Persistent low grade anaemia

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toomanynags

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Just wondered if anyone had any ideas!
10yo 14.2 mare, borderline insulin resistant, but managed well with diet and exercise. Not allowed grass in spring or autumn. Has had a history of low RBC/Hb and WCC counts as follows:
RBC Hb PCV WCC
Jul 08 6.73 11.12 .3 5.9
Sep 09 7.48 10.2 .34 4.9
Oct 10 6.76 11.3 .29 5.7
Jan 11 7.49 13.2 .35 5.5

At this point she was in hard work, soft and supple, full of beans. Her diet was 10KG soaked hay (2% body weight), alfa-a, unmollassed beet, good vit/min supplement, brewer's yeast, seaweed, salt, vit E, agnus castus & micronised linseed.
She had an injury in late August which needed box rest/hand walking, so her alfa/beet was reduced. She has become lethargic and depressed again, and latest bloods are:
RBC 6.77, Hb 10.8, PCV .33, WCC 4.9. Insulin/glucose fine, muscle enzymes OK.
One set of vets says not a problem, RBC low, but within normal range, another set says it is a problem as she is dull. Coat is fine, wormed, teeth done, etc. Now on ad lib soaked hay, out in small paddock during the day. Have swapped seaweed/brewer's yeast for Haemolytan and upped her protein slightly. Temp, pulse OK, breathing a bit laboured, but no cough. Lunged at walk for 20/30 mins twice a day, can have bucking session, but then tires. Shakes her head quite a lot, and also swishes tail, so something's not right. Also quite stiff, but may be due to muscle fatigue.
Sorry for lots of info, but would welcome any suggestions.
Thanks
 
What about something like copper deficiency? A balancer wont necessarily help enough if her forage is low in copper to start with. Copper deficiency can cause anaemia I believe, among lots of things unfortunately.
It may well be worth a blood test or getting your forage analysed to see if there are any major deficiencies. Just a thought.
 
My horse is 32, I didn't have bloods done but vet noticed his gums a bit pale, so told me to give him alfalfa and I also gave him NAF EnerG in his feed, he gets dengie alfalfa pellets (no mollassess) in the morning, and a bucket full of Alfa A Lite (Laminitic had once) in the evening, he improved, and I was annoyed with myself I hadn't noticed this slight change in him, just a bit pale on his gums, but its not something you look at, vet said due to his age they'd prob be a paler than a young horse in full work anyway
 
I personally wouldn't say any of the results you posted indicate that anaemia is present. The haematology machine printout might say different but when you have numerous results over a longish period of time, when seemingly well and when depressed that are all the same (give or take a tiny bit), I would call them normal.
The most important point with anaemia in the horse is that it is only a primary problem in the tiniest minority of horses. A horse's first response to any form of illness seems to be to develop a slightly lower red blood cell count. The key to restoring any anaemia is to fix the underlying problem, whatever that might be. (Although as above I doubt your horse has much anaemia to fix).
Supplements like Haemolytan are definitively not the answer to 99.99% of equine anaemia, and may be harmful in some cases. Iron deficiency is incredibly rare in horses, and iron supplements should not be used until this diagnosis has been reached (which would be done via bone marrow biopsy). Iron has a pro-inflammatory effect on the body, which could be detrimental to any ongoing illness, and is certainly not helpful to a horse with borderline IR. At best your are giving your horse expensive iron-fortified droppings, at worst you are delaying the recovery from any illness and increasing the risk of IR related laminitis.
[ranting over]

I don't think it is possible to come to a diagnosis for your horse without further testing. I would be thinking along the lines of abdominocentesis (belly tap) and a broncho-alveolar lavage (BAL) personally. Former because a good chunk of horses who are off colour with no specific signs have mild peritonitis, latter because laboured breathing is present and shouldn't be ignored.
 
Thanks for suggestions. Her worm counts have been clear for 4 years, and she has an annual pramox anyway. After various tests at vet's today the conclusion is immuno-supression, probably post viral. Basically the equine equivalent of ME. White cells have actually gone down again. So now on levacide for 14 days.
 
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