Older mare PTS, help me work out what might have been wrong

S

soloequestrian

Well-Known Member
Joined
14 January 2009
Messages
3,124
Visit site
She was put to sleep this afternoon so this is just me mulling things over, it would be great to have help.
19 year old TB, she's been a companion here for about the past 5 years. Never had any ailments while here and I think she was pretty healthy before that too. About 5-7 days ago I noticed she was head tossing a bit in the field. Then she was head tossing and bending her neck round and holding the position. In hindsight she was looking at her belly but I was slow to catch on - I was thinking about nose nets. Then she started rubbing her tail when she came in although she's not normally itchy. She also didn't gallop down the field when an opportunity presented itself which is not like her. Then two days ago she went out after her feed (no issues with eating) and lay down in the field in the dark - very unusual! Got the vet and she had increased gut sounds so finadyne and buscopan. She was in until late, had a poo, went back out and started eating as normal. Next morning she wasn't happy, lying down, getting up, having a bite to eat, head tossing. Vet came back and gave more finadyne, buscopan and penicillin, took bloods. Blood work showed nothing unusual - no sign of worm activity, no sign of infection. She had bute and more antibiotics last night and this morning, still eating fine but heart rate up and temperature up. Later in the morning she laid down in the middle of the field in a blizzard. When I got her up she was shivery even though warm and dry under the rug. She was put to sleep shortly after that.
I think the most likely thing is something growing in her digestive tract. It seems too slow a lead in for something to have twisted. I'm interested to know if anyone has dealt with similar and knows what caused it, or if anyone would like to guess? It was a really difficult decision to make because even just before she was sedated she was snuffling around for grass but the pain clearly wasn't being fully controlled even on the max dose of bute. Very sad now.
 
I fully support you that you did the right thing.

The niggly ill healths in an oldie are much harder to call than the emergencies, but if there isn’t a definite diagnosis and/or improvement after three vet visits then the outcome is rarely a good one.

The only regrets that I’ve had re PTS of any animal is whether I should have called time earlier.

Rest easy that you acted in her best interests.
 
It does sound like a strangulating lipoma. I think you did the right thing. I suppose the question to ask is would you have put her through surgery if she had needed it?

Don't doubt your judgment at the time, you did what you thought was right at that moment and oftentimes hindsight can add a lovely rose tint to things.

You didn't let her suffer and she went at home.
I do think you made the right decision.
 
I had a Clydesdale mare aged 11, who went downhill over a couple of weeks. She was eating less hay than usual but no other notable symptoms.
Sister was looking after the horses on her own while I was away at a conference and had to call the emergency vet out one night, Clydie had a rectal prolapse. I got a train back from the South coast and by the time I got home she seemed mire or less back to normal.
Then a few days later she became ataxic, vet diagnosed internal bleeding and advised pts, which we did. The poor girl had to be pts in the stable and then winched out, because it wasn't safe for anyone to lead her out. Which was terrible because she was the gentlest horse you could wish to meet.

Looking back she had been showing a pain face for a while but we hadn't recognised it. We know better now.

OP, you made the right decision at the right time for your mare.
 
My horse acted just like that and had a strangularting lipoma, we think. She had mildish colic attacks, lay down as though dead then up again, then a lot of pain. All over 3 days. She was 22 years old.
 
soloequestrian said:
(I wrote a reply that vanished!)
Thanks everyone, it's comforting to know that the likely cause was not going to go away - she wouldn't have gone for surgery. I'm feeling relieved that I did it yesterday too, today is heavy snow and everything would have been even more difficult.
Click to expand...
You should feel proud that she didn't suffer more than was necessary for you to make the call. My old girl went eating apples at the apple tree and looking back, I'm grateful for that.
 
Adorable said:
It sounds like potentially a strangulating lipoma to me: https://madbarn.ca/strangulating-lipomas-in-horses/
Click to expand...
Agree with this. My elderly Shetland died of colic and we strongly suspected this being the cause. He had a couple of mild colics in the lead up to the big one. Sadly I wasn't so savvy then, but he was actually booked to be pts a few days after I found him dead in his stable (with signs of colic). FWIW I think you did the right thing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top