Swollen legs, poorly pony, anyone heard of this?

[JaneMBE]

Pony, aged round 19, was found lying down in field, in pain.. Owner moved her out of field, where she lay down again, in pain.
After a while, they were able to move her to stable where vet could see her. Pony obviously in pain, was given pain relief, bloods taken and examined. All four joints swollen and hot.
Pony seemed to drift in and out of (consciousness?) in pain and when up is walking round stable stretching legs out (Like you would if your legs were hot and puffy or cramped?)

Bloods revealed white cells slightly raised to show bacterial infection and changing to show she was fighting infection.
No pulse in feet, not laminitus. Not colic, guts and intestines all ok. Liver/kidneys ok.

Vet will be out again today to see her, they didn't know what it could be either. They rushed the bloods through to see if a reason could be found.

Has anyone heard of anything like this? The four swollen joints came on in one day, if it were one you would think injury in field, but 4? Field is just grass. Pony has never been poorly before and has not shown any signs of arthritis or old age.

edited to say, she is out 24/7

 

[xnaughtybutnicex]

I've never heard of getting infection in all four legs at once and i dont know much about arthritis but i dont think it causes an infection(but i dont know) and where i work a couple of the 'oldies' have it but generally it comes on slowly when the cold weather comes and is only in either back or front legs, not both!?!

 

[JaneMBE]

I know, that's what is so puzzling, all four joints and so sudden

Been Googling, but can't find a similar case/answer. I'll find out more, maybe, if owner texts me when vet has been again.

Hope the poor pony will be ok, we are all keeping fingers crossed.

 

[Honeypots]

My first thought would be lymphangitis
Hope vet gets to the bottom of it and that pony is ok

 

[Holly27]

hey honey pots i was thinking along those lines , the only other time ive seen this was a yard i new along time ago that hasd strangles and afte 2 weeks of the symtoms fading when you think the horse is getting better they got all four joints swollen and wanted to lie down, Gosh let us know what it is

also could it be cellulitis?? i am guessing now

 

[JaneMBE]

I found that in Google, and it does sound similar/possible. (and not hopeful given age and affected joints?)

 

[_April_]

J I found this for you:

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/horsecare/1370/86033.html


lists some possible causes:

infection
heart problems
equine purpura haemorrhagica (EPH)

And cellulitis and lymphangitis as listed by the others.

Poor little soul, I hope you get to the bottom of it xx


ETS - also found that apparently hot and hard means infection/inflammation and cold and soft means fluid build up.

 

[CracklinRosie]

Lymphangitis in horses is an inflammation and/or swelling associated with imparement of the lymphatic system, particularly in a limb. It is most commonly a bacterial infection, although bacterial culture may be negative.

Sounds like it could be but unusual in all four legs at once!

Anti biotics required.

 

[JaneMBE]

Thanks Medley.

She is very lame today, hasn't eaten hay just a bit of hard feed. No poo and just a small wee. She is on Anti biotics since yesterday when vet called. Just waiting for vet to show anytime now, so will hopefully know more when owner calls me.

Pony is very special, and I have been thinking about her all night

 

[Honeypots]

Aw Jane ...is it Magic?..

Whoever it is..I really hope she's ok!!

As if you've not had enough crap this year.x

 

[bexandspooky]

Poor thing, sorry to hear that she is in such a huge amount of pain.

Maybe try handpicking some lush grass to try and get an appetite out of her? Not eating wont help her stay strong.

Is the vet coming back out today?

 

[JaneMBE]

[ QUOTE ]
Aw Jane ...is it Magic?..

Whoever it is..I really hope she's ok!!

As if you've not had enough crap this year.x

[/ QUOTE ]

No, not Magic. One of my old RS ponies.
Waiting news, want to go see her in a while, when family have gone.

 

[Honeypots]

Any news Jane?

 

[13798]

It could be Equine Herbes.
I think the bloods would have to go to Newmarket to diagnose.
Do hope pony improves.

 

[JaneMBE]

Been to see her. Vet still doesn't know what it could be, not seen anything like it

She is brighter, and ate a small bran with chaff and her meds, then started nibbling haylage (she wont touch the hay)

I saw a pony who looks ok, coat is shiny, not tucked up. bright eyes. her legs are very puffy and swollen, all four of them. She hasn't passed a dropping. Is lame obviously.

Have searched for an answer, can't find anything. Her temp yesterday was high and her heart was very fast, today is not so bad.

Have looked for possible cause in field, could only see Oak tree, possible acorns, although symptoms don't match what I hav read. Am so puzzled by it, as is everyone.
Would arthritis come on so quickly? Doubtful. Looked at gastric ulcers and all sorts, just not finding answer.

Hopefully she will improve.

 

[the watcher]

Granulocytic Ehrlichiosis ? (Not that common here but spread by ticks I believe)

 

[JaneMBE]

Like Lyme disease? Reading about it, symptoms fit, but never heard of it over here.

 

[the watcher]

[ QUOTE ]
Like Lyme disease? Reading about it, symptoms fit, but never heard of it over here.

[/ QUOTE ]

unusual, but very much here
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/horsecare/1370/40011.html

 

[neddynesbitt]

Hi,

I know this may sound strange but my old pony who was 18 at the time had the same symptoms BUT, he also had very severe black diahorrea (sp), I had no idea what was wrong. He was very depressed & obviously feeling unwell.

The farrier was due soon after I found him & he discovered 2 very small holes on the side of his leg just below his knee. He was adament that he had been bitten by an adder as the puncture marks looked just like a snake bite. There was no defined swelling where the holes were but all his legs had swollen & he had great difficulty to even stand (he couldn't be shod as it was so bad). Later that day we found a dead adder in the paddock when we were poo picking so it then confirmed to us that this could have been very likely that he had been bitten.

It took about 24 hours & he showed great improvement. A few weeks later developed a HUGE lump rather like a bursa (sp) He was 12.2 and the lump really stood out as it was the size of a tennis ball. He was not lame on it and it didn't affect his movement of the knee joint as it was on the outside of his leg. The vet felt that as it was not causing him any problems they would leave well alone as cutting it could risk infection of his knee joint. It would go down sometimes for quite a while then suddenly reappear. We had him on loan & told his owner all about it. When my daughter outgrew him, he was reloaned to another home. Although I had told them about the lump it was not that obvious, so, when it came back up they too were very alarmed. They got their vet to look at it (a very well respected equine vet) and they too came to the same conclusion as my vet. It must have been caused by the snake bite as he had never had it until he was bitten.

This may not be the case with your pony but it may be worth checking very carefully for any evidence of a bite as it really was not obvious with our pony & we would have never have known but for the puncture marks being in exactly the same place as the lump that followed.

Sending you our best wishes

 

[kookymoose]

It can be an allergic reaction to something eaten, if not could be lymphangitis, are there any open sores forming?

 

[JaneMBE]

No sores or wounds. Happy to say she is much better today and hopefully on the mend, whatever it was

 

[ladyt25]

Sounds to me like an allergic reaction to something to be honest. Our old horse we found a few weeks back was totally swollen all over, legs face everything but he was fine in himself and was eating so we kept an eye on him but didn't get a vet out and sure enough all the swelling went down after about 2 days. We think he posssbly had laid on something like an ants nest as we found what appeared to be the origin of the swelling on his quarters once it had all gone down a bit.

My pony also was very very poorly several weeks ago and following treatment for an abscess in his foot (he could not stand on his hind leg). The morning after the vet came we went down to find the pony shaking all over and he then spent a lot of the day laid flat out. He would not eat anything and pawed the ground and generally seemed in a alot of discomfort. We rang the vet and turns out he'd had a v v rare reaction to peniciilin (he's never been treated with penicillin before). Fortunately he recovered but he wasn't himself for several days.

I think this horse of yours is likely to be similar - more an allergic reaction to something and the swelling is the lymphatic system trying to rid of the 'poison'. Our vet likened it to the horse "appearing as if it had a bad hangover" and that was how ours was. We were advised that as long as he was not dehydrated and wasn't off his food for more than a couple of days he should be fine. It is very scary when they react so violently though!

 

[showjumper1]

Hello, just seen this. My horse had similar symptoms and it was pyriplasmosis (sp!). It is spread by ticks so might be the same thing as Lyme disease. I live in Switzerland and it is not that rare here.

It is quite serious but responds well to treatment. I am sorry that I do not remeber what the treatment was - it might have been anti-biotics but I can't be sure. The horse drops a lot of weight very quickly even with quick treatment so mine looked like a rescue case for a copule of months.