Very old mare suddenly lying down a lot - what's wrong with her?

catembi

catembi

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Jenny is a 35 yo TBxNative. She's had a heart murmur for some years & Cushings (untreated on vet advice) for about 9 years.

On Sat she was fine - I wanted to give her a mint & she ran off, leapt onto the school, leapt off again & wouldn't let me approach her, which is normal for her as she's difficult to catch.

Yesterday & today, she's been lying down a lot which is v v unusual. Normally she has her dinner in the field while I'm schooling, & when she's finished, she comes onto the school & follows us about & gets in the way. Today she was lying down (but sitting up) when o/h put her food in. She ignored it & the whole time I was schooling, laid flat on her side, sitting up about every 10 mins then lying flat again.

I brought her food over & she let me approach her (unheard of) & she neighed to me & started eating it lying down, then got up once she'd finished about 1/2 to finish it off.

She's sound, she doesn't seem to be in pain or colicky - but she's been in the family since she was 3 & she's never laid flat out. What could be wrong with her?

I suspect it's old age. Poor old girl. I suppose it had to happen some time.
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I'd keep an eye on her and if no better in the morning I'd ask the vet to have a listen to her.
Sadly, it does sound as if there's either something wrong or she is approaching the end and at that great age, I'm sure they do know themselves.
I'm sorry, I hope I'm wrong but do keep us updated.
 
One of my old horses does this from time to time. The days he does this, I tend to spend a lot of the day keeping a very close eye on him. A few times I've thought that today might be the day, and then the old sod gets up and trots off quite happily. He's been doing this to me for a couple of years now. He also gets very mild bouts of colic once in a while, no treatment needed, he just gets up and lies down for a while and then appears to shift it and feels fine again. Don't forget these oldies insides are not as functional as younger horses, so they do become a bit more prone to mild upsets.

It may be your old girl's time, but then it may not be. Only you can know this.
 
Keep a close eye on her (obviously you do) in case she gets into difficulties. Could be a touch of colic as this happened to our oldie (28) before Christmas and she had mild colic. She doesn't lie down much so big clue there that all's not well. I have never caught our pony flat out either and she has only done it these three times (on the one day) in the eight years with us! Hopefully it's a passing twinge. Sounds like she actually does want you (or someone) near in times of stress - but only when she wants! Was she neighing to her friend you were riding I wonder. If down for illness reasons, they will feel vulnerable - it's a natural prey response (don't leave me to be eaten).

I tell a lie, ours had a 'lying-down do' when she had acute lami at Christmas. Suddenly went down with me there (unheard of) stretched out on her side, shut her eyes and I thought that was it. Slept for ten minutes (with me stoking her neck and in tears) then got up and although not very comfy, seemed to have decided not to pack in that particular day. She's as mad as ever atm!

She has Cushing's, too.

I hope Jenny is feeling better today - do let us know.
 
Thank you for your help, everyone.

Well, when I got up at 6.30 this am, she was grazing with Adrian as normal, but by the time I got down to feed at 7, she was flat out on the school. She sat up to see what was going on, but then lay down again. Left o/h to feed hoping that she might get up & come over - she doesn't have any prob getting up & down.

Yest she neighed cos she could see me coming with her food, which is normal for her as she's very vocal where food is concerned. Adrian was in his stable at that point so she wasn't calling to him.

I think I will keep a close eye & see what happens. While she's still eating & looking cheerful, & doesn't appear to be in pain, I'm inclined to wait & see what happens. If she gets dull, then I'll know she's had enough. My grandad bought her in 1976 when she was 3 & I was 5, so I'd have something bigger to go onto when I'd outgrown my welsh mountain, so it will be really horrible & strange without her because she's been around for virtually my whole life.
 
Hopefully she is just enjoying the spring sunshine and having a snooze.

Do you use the same vets as me? T****Ls ?

Mike was excellent when I had to say goodbye to Ted.
 
Well, that sounds positive enough. I'm not a great advocate of PTS when all's well but it's an oldie - so they don't ever go downhill and have to be put out of their misery.

I'm a tad worried for you because you had a bad time losing Cat, didn't you? Jenny sounds like an old friend.

I have my fingers crossed it's her age
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creeping up and she has discovered that lying down is comfy!

You'll know, like you say, when she has had enough. Difficult though it may be I hope you will feel comfortable that letting her go is the kindest thing.

I wish her a long and sunny summer
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Cairo is the sort that does love a good snooze and I have had panic calls from liveries in the past thinking he is ill.

However, this January he damaged his leg - bit of bone broke off and then he had secondary tendon damage. He would lie down in the school for up to an hour flat out. He is a heavy horse and I was sure it was due to his joints giving him pain and he was unsure of going down in the stable due to the damaged leg, so we just put him in the school several times a day for a good sleep.

He has recovered a huge amount now though still on painkillers , he is back to his normal snooze pattern and sleeping in the stable and has not slept in the school for at least six weeks.

It may be that she is requiring some pain treatment and is uncomfortable or that as others have said, she is getting ready to go.

However, if she is eating and generally well, then I would not be ready for the end, maybe some bute for general joint pain is what is required and she will be bouncing around again - Cairo is - far too much for an old clydie with a tendon problem at the moment.
 
my old boy lies down flat out all the time, has spooked about every body at the yard, you end up going all the way to him as he is so asleep, but can still get up in a blink of an eye. but he was like this at 6, yet alone 29 as he stands yes i have had him that long

now time and time i think that this is the year or month, he has had a grand time and when i eventually make the decision then i will miss him and he will be very hard to replace

if this is new with your mare, then it might need further investigation, does she have any fluid in her legs or under her belly?
 
Update...

Was dreading what I might find when I got back from work today...but she was up & about grazing. Came over to the gate for her dinner, mooched about watching us school when she'd finished, kicked the gate for seconds...

She hasn't laid down once yet since I've been home.

So, no idea what that was all about. I wormed with Equest Pramox a week ago so maybe it's connected... or maybe not... who knows!! It's 14 months since Catembi was put down & I *really* wasn't looking forward to doing it again. But it looks as if she's decided that today isn't a good day to die... Old baggage!!

Today is the first time I've seen her in daylight without rugs for a while, & for a VERY old TBx with Cushings, she's actually not looking too bad. Might get around to taking some photos & putting them in the PG.

So thanks for all your help & advice... I'll be straight back on here the next time she gives me a scare... TBH, every time she laid flat yest, I thought the game was up.

T x
 
My old mare was lying down a lot - spasmodic colic-vet thought it was due to "Spring grass". Totally out of character and odd behaviour too. Could be the spring grass but could be something else. Keep an eye on her.

Mine actually had a liver tumour and she deteriorated very quickly and was pts.

So could be something but might be nothing. Just watch her. Hope it's nothing!
 
She's probably suffering from heart failure due to age.
Sad to warn you but there is a chance you will find her quietly gone in her sleep one morning, we've had a few oldies go like that.
It's nature's way, they get slower and quieter and sometimes start spending a lot of time on thier own.
I worry ours may not go so peacefully and do tend to get the vet at this point for a managed peaceful end.
I could be totally wrong, so do look for things like a rise in temperature, the runs etc.
She does sound classic old age to me though.
 
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