Loss of appetite, scouring, ideas?

ElleJS

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My friend has a 16.2 tb x gelding 14ys that has recently lost his appetite and over the last 24hours he has had diarroeha and seems very out of sorts he has also lost alot of weight within a small space of time
She called the vet straight away who said he looked like he is scouring and could be worms. He gave him antibiotics iv and took bloods.
His temperature is normal, heart rate normal and he is hydrated and drinking well. He has eaten a little but not alot. He is on a woming programme and has regular wormcounts. He has also only been out in an imacculately looked after and poo picked field for a cumulative 5 hours in a whole year! (he has been on box rest and rehab for a fetlock operation he had and then when he finally was turned out the weather got too bad) So we can't see how worms could do this. All the other horses on yard are fine and sparky. He hasn't been in contact with any other horses apart from his field and stable mates which are fine and hasn't been out for the last year due to his rehab.

His tests today showed low white blood cell cont and low protein. He is coming back out tomorrow to see him further as he thinks it could be worm damage.

So could this really be due to worms? The vet did say wormcounts don't show everything and that wormers can be useless if the strain is resistant. But this horse is so well looked after!

Or could this be something else, anemia or virus perhaps? Ideas please would be most grateful to make sure she has everything covered.

Thank you
 

Puzzled

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I'd say worms but hopefully vet will advise on this. I'd also give him a course of something like NAF Pink Powder and also echinacea (my vet advised this when my horse had low white blood count) It's also something I take myself and swear by! Even if it is worms causing the problem the above should help him regain condition and fight any infection as a result of scouring etc. Hope he's soon on the mend!
 

MissTyc

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Sounds like Iron Aid/Red Cell could also help. Even if it's anemia, it could be worm related. Many horses are not feeling great at the moment
 

Box_Of_Frogs

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Brilliant diagnosis by the vet. Scouring = diarrhoea. Worm damage isn't immediately linked to the horse having eaten worms on pasture. The damage occurs after the worms have been inside the horse for some time. Not an expert on the different worms and how long after ingestion you would expect to see symptoms but any vet/google will tell you. So don't be fooled by thinking it can't be worms. Does sound like worm damage but tbh it could be many things. I'd expect a high white blood count for any sort of infection. Could be a virus. Could be anaemia, but then you need to work out WHY, which could take you back to worm damage. Are you sure he hasn't eaten anything odd? Changed his feed? New bag of feed? Diarrhoea, sudden weight loss, and off colour (is he colicky?) would be worrying me too. Yea Sac might help or any product that has pre and pro biotics in. It might be worth trying to get a live yoghurt down him to rebalance his gut flora, especially after antibx. Has he ever had it before? Could be old liver damage. Keep on top of it with the vet. These things can sometimes go from bad to worse very quickly.
 

tikino

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this sounds a bit like dayavo(SP). my lad took ill last year in and out vet school ect low protein levels anemic of food he ended up with diarrhea and colitis and it was all down to worm damage. my lad looked like a bag of bones lost so much weight so quickly. i have had him since birth and has had an excellent worming programme except when he was on loan for a period which i can't comment on his worm programme as i was not there.

anyway it turned out to be worm damage and he now has intestine damage it was a very expensive treatment and he will never by right in fact had a relapse last week. he also ended up with grade 4 gastric ulcers as a secondary condition due to him stopping eating. it is a long road you need to travel and if successful the horse going by my experience may never be the same .

good luck and keep me posted
 

pixi

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this sounds a bit like dayavo(SP). my lad took ill last year in and out vet school ect low protein levels anemic of food he ended up with diarrhea and colitis and it was all down to worm damage. my lad looked like a bag of bones lost so much weight so quickly. i have had him since birth and has had an excellent worming programme except when he was on loan for a period which i can't comment on his worm programme as i was not there.

anyway it turned out to be worm damage and he now has intestine damage it was a very expensive treatment and he will never by right in fact had a relapse last week. he also ended up with grade 4 gastric ulcers as a secondary condition due to him stopping eating. it is a long road you need to travel and if successful the horse going by my experience may never be the same .

good luck and keep me posted

hi what did the vet recomend n what treatment did they give the horse how did the diarrhea stop
 

ElleJS

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Just to update! 24 hours after original scouring and very poorly horse he went back to normal!
Vet came out every day for 4 days and gave 4 days of iv antibiotics. He became his normal self, poos back to normal, perky, head over door biting! within 48hours.

Very strange! His routine/feed.day to day life hasn't changed in over a year, (owner is very strict about what this horse has to eat as he has many allergies, so feed or amount never changes) he was never colicky and he hasn't been out if the yard or even in a field to pick up virus and no other horse on yard had bad bloods. We have a ridiculously clean yard.
He has been on pro/pre biotics and gastro gaurd ever since to make sure everything is working ok. Fingers crossed! The owner feels so bad that it could be worms as she is so careful and meticulous about it. Vet said he could have picked it up years ago before he came to this yard. Just goes to show.....
 
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