Oedema?

[Mongoose11]

fast fibre all have straw in, this causes ammonia to build up in the hind gut and then get into the blood stream which then goes round causing pain in the feet like lami and also the horses brain giving it the spaced out feeling.

This is interesting. I have been feeding her fast fibre since May. The odema has become more noticeable in this time and has spread along the belly whereas before it was a lump up near her teat - although isn't anywhere near as big as your mare's now I can see it more clearly.

I have made an appointment for the vet to come out on our free callout day in two weeks time.

Sorry to have hijacked the thread OP.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

This is interesting. I have been feeding her fast fibre since May. The odema has become more noticeable in this time and has spread along the belly whereas before it was a lump up near her teat - although isn't anywhere near as big as your mare's now I can see it more clearly.

I have made an appointment for the vet to come out on our free callout day in two weeks time.

Sorry to have hijacked the thread OP.

Billie yes fast fibre will make it worst if the liver is involved as it makes the liver work too hard and the ammonia will build up and can damage brain cells and make the cells leak fluid more causing odemas to get worst. I stopped the Fast Fibre immediately and she started to look and feel brighter and the odema went in 5-6 days. Phone D&H ask to speak to Teressa Hoyland, get her advice put her on temp diet till you get results or I WOULD DEF take her off fast fibre till you get results .

D&H 01832737340 I have Teresa's mobile too Pro Knottenbelt is the world expert on liver disease in horses.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Oedema is indeed just fluid accumulation so is essentially a symptom not a diagnosis. There are alot of things that can cause oedema.

There is a balance of blood pressure pushing fluid out of the tiny gaps in blood vessels and the oncotic pressure of proteins and other solutes holding the fluid in. When something happens to either blood pressure or oncotic pressure, it upsets the balance and oedema happens.

Blood pressure is affected by heart conditions as already mentioned. Oncotic pressure can be affected by either loss of protein (kidney problems, loss through diarrhoea) or not making enough/ incorrect processing of proteins (liver problems).

HOWEVER, it can also just spontaneously happen, especially in overweight cobby types and not moving around very much. When people are pregnant and therefore are heavier and less active than normal they often get swollen ankles which is essentially the same thing.

It sounds like your vet is satisfied that there is no evidence of heart problems and that your horse is not showing signs of being systemically ill like you would with kidney/liver problems so I wouldn't worry too much. I knew a shire that had this problem when stabled in the winter.

monty is that RAF Halton plane jump in your sig??

 

[Misog2000]

Cyberhorse - we never found out what it was....but believe we can pinpoint it to a batch of hay our farmer had to buy in as we ran out. The only thing that lets us point to this is one horse on haylage tested fine, and the ones that we on box rest at the time had higher levels than the others. Vets pretty convinced it wasn't viral, but I don't think we will ever know for definite. I was lucky, my mares levels weren't too high, and she recovered quickly but some people ended up with many months off work, several liver biopsies and lots of expensive drugs. Everything is pretty much back to normal now, we lost one gelding as he developed lami cause of it, and the pony with the odeoma was touch and go for a bit, the others all recovered eventually but was a long process.

 

[navaho]

Just wanted to give a quick update, after reading all the replies on here i decided to have the vet back to take bloods, i had the results back today & hes perfectly healthy, vets have just advised to get his weight down & give him more exercise one very happy owner.

 

[Mongoose11]

So glad! I am waiting for the vet right now, decided to get hers checked out after stories shared here! Better safe than sorry!

 

[navaho]

So glad! I am waiting for the vet right now, decided to get hers checked out after stories shared here! Better safe than sorry!

Thats how i felt, was really worried after reading some of the things on here, thankfully my vets were right in their initial diagnosis, but yes better safe than sorry Good luck with yours, ill keep my fingers & toes crossed for you.