Sick with worry neurological issues

[Laurac13]

Do you have ticks around, some of the symptoms vaguely fit louping ill, for which steroids & vit e are the treatment?

Hi W1bbker I hadn’t heard of the condition before so just been reading up! he has some symptoms but no temperature, no excessive chewing or holding his head oddly I’ve not seen any ticks about but maybe he was bitten by something

 

[Laurac13]

My childhood dog did similar. He was in the final stages of kidney cancer, I was at work and found out when I got home that evening that he had died. That morning despite not having been downstairs in a week, he got up, went downstairs and all round the garden visiting all his favourite spots then went back upstairs to his place by the fire in the living room and died while the family were having lunch. That was in 1968 but still brings tears to my eyes, best dog ever.

Aww what a smashing dog I hope you have lots of happy memories x

 

[Laurac13]

Merlin is holding his own, seemed happy this morning no twitching or wobbles eating normally ??

 

[Errin Paddywack]

Fingers crossed he is on the mend. Very scary and you may never know exactly what the problem is/has been.

 

[Ish2020]

Thank you for your reply x
Did your friends horse pull through? Do you know what the issue was or how it was fixed? Xx

The disease was EHV type 1 my friend horse did survived and ended up taking medication. I forget the name of the drug but because of what type of disease it it will stay there until the horse dies there isn’t a cure unfortunately.

 

[southerncomfort]

I'm so sorry for you.

My old horse became uncoordinated and began having full blown seizures thought to be due to a brain tumour. It was extremely distressing, and because she was in her late twenties the decision to PTS was made quickly before she deteriorated.

With such a young horse this must be so upsetting for you.

I agree that a neck x Ray is the right way to go.

Other than that, I wonder if some kind of poisoning could produce the symptoms you describe.

Really hope you have some answers soon. X

 

[TwyfordM]

My mare had an injury a couple of years back. Looking at her you would have never known it had happened. But the lameness was more stiffness and uncoordination on the hind end but was subtly affecting all 4 legs as we discovered on the second vet visit.
She wasn't 100% sure where any of her legs were, couldn't back up, turning was almost making her fall over at points.
She then started to get reluctant to move her neck much. Honestly looked like wobblers to me, but she was 14 at this point with no previous issues so was unlikely. Danilon, anti inflammatory and box rest etc for a couple of weeks and there was zero improvement. Vets were baffled so we xrayed neck, found a couple of dodgy looking vertebrae, hairline fracture too, 2 months box rest and she still has the odd weird step on the backend but other than that she's confident to spin, brink, rear, gallop around the field full pelt with full confidence in her body and no pain ?

Vets think spinal cord got a bit of a bash when she did the injury and with rest and anti inflammatory managed to heal to a point where she's happy and not uncomfortable. Don't know if she would have returned to ridden work (she's not ridden) but she's fine to lunge, goes out for walks inhand etc so there is hope.
Fingers crossed its something treatable but definitely push for those neck xrays

 

[Laurac13]

Merlin is holding his own today no dete

Fingers crossed he is on the mend. Very scary and you may never know exactly what the problem is/has been.

thank you it’s been an awful week but I think he’s improving as you say I may never know what the issue was x

 

[Laurac13]

EHV is a separate test yes. It also takes a painfully long tome for the results. Mine was tested at the time and I had to let local horse owners know.

Thank you for the info x

 

[Laurac13]

The disease was EHV type 1 my friend horse did survived and ended up taking medication. I forget the name of the drug but because of what type of disease it it will stay there until the horse dies there isn’t a cure unfortunately.

Thank you for the info appreciated xx

 

[Laurac13]

My mare had an injury a couple of years back. Looking at her you would have never known it had happened. But the lameness was more stiffness and uncoordination on the hind end but was subtly affecting all 4 legs as we discovered on the second vet visit.
She wasn't 100% sure where any of her legs were, couldn't back up, turning was almost making her fall over at points.
She then started to get reluctant to move her neck much. Honestly looked like wobblers to me, but she was 14 at this point with no previous issues so was unlikely. Danilon, anti inflammatory and box rest etc for a couple of weeks and there was zero improvement. Vets were baffled so we xrayed neck, found a couple of dodgy looking vertebrae, hairline fracture too, 2 months box rest and she still has the odd weird step on the backend but other than that she's confident to spin, brink, rear, gallop around the field full pelt with full confidence in her body and no pain ?

Vets think spinal cord got a bit of a bash when she did the injury and with rest and anti inflammatory managed to heal to a point where she's happy and not uncomfortable. Don't know if she would have returned to ridden work (she's not ridden) but she's fine to lunge, goes out for walks inhand etc so there is hope.
Fingers crossed its something treatable but definitely push for those neck xrays

Thank you Tyrord for sharing It must have been a terrifyingly situation.
I am so pleased your horse made it through xx

 

[Rumtytum]

Nothing to add, just wanted to send my very best wishes to you and your boy, he sounds a lovely lad

 

[Laurac13]

Nothing to add, just wanted to send my very best wishes to you and your boy, he sounds a lovely lad

Thank you Tuntytum x he’s doing well this morning and is happy grazing no twitching and much better on all 4 hooves I’m feeling more optimistic x

 

[TwyfordM]

Thank you Tyrord for sharing It must have been a terrifyingly situation.
I am so pleased your horse made it through xx

Very scary at points, she's a Welshie so only small but even at her size could do you a fair bit of damage if she fell.
Symptoms seemed to vary for a while so you'd think you were seeing some improvement then you'd feel back to square one. I did consider PTS a fair few times when even the vets couldn't give me a clear picture or time line or even if she would ever improve. But luckily she's a lami pony so she's not too bothered about extended box rest.
I had to set myself a time limit though so I said three months, if she's not happy and confident moving then I'll call it.
You then have to remember once they are back out, they will have lost condition/muscle so they will look a little off for a while too, it's a very long and mentally exhausting process. Got everything crossed for you ?

Oh and she does equine agility now ? see saws, bridges bending poles, absolutely no issue and she's bloody fast too!!

 

[The unicorn]

I hope it nothing serious and I hope he makes a full recovery. I don’t now much about neurological problems so I cannot give you any advice.

 

[Laurac13]

Hi all I thought I would update you all on Merlin, it’s good news he stabilised and then started improving, I am over the moon ? vets have been out twice since my post. All the twitching and muscle trembling has stopped he can walk and trot in a straight line fine and also do a figure of 8 no problem. He still fails the neuro tests when his feet are placed in the wrong place but it’s early days. We reduced his steroids to 50 a day from 100 and he’s been good we’re keeping him on 50 steroids a day for another 4 weeks together with the big doses of vitamin E. His inflammation blood test result yesterday when from severe last 2 tests to moderate so that’s improved too. Vets really believe it’s a brain issue not his neck so don’t recommend an X-ray at this stage and I can’t afford a CT scan so we still don’t know exactly the problem but they are suggesting Steroid responsive encephalopathy which I’ve never heard of but he is responding so that’s the most important thing. I suggested to vets about walking him over poles to help him relearn where he places his feet which they thought was a good plan. I’ll keep you all posted on the outcome. I don’t care if he remains as he is and can’t be ridden he’s happy and safe now in his field and his personality has returned. Thanks so much for all your kind words and suggestions when I was in bits 2-3 weeks ago. Xx

 

[Shay]

Thats so good to hear. Thank you for updating.

 

[Keira 8888]

Wow wow! This is such fab news!!!!! Well done for getting him here - I’m so happy for you. Having his personality back must be such a lovely thing. Great work darling ????

 

[Laurac13]

Thats so good to hear. Thank you for updating.

Thank you Shay I am so relieved he is on the up my vets are so happy too x

 

[Laurac13]

Wow wow! This is such fab news!!!!! Well done for getting him here - I’m so happy for you. Having his personality back must be such a lovely thing. Great work darling ????

Thanks so much Kiera I’m so so happy he is a happy boy and improved albeit not quite right yet but I’m now feeling positive ? x

 

[Rumtytum]

Fantastic news for you and your lovely boy ?!

 

[ycbm]

Whew! It sounds like a toxic kind of thing. I'm so pleased for you he is recovering.
.

 

[Laurac13]

I hope it nothing serious and I hope he makes a full recovery. I don’t now much about neurological problems so I cannot give you any advice.

Sorry I didn’t thank you for your Kind words x

 

[misst]

So pleased for you! Many happy times ahead x

 

[Laurac13]

Whew! It sounds like a toxic kind of thing. I'm so pleased for you he is recovering.
.

Thank you ycbm I don’t think we’ll never know what it was but I have my fingers crossed he will keep improving ? I feel like there’s a light at the end of the tunnel at last ? he’s such a lovely chap my life wouldn’t be the same without him, I’m Likely facing redundancy from my job of 8 years and need him in my life to keep me sane X

 

[Laurac13]

So pleased for you! Many happy times ahead x

Thank you let’s hope so ? x

 

[splashgirl45]

great news, fingers crossed he keeps improving...

 

[onemoretime]

might be a wild guess but one thing that jumped out at me was EMND or something along those lines. Then I read that vit e was included in the cocktail of treatment given before the slight improvement and I wondered.
The link below tells you about neuro muscular diseases.

In your position I would be asking my vet to run your story through one of the vet schools probably starting with Kathy McGowan at Liverpool (Leahurst) I think that would be the best way to make progress.







https://cvm.msu.edu/research/facult...g-laboratory/selecting-a-vitamin-e-supplement

I read somewhere, it could have been on here, that a horse that had gone blind was given large doses of Vitamin E and the eye sight came back. Equmins sell bottles of Vitamin E and a lot of people who have horses that tie up give this to them.

 

[LadyGascoyne]

Such great news! And thank you for updating the thread, I was actually thinking about him a few days ago and wondering how you had got on.

After my mare’s illness, we fed a liver support supplement that contained milk thistle and vitamin e and some other herbs.

We knew that she had eaten a toxic plant so supporting the liver was an automatic step for us but I don’t think it could do any harm for yours, and may help with the steroids etc. It would be worth clearing it with your vet just in case there are any interactions/ unexpected consequences.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

So sorry OP, my heart goes out to you, there are just no words......

I just throw this in the pot: if it helps and/or gives any enlightenment then fine, if not then please discard.

My mare is a headshaker, vet says trigeminal nerve. I'm on the "Equine Headshaking Syndrome" FB group and one of the oft-mentioned issues mentioned there is magnesium deficiency - apparently magnesium given as a supplement is helpful as a muscle relaxant/anti-spasmodic relief. My vet has given me the green-light to try it with mine (she's lame at the moment anyway so like you OP I'm looking at worse-case scenario and feeling a bit leery right now )

I just mention this: like I say, if helpful, fine; if not, whatever. But yours does sound like a neurological issue and so I thought to mention.

Sending hugs.... soooh feeling your distress.