Reacher
Dishonourable Member
Sounds like a bit of progress. Hope you get to the bottom of it and glad he seems a little brighter on the new feed.
Masseter Myositis (autoimmune disease)
- Thread starter TPO
- Start date
SEL
Well-Known Member
At least that's part way to answering what's up even if you don't know why it happened.
And it's nice to see you posting despite circumstances
And it's nice to see you posting despite circumstances
palo1
Well-Known Member
At least that's part way to answering what's up even if you don't know why it happened.
And it's nice to see you posting despite circumstances
Glad to hear it is not MMM and the plan to keep him eating and feeling better for a couple of weeks whilst you plan your next move sounds good.
Do you know why his protein balance was out of whack?poiuytrewq
Well-Known Member
Blimey TPO. 
Another not wanting to read and run.
Is a head X-ray possible?
The only really weird situation I’ve known which started with dental work, but I think more that the pony had a facial issue and had never had it’s teeth done rather than treatment causing the problem, turned out eventually (I think it was confirmed) a fracture. She stopped eating, bloods were non remarkable.
Lost a huge amount of condition and stood with her head low drooling.
Another not wanting to read and run.
Is a head X-ray possible?
The only really weird situation I’ve known which started with dental work, but I think more that the pony had a facial issue and had never had it’s teeth done rather than treatment causing the problem, turned out eventually (I think it was confirmed) a fracture. She stopped eating, bloods were non remarkable.
Lost a huge amount of condition and stood with her head low drooling.
Pinkvboots
Well-Known Member
I'm so sorry to hear about Chip I hope you get some answers soon Equijewel is really good for putting on condition and they don't need loads of it.
Annagain
Well-Known Member
Have the blood tests looked at his adrenalin and cortisol levels TPO? I'm guessing they probably have but thought this was worth mentioning just in case.
The only horse I know who had swellings like you've described (legs if kept in and eating from a hay net, face if out grazing) was my friend's TB. He never lost his appetite but was very lethargic and depressed. He had extremely low levels of adrenalin, like an equine form of Addison's disease. It didn't end well for him unfortunately but he went downhill far more rapidly than Chip has - from normal to the end in about 2 weeks (although he'd always been prone to filled legs and lymphangitis so that might well have been an early sign). The vet said it could happen spontaneously in which case it was treatable with very high dose steroids or it was caused by some sort of tumour. Unfortunately, although he improved clinically on the steroids, his bloods were worse so the assumption was that it was a tumour and the decision was made to PTS as even if they found the tumour, chances are they wouldn't be able to treat it. By the time the vet came out the next day he'd gone downhill again and it was clear there was no other option. If it is something like that with Chip and it's happened spontaneously, it could be that it's a milder case so he's not deteriorated so quickly? I was under the impression that it's very treatable if it's a spontaneous case.
ETA I'm sure my friend also said he had extremely high levels of something too. I've just googled and it says high potassium is a marker for it. Again I'm sure this would be covered in routine bloods but worth a mention just in case.
The only horse I know who had swellings like you've described (legs if kept in and eating from a hay net, face if out grazing) was my friend's TB. He never lost his appetite but was very lethargic and depressed. He had extremely low levels of adrenalin, like an equine form of Addison's disease. It didn't end well for him unfortunately but he went downhill far more rapidly than Chip has - from normal to the end in about 2 weeks (although he'd always been prone to filled legs and lymphangitis so that might well have been an early sign). The vet said it could happen spontaneously in which case it was treatable with very high dose steroids or it was caused by some sort of tumour. Unfortunately, although he improved clinically on the steroids, his bloods were worse so the assumption was that it was a tumour and the decision was made to PTS as even if they found the tumour, chances are they wouldn't be able to treat it. By the time the vet came out the next day he'd gone downhill again and it was clear there was no other option. If it is something like that with Chip and it's happened spontaneously, it could be that it's a milder case so he's not deteriorated so quickly? I was under the impression that it's very treatable if it's a spontaneous case.
ETA I'm sure my friend also said he had extremely high levels of something too. I've just googled and it says high potassium is a marker for it. Again I'm sure this would be covered in routine bloods but worth a mention just in case.