PSSM?

[soskin]

I have a 5-year-old quarter-horse mare who for the past 2 years has had problems with her muscles. Both of her parents were n/n for the 5 panel. Her front legs were pretty beat up when I got her as she had gotten tangled in a barbed wire fence when she was a yearling. She also has a nee scare and a splint in one of her front legs. She does not have PSSM1 and I am resistant to a muscle biopsy as I think it's invasive. She started to have front leg lameness isus for no reason I could think of, and once she was about 10 min into the ride you could no longer feel the lameness. She also started walking with a noticeably shorter stride and seemed tight and stiff all around. Our vet recommended she go on a PSSM 1 horse diet to see if that would help and it did somewhat. She has been on the same diet for about a year now. I'm just wondering if people have any suggestions to bring her back up to 100%. She is currently ridable just takes about 10 min to fully loosen up. She is also on grass 24/7, there is no difference in tight/stiffness if she is on grass or not. So I'm pretty sure she is not sugar sensitive. Any suggestions are helpful. Thanks!

This is what she currently gets per day. (Split into 2 feedings, AM/PM)

1 pound Haystack Special Blend
8 ounces Purina SuperSport (amino acid supplement)
4 ounces CoolCalories ( Vegetable oil in a powdered form)
2 scoops Santa Cruz natruel Vitaim E pellets (8,000 IU)
2 scoops MSM Select the Best (20,000)

 

[ycbm]

The 5 panel test has now been proven to be useless for the diagnosis of PSSM2. See the later posts on this thread.

And...we have a positive PSSM type 2 test. We are n/px

This is not about the OP's post on here but I have put it here as this is where the experts seem to live :D:D Below is a post from the PSSM forum and it is addressed to Paul Szauter. Can anyone give me a like to the Minnesota study referred to please? on google there seem to be several but...

forums.horseandhound.co.uk

Your horse could still have it (she's a good breed for it as you know) . Has she had any muscle enzyme tests on blood done? Has she had any recent x rays on the joints?
.

 

[soskin]

No blood tests, she did get x-rays of the front legs and feet about 6 months ago. Another reason I don't think she has PSSM 1 is that her symptoms are comparatively mild to what I've read.

 

[I'm Dun]

No blood tests, she did get x-rays of the front legs and feet about 6 months ago. Another reason I don't think she has PSSM 1 is that her symptoms are comparatively mild to what I've read.

If the type 1 test is negative, she doesn't have it. Its reliable and accurate. She may still have a muscle myopathy, or it could be a joint issue or anything really. I'd be having the vet out and booking a work up to see what they find. I'd run bloods at the same time, although that's not accurate either, but might give you a clause if you look at vitamin e and AST etc

 

[ycbm]

She isn't PSSM1.

She can still be PSSM2.

 

[SEL]

Biopsies get a bad press but if you find photographs they aren't as invasive as some people think.

I would start with a thorough work up though with bloods to include vitamin E and selenium levels. There are some who have also tested manganese and found low levels which helped the horse once supplemented.