Tying up and damage to kidneys

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Beany1800

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Hi, my 6 yr old mare tied up last weekend, she was instantly put onto bute by my vet and box rest - she then started drinking 10-12 gallons of water every day. Urine tests confirmed high protein levels. As I understand it, the breakdown of the muscles due to the tying up has blocked her kidneys so she is trying to flush her system out? - Has anyone had any experience of this? Once the blood tests come back normal for the tying up she is allowed to go out but cannot be ridden until the urine is normal - how long is this likely to be? I have never had a horse tie up - a totally new experience. How does anyone manage a horse once they have tied up. What feeds/hay/exercise/fitness levels achievable - did you get back to previous levels of fitness? Any information/idea's would be appreciated. Thanks.:)
 
We have a horse at the racing yard where I work who is prone to tying up.
After his first (and worst) episode, he was off ridden work for about 3 weeks, then had to do a couple of weeks walk and trot, before returning to full training.
He then had another mild episode after that, but only lost about a week.
Management wise he is on a low starch/high oil diet and a supplement (can't remember what it's called though, will find out for you if you want :) ), and lives out so he gets as much movement as possible.
We also make sure he is really well warmed up when he's ridden (he's usually on the walker for 45min-1hr, with a rug on), and really well walked off after working, and we NEVER leave him without a rug on, even for a minute, unless it's really warm (think 20+ degrees warm).

Touch wood, he hasn't tied up since he's been on this regime, and we even managed to get a point-to-point win and a few placings out of him, so there's no reason why your horse shouldn't return to full fitness.:)
 
I work at a race yard and 2 of ours tie up. For the younger one (2yr old), we started her on Dantrium which is prescribed by the vets but she can't race on it (think is has a 14day rule can't remember). As she got better we put her onto the same as the other horse which is Tye-Guard by Equine America.

They both have their doses (the 4yr old is on 15ml and the 2yr old 30ml) then go on the walker for 30 mins before being worked. For a normal horse in a school this would just mean a longer warm up than usual. We are also careful on their cool down back to the yard so try not to trot them off as we do the rest but walk out with a small trot. They are rugged at all times and are probably on the warmer side all the time. They both wear 2 exercise sheets when working at the moment and when washed down are washed in warm water, then have coolers on and are rugged as soon as they are dry.

If they start to feel stiff behind when walking back we keep an eye on them as this is usually the first symptom to show.

They are both on full feeds including oats, cubes (can't remmeber which), a hand of chaff, wheat feed and sugar beet (the other is on copra meal). They get loads of haylage and live in 24/7.

Hope she is ok and that you find a routine etc that suits her!

ETA if they do tie up badly we give them bute immediately.
 
My previous horse tied up few times- twice very badly.
1st time bak in work after 3/4 weeks 2nd time was lot linger approx 8wks b4 started walking her
Management is the way 2 deal with tying up. Must b super strict about turnout/exercise always the same
Feed wise its low starch & sugar & for weight gaun/maintainence its oil- I'd recommend looking at D&H ERS pellets they were gr8 for my horse & after she list a lot of weight due to other reasons she could be fed a lot if this without probs recurring.
Work wise is no reason why horses can't return 2 full work- its just bout building up graduate & not over doing it- mine went back to jumping/galloping/shows/outtings etc eventually
 
Tying up can happen for various reasons, so it'll help if you can work out what the cause was.

Stephanie Valberg is really good on muscle problems in horses. Here's a link to an article she co-wrote that mentions some of the causes of tying up: http://www.ker.com/library/equinews/v3n3/v3n315.pdf but there's loads more stuff out there if you google Minnesota and tying up.

Correct management of workload/training is important, as is diet. Worth also knowing that lack of vitamin E and/or selenium in the diet can cause tying up, so it's worth ensuring that the horse is receiving a full ration of a good vit/min supplement or balancer.

Sarah
 
Thanks all for the messages and advice. Any thoughts about how I might manage to hunt her again?? difficult to warm up and down! am thinking she might not hunt again? x
 
It really depends on what the cause of the tie-up is if there is something underlying (virus/pssm/recurrent exertional rhabdomyolisis/vit E or selenium deficiency) the article already cited earlier is very good

Some are one-offs and don't occur again and are back to work quite quickly! Some which are caused by something else which takes management to stop occurring again..

It is essential that you give the muscles time to heal initially whatever the cause.

What breed is your horse?

Dantrium is very successful medication if the cause is say RER as the muscle dysfunction is caused by Calcium problems which this does help this I have read. Not useful if is a glucose uptake irregularity as the cause (PSSM) then its diet & exercise.

University of Minnesota has some really really good information on it about all causes of tying up.

best wishes, hope your horse gets better very soon.
 
An update on Rosie
Her blood levels and urine levels are going the right way but are still not there yet - vet has said to start to walk her out for 10-15 mins twice a day to start to get the muscles working again.
Newmarket have confirmed from blood tests that there are no deficiencies and that everything is normal from that stance.
Considering she tied up over 3 weeks ago am thinking that she did it good and propper!!
Hoping to be able to turn her out at the weekend (sedated to begin with), retest in early Jan and if the results show she is back to normal then hope to be able to start working her again. The only problem we now have is that her blood is showing low protein so if this doesn't improve - we are going to have to look into that!
The other interesting thing was that the bloods showed she had slightly high sodium - too much salt in her feed - since she was on a fibre based feed, the new way to go, I find this interesting will be talking to my feed company!
 
From personal experience I would say that forage/feed analyses are a better way to assess the possibility of some deficiencies, particularly selenium. For example, all 6 ponies I had tested for whole blood glutathione peroxidase (GSH-px) as an indicator of selenium came back within normal reference range. However, analysis of their dietary intake showed they were only getting about a third of the recommended minimum dietary intake of selenium each day. 5 months on from starting to receive a full ration of a good vit/min supplement, CK levels (main muscle enzyme) are approaching normal for the first time ever.

The length of time for the CK to return to normal isn't necessarily an indication of the severity of tying-up (although the actual levels may be). A normal horse, with no ongoing trigger for muscle damage, should have its muscle enzymes return to normal within a matter of a few days. This relates to the half life of the enzyme.

So if levels stay up for longer, it's worth looking for the ongoing cause of muscle damage.

I can't comment on urine/kidney stuff as I have no experience of that.

Sarah
 
We have a gelding who we have owned for 15 years. He had his first attack of tying up when he was about 6 yrs and the vet said that it was due to a complication of a virus he had at the time (unknown to us).

He then had a few more bouts of tying up but with careful managment has not had suffered again for over ten years. (Touching wood as I type!)

The vet look at his diet and as he is quite lively and a good doer, he is only given a handful of dengie Alfa A (as it is high in calcium) and has the following supplements along with as much hay as he can eat: Electrolytes, Calcium, and a multivitamin supplement.

We never ever leave him standing in and make sure that he is regularly exercised and gets daily turnout.

We always rug him a little more than we do our other horse and keep a quarter sheet on when exercising. We also give masses of time for warming up and cooling off.

Hope that helps! It is a managable condition.
 
Thanks for that - I have been advised to keep her extra warm and to get a good wxercise sheet - do you have him in at night in the winter?
So you think I will manage her enough to hunt - my worry is the warming up and cooling down, with hunting it can be very quick and then slow and standing about?
 
Thanks for that -n I have a great vet and they are going to work with me in the new year looking into a management programme and the possible causes - until you have a horse that suffers from this, it is a minefield and I have found there is no confirmed triggers/reasons for it. x
 
He's not the type to stay out overnight. But if your mare is happy out and well rugged, why not. I have found he us much better out than in.
With regards to exercise, if I have a long ride planned I will gradually increase his over a few weeks and the afterwards scale him down slowly back to normal work load.
I've got a couple of exercise sheets, different weights, but the most useful is a thermatex quarter sheet- might be useful for a day hunting as if she feats too hot it will wick away sweat and breath. They are pricey but a good investment.
Have fun with her!
 
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