low white blood cells & high temp??

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odd1

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my 3yo is down in Weipers in Glasgow just now with a high temp & has low white blood cells
they are not 100% sure what is up with her
i know she is in the right place i have a lot of faith in the vets there but was wondering if anyone has had any experience with the above symptoms
she was a bit down in the dumps and quiet on Wed afternoon & when she turned her nose up at supper i thought colic so called the vet but with the high temp she sent her straight to weipers which was a very good call
she is now eating & pooing normal
 
as you say she is in the right place

my last horse came down with identical symptoms last winter after surgery. Vet treated him for a virus with antibiotic injections then powder. It took about a week but he soon came back to his normal self
low white count it usually a sign of infection/virus

what always confuses me is our doctors tell us antibiotics do not help a bacterial virus, yet horses are treated with them for a bacterial virus??

sending healing vibes for you as I know how hard it is to see them unwell x
 
Soulfull- there is no such thing as a "bacterial virus" - bacteria and virus are two different things. I suspect this is what is confusing you. Bacteria can be treated with ABs, viral diseases cannot. Usually the reason why ABs are given in cases of viral disease is to prevent or treat secondary bacterial diseases especially in the case of respiratory disease. In many cases ABs are unnecessary but some owners put pressure on vets to give ABs along with the anti inflammatories. In the absence of an actual diagnosis of viral disease vets usually cover with ABs in case it is of bacterial cause. OP - from those bloods it sounds as if your horse has a virus - hope she's on the way to recovery.
 
Id be thinking of one of two things with a low white blood cell count - but with the other low grade colicy signs, Id be erring on peritonitis rather than a virus.

But thats just me - as you say, hes in the best place for him to be, I hope he makes a quick and full recovery :)
 
Have to agree with Racergirl. My TB presented with very similar symptoms 4 years ago and it was peritonitis. This was confirmed with a stomach tap (long needle into stomach to draw off fluid to test). Antibiotics and a tense few days at the vets and all was OK. Keeping everything crossed for your boy.
 
glenruby said:
Soulfull- there is no such thing as a "bacterial virus" - bacteria and virus are two different things. I suspect this is what is confusing you. Bacteria can be treated with ABs, viral diseases cannot. Usually the reason why ABs are given in cases of viral disease is to prevent or treat secondary bacterial diseases especially in the case of respiratory disease. In many cases ABs are unnecessary but some owners put pressure on vets to give ABs along with the anti inflammatories. In the absence of an actual diagnosis of viral disease vets usually cover with ABs in case it is of bacterial cause. OP - from those bloods it sounds as if your horse has a virus - hope she's on the way to recovery.
Click to expand...

Thank you for that :) I did suspect that maybe the case but was just confused (it doesn't take much lol )
The horse I mentioned, it was last year and he did recover from the virus but unfortunately I lost him to PSD
but thank you anyway
 
she is back home, looks like it was encysted red worms
i do worm counts and for reasons of my own last year i didn't worm she had been through a fair bit last winter so thought more drugs in her system wasnt a good idea and since all her counts had been low i decided not to worm in spring - won't do that again
 
Thanks for the update.

Good to hear your horse is back home and doing well.

It can be so difficult weighing up all the pros and cons of different things. I too have worried about worming at different times, once particularly after one pony had had colic surgery and I just didn't want to risk her getting another colic. And then more recently when we've been dealing with liver problems, and I've not wanted to challenge the liver with any more toxins, but I realise I do need to do the encysteds at some stage soon.

Ah well, we all learn from our experiences, and thanks for letting us learn from yours.

Sarah
 
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