Poorly pony- not eaten since Sunday, any ideas/suggestions?

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Puzzled

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My 17 yr old cob cross has not eaten hard feed/hay since friday and gave up eating grass on Monday. Vet has been twice and is completely baffled, bloods etc normal (well white cells a little low but he thinks may be due to lack of eating I think). He's been given pain killers, vit B injection. He looks very uncomfortable, now and then flicks his tail and generally a little stiff along his top line. He won't eat carrots either etc. Teeth etc all fine. Vet (Bristish team one) is completely baffled, obviously going to keep running tests, but I'm really starting to worry now. Anyone had a similar experience? Any ideas?
 
Maesfen

Maesfen

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Have you tried him with a warm bran mash with a few oats added, that usually tempts them. You can get a small bag of bran from a pet shop so don't need a huge bag.
Is he drinking?
I'd be thinking of getting him scoped just in case he's eaten a sharp thorn/piece of wood which is causing him pain. Has he had a rectal exam, how are his gut sounds.
What does he do if you take him out for a nibble, does he put his head down to graze but doesn't or is he unable to manoeuvre his neck? If it's the later, have you thought about a gentle physio?chiro session, it might help him feel easier?
If he can swallow I think I'd be tempted (have a word with your vet first though) to mash up some nuts/grass nuts/ and mix to a paste with some luke warm water then syringe it down him; a syringe at a time should be enough to start with.

Do let us know how he gets on, what's found in the tests; I agree, it's very worrying. It goes without saying that if he's not taking anything then he needs to be kept warm, not hot as that might make him worse but he doesn't need to be getting a chill.
 
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Double_choc_lab

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Old mare on our yard had a twig stuck in one side of her mouth - it was removed but no real improvement. Several days later large hole opened up alongside her tongue - believe a thorn must have been stuck in there - festered and then just popped out leaving large gap. A week on she's just beginning to eat her hay,
 
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mga4ever

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When my pony had equine herpes the first thing he ate was D&H convalescence cubes mixed with sugarbeet until they were sloppy. Easy to digest and had an appetising smell.
 
ILuvCowparsely

ILuvCowparsely

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My mare is also not eating allot 1 section hay a day wont touch feed untill i changed to alfa a because she has a painfull abscess and box rest with laminitis.

Hopefully your vet will take bloods see whats wrong. Hope he recovers soon
 
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Puzzled

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He's drinking a little, dentist came at same time as vet this morning, nothing obvious in mouth/teeth. Will suggest possibility of something in throat/neck area to vet. Bloods etc all normal. He puts his head done to graze, will have a sniff of feed just seems to have no interest in eating it. Vet coming back in morning to give him more fluids, electrolytes etc via tube. Thanks for all your suggestions so far.
 
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Noodlebug

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My mare was similar to this. Wouldn't eat her haylage vet couldn't find anything. It went on for weeks but she was eating grass and hard feed! Denist said that sometimes they can get bits of hay stuck in teeth which causes sore spots in mouth. I gave her 4 danalon day for 4 days and that seem to work.
 
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Another one here who had horse with twig stuck in throat. To start he had choke-like symptoms, but this stopped, but the situation didn't improve. He was scoped, and just saw the twig stuck in the back of his throat, vet actually managed to remove it by hand (horse was sedated)
He was drinking a little, but not enough, and as he was living out, he dropped weight dramatically, and looked very tucked-up as he'd been so stressed. It took a good few weeks to get him back to health.
Good luck.
 
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breezing

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It could be botulism if it has had access to haylage ,my pony had it 3 yrs ago & didnt eat for a week and could only drink if syringed in with head held up ,with careful nursing she recovered but very scary ,hope yours gets better soon
 
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Puzzled

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Thanks for all your help, vet (very experienced) has obviously checked all basics. No increase in temp, heart rate, bloods normal etc. Has taken some fluid from the gut today, will have results by tomoz, pony going in for scan tomoz. Had more fluids put down him again today. In himself he's reasonable alert, checks all the buckets etc, won't let the other horses eat what's in them just doesn't want to eat himself (have tried carrots etc). Vet pretty sure problem is linked to something in gut, hoping the scan may give some answers tomoz. Huge doses of painkiller don't really seem to make a big difference.
 
mattilda

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My old lad had something similar to this and it turned out to be a salmonella type infection. We struggled for a week with him, tubing fluids down him and he was on daily abs given by his nasty Mum!! My wonderful vet finally took a sample from his stomach, changed his abs and within 24 hours he was on the mend. Fingers crossed for your boy.
 
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