Old horse gone suddenly down hill...

grhands

grhands

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We are awaiting a phone call from the vet who is coming today, however I'd like to know if anyone has any opinion on what is wrong with my old boy; who is 27.

He's ID and always been very well built but despite regular working and diet tailored to build him up he has remained quite skinny. A times he has been worse than others.

The day before yesterday started well so I turned him out. About lunchtime a blizzard attacked and I rushed home to get him in but he wouldn't come down. He was sheltering at the back of the field under some trees.

I got him in and he wasn't right. Not eating, not drinking and he just seemed generally exhausted.

I put a sheet on under his stable rug as it was so cold and tried to warm him up.

He's since been picking at his food and drinking a small amount but he still seems exhausted. He's doing something quite odd too, he keeps putting his head in his water and flicking it around which he's never done before.

He's still going to the toilet, but neither in large amounts like he was before.

Any ideas on what the issue may be. As mentioned the vet is coming today but I wondered if these symptoms jumped out at you as anything in particular?

:confused:
 
Unless the vet is absolutely positive it's something else, then I'd ask for a comprehensive blood test when the vet comes (including muscle and liver enzymes as well as general haematology. This should show if your horse is fighting an infection or if there are problems with some organs.

Hope he's soon much better.

Sarah
 
He's now developed an awful gurgling loud sound from his tummy. He looks like he's sedated. The vet came, sedated him, have him a pain killer, rectal exam even rasped his teeth. He's also had full bloods done. Couldn't take his temp as his rectum was so dilated :( hopefully it's not an infection. He is a good colour. He's not dehydrated. He fell on me under sedation though which wasn't the most comfy of experiences!
 
Yeah white blood cell count elevated. Been prescribed penstrep 30ml IM, thing is last thing I want into give boyo an abscess and I thought only 15ml max IM per dose? 30ml seems to be a whacking dose to give in to one site. Tried to call vet to no avail so gave him 15ml in to each gluteal muscle tonight. He seems more chipper after this-afternoon. Even eating now, so he ha pain somewhere which has been relieved.
 
My veteran chap had white cell issues and he seemed to really benefit from iron and vitamin tonic in his feed to help recovery , RVC recommended it - we used visorbin which isn't made any more but I have in my cupboard some alternatives as he has had milder episodes since - Propell plus is one of them. Hope this might be useful and your chap improves quickly, it took my chap a long time to be fully right but he hasn't had an episode for a while now touch wood.
 
grhands said:
Yeah white blood cell count elevated. Been prescribed penstrep 30ml IM, thing is last thing I want into give boyo an abscess and I thought only 15ml max IM per dose? 30ml seems to be a whacking dose to give in to one site. Tried to call vet to no avail so gave him 15ml in to each gluteal muscle tonight. He seems more chipper after this-afternoon. Even eating now, so he ha pain somewhere which has been relieved.
Click to expand...

Split the 30mls as you did, that's what it means.
 
If he's spaced out it could be signs that he's had a small stroke too (which isn't surprising given his age), it might not be just an infection/chill of some sort. Keep him warm (but not roasting) and be careful when handling just in case he shows signs of falling again as there's nothing you can do about it once they start going (falling). Good luck, let us know how he goes.
 
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