Whats wrong with my pony?!

Neburu

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Long story short, some may remember my little chap was very poorly this summer. Kept getting lung infections, tremours, small bouts of laminitis, behavioural changes (suddenly scared of me to the point of jumping fences to get away) and was just generally very down and unhappy in himself, he also had a very sore stomach to touch during this time.

He had numerous blood tests, they all came back slightly anemic, but nothing serious, everything else was fine. We tested him for Lymes disease at one point because his behaviour became so erratic and the vet had see a pony similar to him that had it in the past, also came back clear!

He was tested for allergies and EMS, both tests didn't give a clear full answer but with how he was etc Liphook pretty much said he does have EMS and Allergic Respiratory Disease.

So we got him on his new diet and weight loss program and he improved, then he bruised the sole of his hoof and had 6 weeks off work. Then another month or so due to rubbish weather and no where to exercise.


He came back into work last thursday and within 24 hours, he has tremours. Spoke to vet and they had me pick up some more inhalers and we got him on them. The next day their was no improvement.

The vet came out and checked him but theres nothing physcially wrong. His breathing sounds normal, heart rate, temprature, gums etc all look normal. Hes eating, drinking, pooing, weeing as normal.

Only thing that has become 'off' with him is the tremours ( have gotten worse since yesterday, first noticed on friday). My Sec A who is as woolly as a yak and doesn't need rugging is now in a middleweight, his stomach has become more painful for him than before, if you go to touch his stomach he tenses his side and steps away.

I'm concerned we're missing something! my gut instinct is screaming at me that something is very wrong. vets are just saying to see how he goes, the tremours could be nothing.

This is a pony who is 10 in january and up until this spring has never been ill, I've owned since he was 2 and a 1/2.

Any ideas?

Cake for whoever has gotten this far!!!
 
Could you get a second/third opinion from another vet?

Hope you manage to find a solution to help your pony.

This is my next way forward, but wanted to see if anyone has had a pony with similar symptoms before. I've had so far 3 vets from the practice look at him :(
 
I wish I could suggest something, but haven't heard of anything like it before.
Could you get an opinion from a vet in another practice?
 
I wish I could suggest something, but haven't heard of anything like it before.
Could you get an opinion from a vet in another practice?
I wish I could but my money is running out as I have another 3 ponies that are also not well and already hit £500 with them. Can't afford to get different vets involved without a referal now so my insurance will cover it.
 
I think I might get a peritoneal tap done for internal cancer. So sorry you are having such a bad time :(
 
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What is wrong with your other ponies?
The new companion pony came with a bad case of mites, ringworm and worms. Of course none of these were visible when viewing. So she is having veternary treatement for that.

The rescue I ended up buying on whim cause I felt sorry for, is also, wormy, full of mites and covered in ringworm but all so very thin and costing a lot to feed up at the moment.

The third has got a bad cough and snotty nose and is on Sputulosin. He was in for a couple of weeks and we think he may have had a reaction to dust in the hay. But I'm watching him closely with how my little chap started off getting sick.

The only one that isn't sick has already had a full work up and been diagnosed with Bone spavin in both hocks and navicular in both fronts this year.

Been a bad year for me with my crew!
 
The new companion pony came with a bad case of mites, ringworm and worms. Of course none of these were visible when viewing. So she is having veternary treatement for that.

The rescue I ended up buying on whim cause I felt sorry for, is also, wormy, full of mites and covered in ringworm but all so very thin and costing a lot to feed up at the moment.

The third has got a bad cough and snotty nose and is on Sputulosin. He was in for a couple of weeks and we think he may have had a reaction to dust in the hay. But I'm watching him closely with how my little chap started off getting sick.

The only one that isn't sick has already had a full work up and been diagnosed with Bone spavin in both hocks and navicular in both fronts this year.

Been a bad year for me with my crew!

Sorry, they don't have the same as him them. Does he have a large grass/bloated belly?
 
I am surprised your vets haven't called in someone else. They have exhausted all their knowledge and done the usual tests.

We once had a cow with menengitis (however it is spelt). The old vet walked over to the stable, looked over the door and said "menengitis" without even examinng as he recognised the symptoms. With the right treatment it got better. YOu need a vet with lots of experience.
 
Ask for copies of all the blood reports, for your own records and for future reference. It's a perfectly reasonable request, and it will allow you to look for yourself and compare the actual values with the reference values for "normal" horses which will be quoted alongside your boy's figures.

It's all very well them saying bloods were normal, but it all depends what was tested, as well as how they have interpreted the results.

The strange behaviour, manic behaviour, can be associated with liver problems so definitely I'd be wanting to know what his results were for:
GGT
GLDH
bile acids
alkaline phosphatase
urea
AST
LDH

Muscle tremors might indicate some sort of muscle problem, so I'd be wanting to know what his muscle enzymes were:
CK (the only one which is totally specific for muscle damage)
AST
LDH

You'll see that both AST and LDH can indicate liver and/or muscle problems, so it's only looking at the full results that you can start to pinpoint where a problem is.

Also I'd want to know what the white cell counts were as these can indicate whether there's an infection.

Bloods might be clear, but did they test all these things?

I'd ask for the blood reports asap and then go from there.

I agree with others about asking for an opinion from a vet from a different practice. It's perfectly normal to request that, if your own vets aren't able to pinpoint the problem and you are still concerned about your pony. All you have to do is say to your vet that that's what you'd like to do, and ask how to go about it.

For what it's worth, I think it's ridiculous the vets saying that the tremors may be nothing. You are concerned about your pony and you know him well. They should be looking for a cause.

Did he have a Cushing's test (ACTH) as well as EMS? Could account for some stuff, but wouldn't have thought it would account for leaping fences to get away from you.


Sarah
 
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HI Neburu, really feel for you, this is a nightmare for both of you! I would get a second opinion and if you PM me I can suggest a very clever scientist that will help look at blood test for you FOC. Keep strong!
 
Thanks for all your advice!

Update today is that My little man is still having tremours, but otherwise fine, no worse or better.

The little companion filly who is currently out with him I noticed had tremours like he did so kept an eye for half an hour and spoke to the vet to update them. Within half an hour of noticing the tremours, her breathing became erratic and she kept lifting her tail as if trying to poo.

Vet was called and yep, start of colic. He had a good look at her and has taken blood to test her for any liver problems and god knows what else he mentioned so much I've forgotton!

He checked my little chap and said it could just be a nasty virus both have picked up and the filly has been knocked quite badly by it.

I will let you know what the blood results are as soon as I hear from the vet.
 
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