet it's Lawsonia. Even vets don't normally say Lawsonia. I believe it's confirmed by a belly tap. So basically you try the normal route before looking further as is normal. So nobody neglected said horse and left something. It is possible the vet was out a few times before a correct diagnosis was made.

I believe the treatment is long. You have to feed special feeds and watch forages. And like another poster said, often times you deal with other problems secondary to Lawsonia. At any rate I don't think it's fair to attack poster if you know nothing of what the disease is. I may have some things wrong but I know this disease isn't something I ever want to deal with. As a matter of fact I learned of it before my first foal was born years ago and have always had it in the back of my mind. I was that annoying that my vet said, if you hear hoofbeats, quit thinking Zebra! A vet friend of mine was telling me about doing follow up care for Lawsonia. I asked him how he diagnosed. He said I didn't, I told the owner to send foal to clinic as I couldn't figure out what was wrong and wasn't thinking Lawsonia. It's rare enough and presents as other things and most owners will take the less evasive change things routine which is normal.

Anyway sorry if this isn't making sense. Just don't feel it was necessary to jump on OP.

Terri
 
Our filly presented as having very loose droppings and rapid weight loss. She also had a resulting rectal prolapse which necessitated an emergency admission to the Large Animal Hospital. Therein lies another tale of incompetency relating to the laminitis. Had we not removed her and sought another opinion she would not be with us now.
 
Geez Pinto. I'm so sorry. Glad you got help. It's my understanding that it really isn't easy to diagnose and presents and other things. I wish nothing but the best for your girl.

Terri
 
cm2581 said:
How on earth has she had it for 5 months and how do you know she has it? Is she not being treated?
Click to expand...
She had a positive blood serology test for it 5 weeks ago. Yes she is being treated for it.

Lawsonia is a bacteria that invades the cells that line the intestines, causing the intestines to swell and thicken.

This is what has happened over the past 5 months, its long sorry!

It started November 28th when she was 17 months old, as mild colic, temperature 39.2, very quiet, rough coat and off her food, vet suspected peritonitis, didn't do a belly tap but there was nothing on bloods taken that first night to suggest peritonitis. She had 8 days Nordine antibiotics and bute. First week ate half net haylage a day, wouldn't touch her feeds, felt very cold so was rugged up. Two more lots of bloods in 10 days, nothing except low red blood cells (anaemic). Nothing in bloods to suggest a worm burden. Negative worm count, but wormed 5 days panacur just in case. (had already had Equest in October). Vet said maybe viral and possibly ulcers. Week 3- At this point she was eating net of haylage a day, wouldn't eat feeds (speedi beet, herbi chop and handful mix)

Week 4 - filly looking much brighter and would have a run around in field when turned out but still not eating enough haylage, wouldn't eat more than a few mouthfuls of her feeds. Mouth was checked, found a problem, that was sorted, gave it time to heal, still not eating properly. Just having small feeds of speedi beet and herbi chop.

Week 7 - tried 11 days of gastrogard, still not eating properly (she would only eat part of her tiny feeds and 1 net haylage a day), no change eating wise on gastrogard but at this point started looking colicky on feeds and haylage. Bloods now showing chronic inflammation. Finished gastrogard, no improvement so vet looked at her again, checked her mouth, did rectal, did belly tap (this was a normal colour but there was too much of it, it tested normal except white cells showed too many lymphocytes), more bloods, again white blood differential too many lymphocytes, still anaemic, protein just below normal. Asked my vet if it could be lawsonia because a foal here had a positive fecal test for it in October, he said it was unlikely because she was too old, but agreed to test her to rule it out.

At this point i stopped feeding her for a few days because she was so colicky while eating. She was on alfa a and could eat 2 handfuls but anything more made her colicky. By colicky i mean she would lift her legs up to her belly, wave her front legs around, paw the ground, shake her head, look at her belly, walk round and round stable and all sorts of other mild colic signs, this would last for 5 or 10 mins then she would be ok again but she wouldn't go back to finish her feed.

Week 10 - So then she was gastroscoped to look for ulcers, maybe an infected ulcer - nothing found. Then blood was sent off to test for leukaemia/cancer cells - nothing found. Fecal test for Lawsonia - negative ( high false negative on fecal test because they only shred the bacteria in there droppings for a few weeks after infection, Lab couldn't do the blood serology test, we were told no where in UK did it, so it was sent to a lab in Germany, but it never arrived there. Eventually my vets found a lab in the UK that do do it (and if anyone comes across this thread in the future while trying to find a lab it is Capital Diagnostics in Scotland that do the blood serology test) but this took a few weeks.)

Because of the way she was eating vet suggested it could be an adhesion in her intestines, which apparently they can get even if they haven't had surgery. The only way to find out would be to open her up, but i don't want to put her through this unless her life depends on it.

Week 11 - So then started her on 14 days of prednisolne steroid to see if it did anything, after 6 days she was looking much worse, had started giving her small feeds again but she wouldn't eat her feeds, was looking mildly colicky on and off all the time, still no lawsonia result, so started her on Karidox, a doxycycline antibiotic which is treatment for lawsonia and other bacterial infections to see if it did anything. She has this twice a day 12 hours apart. By now she had lost weight, but it was a gradual weight loss from not eating enough rather than sudden weight loss. Although she was only eating one net of haylage a day it was very good haylage, a soft, green, dry haylage. She looked like a ribby weanling rather than a 20 month yearling.

Week 12 and day 4 of doxy, slight improvement , ate more haylage, but next day was colicky again. Then day 6 she again ate more haylage and ate all her feeds with no colic signs, seemed much more relaxed in herself, day 7 was colicky again but it didn't stop her eating haylage she just ate through it, feeds she would leave and then go back to them 5 mins or so after.

Weeks 13, 14 and 15 - eating really well now, put weight on, sometimes colicky, some days not. Finished 4 weeks of doxy, seemed much better but still not right.

Week 17 - eating good, still putting weight on but lying down a lot, finally this week we get the blood result back as positive for lawsonia.

Week 18 - still eating well, but colicky on feeds again so back on to Karidox.

This Monday will be 22 weeks since it started. She is eating well now, i haven't seen her colicky while eating feeds for a few days but she is some days colicky looking for 10 or 15 mins after eating her feeds. Some days restless/colicky on haylage. To look at her you would think there is nothing wrong with her, she is up to weight now, her coat is shinny and glossy, she looks very bright, charges around field when she goes out but when you see her with her rugs off her belly looks swollen/pot bellied. She is still lying down a lot, 7 or 8 times during the day some days. This week she has a small patch of fluid under her belly again. She is still having Karidox twice a day.

I don't know if all this is normal for lawsonia or not because the few people i have contacted through forums with this haven't had the same, every foal/young horse has been different. Everyone says they take months to get over it but they don't say what they are getting over. Most have been much worse than my filly, but most are foals. My filly seems to have had a milder version of it, probably because she is older. I'm hoping by posting on here that i can "compare notes" with other people who have had this, because i don't know if my filly is getting better or whether the Karidox that she is still on is just making her seem better. Vet has said its possible that she has an adhesion/thickening of intestine because of the lawsonia and that that is what she has now.
 
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