URGENT Advice needed horse showing Neuro signs

[BarmyC]

Firstly thank you so much for all your positive and helpful advice. Im sorry i havent been able to update as i have been at the yard all day with my friend and have just got home. Tired.com

We have carefully monitored him all day.

He has been a lot less ataxic today and will move around a bit better but is still a long way off of being anywhere near normal. He is now been moved inside a stable which i think has helped matters as he only has one place he can look out of as opposed to turning and following movement and then falling.

He has been responding to the drugs and is eating some soaked hlay but he is not keen on plain water so I have been soaking some mix and filling the bucket up with water into a layered soup which he is loving and will drink the manky food juice. You have got to love a cob ruled by his tummy!!

The interesting observation though is that it seems like the act of eating or drinking seems to cause him to fall??? This is with the bucket on the floor or at chest height. Although my friend has been really distressed by this i have assured her that he NEEDS to drink and eat to have the strength to get through it. When he does fall his eyes were still rolling and he will be down for a minute or 2 almost as if he is regaining his equilibrium and then gets back up.

About 4pm this afternoon we noticed that his eyes were rolling just whilst standing up and had been going like this constantly for about 30 mins. The vet was due back up at 5 so we gave her a call and asked to come earlier.

When she came she checked his eyes and was worried for a moment that he had gone blind as the pupil wasn't reacting to light. Tried with a brighter light and there was a very slow reaction but it was there. We also tested his peripheral senses and they were all present and correct so the signs are pointing towards central nervous system. Wobblers has been well and truly ruled out.

The vet has been speaking to Andy Durham at Liphook about him and they are both of the opinion that it is now either meningitis or possibly a fracture of the temperal hyoid bone in the gutteral pouch/larynx area. Luckily the treatment for both is the same so he has had a top up of steroid tonight and will have more in the morning along with some more penicillin and gentamyacin (sp?)

The plan is still to see if we can stabilise him enough to transport to liphook and so far as long as he is responding to the meds and is not deteriorating and it becomes a question of quality of life we will carry on with this plan but if not he may not make it. He will however have be given every possible chance.

 

[Kelly1982]

I have my fingers tightly crossed, really hope he pulls through ok xx

 

[racebuddy]

Thank u for updating some positive signs hopefully you get him stabilised enough to travel sending healing vibes was thinking of you today , keep us updated on his progress over the weekend is the vet coming back our tonnoerow to reassess x

 

[BarmyC]

Years ago (40+!) I knew three horses in a field that behaved a bit like that; sadly two died very quickly, the other drowned in a pond when it collapsed (don't ask, they weren't ours!); the cause was found to be ragwort but there might have been other causes that weren't investigated back then. Outwardly they looked fine but would collapse for no reason at any time but particularly if they raised their heads up.
Another possibility could be ear inbalance; ask vet to check those out thoroughly too.

We are tirelessly pulling the dam stuff up and we have got on top of it. Both our vets and Andy at liphook are quite conviced that there is no liver involvement. I will keep this in mind though.

Long shot - I don't know if horses can get this or anything similar, but his symptoms are not unlike those of BPPV in humans. This is a disorder of the inner ear causing loss of balance, spinning sensation, eye rotation and can be mild or severe. It can be brought on by head movements and can be of sudden onset and there can be repeated attacks.

I'm not a doctor but have had this myself several times and it's very debilitating. If you google "BPPV" the symptoms will come up.

I will get googling now!

Is the early history of the horse known re worming and keeping grazing/hay clear of ragwort.

When you say traditional cob my mind just flicks to the tethered trad cobs near our old yard left with nothing but ragwort to eat by the local travellers and then sold on to unsuspecting people who feel sorry for them......hope this isnt the case here...

I believe that he came from a private showing home and not from travellers but i have no idea what their grazing was like.

Don't give up hope. My mare started having seizures and the vets advice was to have her put down. That was 1996 and she is 29 now and outlived the vet (sadly). One of the standard tests for neurological problems is to lift the head so I'm not surprised your horse collapsed as a result. X rays may or may not show anything. Your vet needs to do a complete neuro work up. Have you wormed lately? Ivermectin is known to cause seizures and whatever you do, don't use any sedatives such as ACP. It has to be the valium type. PM me if you like.

We are taking each hour as it comes and so far the vets are happy to continue with the treatment as he is still eating, drinking (selectively) weeing and pooing all ok. And all the time he is getting up on his own it is ok.

We worm egg count and he was showing no worm eggs when we last did them so was tapewormed. We did discuss sedatives this morning but were of the opinion that once he was inside a stable as opposed to the open pen he was in with less going on thought we would leave the sedative as he was quiet enough and if he did go down we wanted him lucid enough to be able to get up on his own.

BarmyC
Apologies for not taking the time to read other responses

Could I ask what chemicals this horse has been exposed to?
eg fly sprays, arable field sprays

I ask because a friends pony was nearly pts this time last year with neuro symptoms but she did not give up on the pony, the symptoms then stopped during the winter
The problem has been put down to use of ''Spot-On'' for flies--only affecting one pony out of a herd.

The fields havent been sprayed as all are used for grazing and the only fly spray she uses is Avon skin so soft.

Thank you all for your replies please keep the vibes coming!!

 

[BarmyC]

Thank u for updating some positive signs hopefully you get him stabilised enough to travel sending healing vibes was thinking of you today , keep us updated on his progress over the weekend is the vet coming back our tonnoerow to reassess x

Yes luckily the treating vet is on call over the weekend and we have her mobile number and are under instructions to call her if need be.

She will be back up at 10 to top up the meds and reasses him as need be.

All we need is for him to be steady enough to load into a horse ambulance with a sling so he can travel without risk of him falling over in the lorry.

She is then going to leave the steroids for the evening for us to inject IM providing he is still as steady on his feet as he was this evening.

The good news from today is that he is not deteriorating. There is still no dramatic improvement and it is definately a bit of a waiting game but i honestly thought this morning that he would not be with us tonight.

Back off to the yard tomorrow morning at 7 and will pick my friend up on the way. Fingers crossed he has a quiet night again.

 

[MrsMozart]

Thinking of him and your friend (and you). Hoping the cause is found and he recovers quickly and well. Hugs.

 

[Elsbells]

I do hope the poor fella recovers soon and that at least there is some considerable improvment by the morning and your able to load him.

(((hugs)))

 

[Jnhuk]

You are such a god send to your friend and her horse at this time.

Hope you get a good night's sleep and things stabilise enough for him to get transported tomorrow.

Big hugs and lots of vibes.

 

[BarmyC]

I do hope the poor fella recovers soon and that at least there is some considerable improvment by the morning and your able to load him.

(((hugs)))

I have everything crossed for her and the horse.

Thinking of him and your friend (and you). Hoping the cause is found and he recovers quickly and well. Hugs.

I would be happy with a recovery on its own. We did have a horse last year on the yard (I work there) who ended up in hospital with pyrexia of unknown origin who went on to make a full recovery so fingers crossed that this one goes the same way and he recovers.

We are not having much luck as my YO lost one of her driving ponies 2 weeks ago to a strangulated lipoma. We need a bit of luck at the mo.

You are such a god send to your friend and her horse at this time.

Hope you get a good night's sleep and things stabilise enough for him to get transported tomorrow.

Big hugs and lots of vibes.

Thank you I would like to think that if I was in her position someone would help me. She is in real shock at the moment and i am not sure that everything we are doing for him is going in. She just seems completely (and understandably) shell shocked so i have been liasing with the vet and answering her questions as she asks.

The only thing i am having trouble with is getting her to eat!! I have been supplying her with sandwiches and all other stuff to try and get her to eat as she needs to be strong but she is being sensible and leaving the nursing to me and the YO as she is very nervous and upset so does not want to let this get passed to him and upset him further.

 

[racebuddy]

Hope he had a comfortable night update us when u can x

 

[Challaborough Christmas Tree]

How is he doing today?

 

[spike123]

any news on how he is doing?

 

[BarmyC]

Hi Guys sorry for the late update but have been super busy with the yard and running an event at our other farm today!!

My friend and I got to the yard for 7 this morning and we were joking that she had told her horse that he was going to go clear round jumping today and that he didn't fancy it so pulled a rather dramatic sicky and that he will be fine tomorrow. (you have to try and add a bit of humour in my eyes at times like this)

As we pulled up to the yard i saw through the gate that it looked like he was eating a bit more normally and was pulling his hay and lifting his head. When we got out of the car and walked down to see him he was definatly A LOT perkier

He actually looked at us and lifted his head over the gate to say hello without falling over. After doing some bits and getting the horses in i went back to him and watched his eyes closely and although there was still a bit of rolling going on it was a lot less severe and he wasnt having the nodding of the head with them.

We were worried yesterday that he may have been going blind as there was not much reaction to light but someone walked past (not that closely) with a bucket of haylege and he whickered for it. Watching him move he is now considerably less ataxic and will walk as opposed to wobble around the stable.

I wasnt there for the vet as i needed to get the event that i was running started but by all accounts she was stunned at the change in him! The plan is still to treat him with the high dose steroids and the Gent and Pen and all being well there is still talk of moving him to Liphook on Monday so they can scope and Xray his head and C Spine and see if they can find anything.

We are still waiting on the bloods to come back to see what they say but throughout the whole thing he has had no outward signs of infection, his temp, and resps have been normal and his heart rate is slightly elevated after a fall which is understandable due to the effort involved getting up.

Thank you all so much for your vibes and replies i am touched by them all and so is my friend who i showed this thread to.

Please please keep the vibes coming as they must be doing something. This little horse is such a fighter and has been a real gentleman to treat and nurse his character really is helping his cause as he is so calm and quiet and seems to understand that we are trying to help him.

So pleased to write a happy post I am being a bit of realist for my friend though and have made sure that she knows he is not out of the woods yet but it is a small step in the right direction. I just hope its not the calm before the storm as happens sometimes and he continues to improve

 

[TeamChaser]

Keeping lots and lots of healing vibes coming. Really hope pony continues to improve

 

[racebuddy]

That's good news poitice vibes ur way a real little fighter could ur post a picture of him? X fingers crossed for the little man x

 

[Maesfen]

That's good news, hope he continues fighting for you.

 

[BarmyC]

Here is the little man.

 

[racebuddy]

Bless him he's a real cutie hoping for a good outcome for him everything crossed for him and his mum ur a great friend very inspirational sh

 

[racebuddy]

She is very lucky to have a friend like you hope he is insured to take the finance pressure off please keep us updated tomoz on progress is the vet going to assess again in am x

 

[sychnant]

Oh he's gorgeous!

I have everything crossed for him. Sending hugs for you and your friend too x

 

[BarmyC]

Yes he is insured for vets fees thank god.

Vet is back in the morning to reasses and top up his anti b's as they are IV. Fingers crossed for the little chap

 

[MrsMozart]

Fingers crossed it's the start of the road to recovery.

Keeping him and all in our thoughts.

 

[racebuddy]

Good luck for a settled night tonight update us in the morning try and get some sleep x healing vibes !!!!!!!!

 

[WandaMare]

Sending lots of healing vibes, hope he has a good night and continues to improve x

 

[BarmyC]

Thank you.

My friend has read this post and has been in tears from all your kind wishes.

The plan tomorrow is that i will go up about 7/7.30 and she is going to have a bit of a lay in and rest and i will check on him and let her know how he is and then depending on if he is good i will go and pick her up so she is there for the vet at 10 or if he isn't so good i will call her and get the vet up earlier and get her straight away.

 

[MochaDun]

He's beautiful. Keeping everything crossed for even more improvement overnight tonight.

 

[HappyNeds]

That's good news, I'm so glad he a bit better, he looks a lovely lad xx

 

[Stacy_W]

Lovely to hear he's doing ok. It is so stressful when they're not well. Just for the record and to reiterate what others have said, you are a wonderful friend to this cob's owner and she would have found this whole experience much tougher without you. Real good friends are so hard to come by.

 

[racebuddy]

Hi any news how's he today x

 

[BarmyC]

Hi

There is not really much to report on today except that he has improved slightly with his movement he can back up and turn himself around in the stable and is beginning to get his character back. Vet has been up again this morning and is happy with how he is looking for the time being. He is still on the anti b's and steroids and they do seem to be working.

I am however still a bit of a realist and although my friend is over the moon with him and is calling him the miracle pony which in some respects he is as non of us thought he would still be here today but I have to keep reminding her that he is not out of the woods yet and to just take each day as it comes.

He does do a few things that are making me wonder if he has had any brain damage and i suppose only time will tell if he has and more importantly if it is reversible. He has a very strange head tilt and although his eyes are no longer really noticeable they do still have a slight roll to them. Watching him sometimes reminds me of a brain damaged child.

We have 2 vets coming up to see him tomorrow morning and will see what they say with regards to hospitalisation as i do think he needs specialised tests which we cannot do at the yard and all of our work over the weekend was to get him stablised which is happening and i hope that they can reach a proper diagnosis and the vets have been very honest with us and admit that they have things in mind as to what it can be but they are just not 100% sure.

Fingers crossed still.