Lots of good vibes needed for Spider (sorry long)

[Quarrybank]

This has not been a good weekend for me.

For those that haven't followed my posts this year. Spider (my 5yo) had very bad strangles this year which involved him being hospitalised due to absesses in his Gutteral pouches. He thankfully recovered after a few months & in August I brought him back into work.
Unfortunately he had developed a breathing noise & with further investigation we found his left larynx was partially paralysed. As the plan is to event him, I was recomended to have a tie back & hobday. No connection was initially made to the strangles.
He had the op on 16/10 & all had gone well, although he seemed to have a bit of a cough still (not unusual at this stage) He was due to go back in on tuesday to hopefully get the all clear, so I could start to bring him back into work & he coulod come off box rest.
However thing took a v bad turn for the worse last night. When i left the yard at 11am he was bright & eating happily. However at 3pm the yard manager phoned to say he looked v ill. He hadn't eaten since I left him, was v lethargic & had thick green/yellow mucas pouring down both nostrals.
Vet arrived within 30 mins. Temp was over 40c & he was very poorly. He was given some injections & admitted to the surgery. They made him comfetable but had no idea what was causing it.
I went up today & he looked better but still not his normal self.
They scoped him to see what was happening. The tieback looked great & looks to have been a success, however it looked like his swallowing mechanism wasn't working properly & thus food has gone down his windpipe (having had the tieback has obviously made it worse, but it is not connected to it) Plus as he's not swallowing food is coming back down his nostrals.
They are doing more tests tomorrow, but at the mo it looks like the strangles & absesses in the Gutteral pouches might have not only damaged the larynx nerve, but also the nerve which controls the swallowing (apparently this is a rare complication of strangles)
We don't know for definate at the moment but I am keeping everything crossed that this is not the case as the prognosis is not good if it is.

Any good vibes for him will be gratefully received.

Plus if anyone has experienced anything like this I would be grateful to hear what happened & what the outcome was. Thanks

 

[madhector]

Sounds awful, poor Spider

My old tb mare Sally had slight paralaysis in her throat (we think she had a mini stroke) she had to be pts Im afraid as anything she was eating was going into her windpipe, she was in her late teens at the time. Sorry I dont have anything positive to add I really hope yours gets better xxxx

 

[Bounty]

Sending all my vibes over to you and Spider
No experience to share, but my fingers are crossed for you all the same.

 

[Bedlam]

How awful for you both - I really feel for you, and I DO have a similar story with a good outcome.

I found our 12.2 pony 'gasping' in the field one morning so brought her in and called the vet thinking she was having some kind of respiratory problem. By the time the vet arrived I'd changed my mind and decided she was choking. The vet agreed and treated her for choke. She seemed better, and we left her in. By lunch time when I went to check on her she had rivers of yellow/green pus pouring from her nose, but more distressingly was very thirsty and trying to drink, but the water was just pouring out of her nostrils as she tried to swallow - the water bucket was full of this yucky snotty stuff that was washing out of her nose.

To cut a long story short she was taken to Newmarket to be scoped. They said that she had had strangles in the past and now had chondroids in her guttural pouches - basically solidified pus that cements together and forms stones. The guttural pouches had become inflamed and the chondroids were pressing on the nerve that controlled swallowing. An operation was possible to remove the chondroids, but because of the nerve structure around the pouches there was a high risk of permanent damage.

She was sent home with potassium iodide that she had to have a very small amount of everyday to keep and infection at bay, but the Newmarket vets had never seen a horse with such badly impacted pouches recover abd we prepared for the worst.

Over the next week she just got better. The vets were amazed. She carried on with the potassium iodide until I sold her on without any relapses at all. She also suffered from skin allergies, however, and her new owner's vet took her off the potassium iodide after 6 months because it was making her skin worse (sweetitch type thing, but not sweetitch according to blood tests). They are very aware of her chondroids and keep a careful watch, but I saw her a few weeks ago, and she's just fine - you would never know anything was wrong.

I really, really hope that you have a good outcome with Spider as well. I hope my (long - sorry!) story helps a little.

 

[Patches]

My word, how awful.

I have no experience or advice to offer you, but wanted to wish you and Spider all the hugs and healing vibes I can physically conjure up.

Fingers crossed.

 

[Llwyncwn]

Huge healing vibes on their way to Spider and love to you. Please keep us updated at every point. Dont worry as I am doing it for you. Hx

 

[Moggy in Manolos]

i am very sorry, i hope spider will be ok x

 

[carthorse]

So sorry for you and spider,he is luck to have you.Hope it goes well.

 

[Quarrybank]

Thanks everyone for your good vibes. Much apreciated from us both.
I'll update tomorrow when I have further (hopefully good) info.

 

[sueandtoto]

Oh no how horrid for you and Spider

Got everything crossed for you , hope he will be ok xx

 

[reddie]

Fingers crossed, hope he'll be alright

 

[Llwyncwn]

Any news on Spider this morning hun ?

 

[Quarrybank]

Morning all. Thanks for all your thoughts.

I've just spoken to the vets & he had a good night. His temperature is still up, but he's on painkillers & he's brighter than he was saturday, but still not his normal self

He managed to eat some Hay & very sloppy hard feed. They are feeding him from higher up (over door & via a haynet) rather than from the floor (as you would normally do after a tie back) & he seems to be finding that easier & the food doesn't seem to be coming back down his nose.
He is going to have more tests & be rescoped this afternoon, so I should know more later.
Plus I'm going in to visit when I get out of work & give him a cuddle.

 

[Bounty]

Glad to hear that things are not getting any worse.
Hope the tests and scope shed some light on what's going on.

 

[Llwyncwn]

Thanks for the update. We all expect a FULL report this evening

 

[Twiglet]

That sounds awful, but glad he's improved today.

Fingers crossed for you both.

 

[Fairynuff]

How awful for both of you

. Lots of best wishes and hugs coming your way. Mairi.xx

 

[Quarrybank]

An Update on Spider.
Thanks for all for your good vibes as they have helped & the prognosis is much better today.

As with all these thing there are still alot of unknowns. However when I visited tonight he looked much more like my boy & was v pleased to see me

His temperature seems to be under control & there is nothing (food or gunk) coming down his nostrils.
He was rescoped this afternoon & it looks (as much as they can be certain) that the swallowing nerve has not been damaged by the strangles. They think & are hopeful that he is struggling to adjust to the tieback & that is what is making his swallowing a bit hit & miss. Apparrently this can happen in a small % of cases.
It's very rare for a horse to have strangles & a tie back in a short space of time & that's whats making a definate diagnosis difficult.
It also looks like the infection is in the broncual tubes rather than the lungs (which could have lead to pneumonia) so again that is good. They should have the results of the cultures tomorrow & know which antibiotics he needs to be on. If they are edable ones & he continues to improve he could come home & continue his treatment there

The best prognosis is that he recovers from the infection & learns to swallow properly!! The worst is that it keeps happening & either its the tieback & it needs to be reveresed or that it is the swallowing nerve afterall (although they think not) & we're back to where we were yesterday

However I'm starting to feel hopeful that it will all work out & I'll have my boy back soon. He's certainly not out of the woods yet & things may well deteriorate again. However I certainly feel much more optamistic than i did yesterday. I'll update when I know more.

 

[Llwyncwn]

I will sleep better tonight now - so wish I didnt worry about other people and their horses quite so much! The fact that he is bright and pleased to see you is a good sign. If the reversal does happen then you will cope with it either way. Im rootin for you and Spider. Hx

 

[carthorse]

So pleased the news is good, still praying for him

 

[ruscara]

I can't add anything except my sincere good wishes that everything will turn out well. What a nasty series of events for you and Spider to cope with.

 

[debradley]

Oh I really feel for you. What a roller coaster you are on at the moment - they're not very nice are they? Sometimes you just so want it to stop so you can get off, but hang in there you're doing great. I hope your promising news keeps progressing for you and that your lad learns to cope with his tie-back and that the infection settles down. All my wishes are with you.