Some help please - loss of performance

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Lilymix77

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Help!? Looking for some similar experiences - my horse is 14 and has within the last 6 weeks lost loads of weight and seems to have lost all muscle behind the saddle.

He is primarily a dressage horses - his marks have gone down by 6-10% in the last 6 weeks and it is like riding a completly different horse. His canter which was an 8 would struggle to get a 5 now as it has gone 4 time and he has lost all lateral work too. He is also very tense and spooky and has got extremely heavy and strong in the hand tensing/locking his jaw.

I have had a McTimoney lady to do his back 3 weeks ago and the equine dentist do his teeth 2/3 months ago.

I have had a lameness work up from the vet and she couldnt find anything wrong there and she said that he wasnt blockably lame - bloods have some back fine and he has been on a bute trial and i found him equally as bad if not worse.

I am pulling a blank really - has anyone else got any similar experiences?
 
Have you tested for kidney and liver function? Mine had kidney failure, similar symptoms.

Has your vet suggested a peritoneal tap, which is the test for cancer in the gut? If liver and kidneys are fine I would have one done if you are insured.
 
I'd forget about the dressage scores for a bit and concentrate on why he has lost loads of weight. Weight loss can be down to a thousand different reasons ranging from management to ulcers to liver damage to just about anything. The blood results would depend on what the vet had asked the lab to test for. Might be worth repeating but otherwise you might need referral to a specialist centre. I wouldn't like the sound of unexplained significant weight loss, combined with obvious (possibly knock on) problems with ridden work. It could be serious.
 
In case of kidney problems I would immediately cut out all high protein food and just give very high fibre and oil you can give plenty of it, so shouldn't lose any more weight and make sure you keep him very warm especially accross loins. Ask vet for pee test asap and also scope for ulcers.
 
If he reacted worse whilst on bute that may suggest that he has some sort of gastric irritation/ulcer problem which would be compounded by the bute - I'd speak to your vet about that and see what they say - It would certainly be something that could cause such a drastic loss of performance.
Good luck!
Kate x
 
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