Would you blood test this horse?

Michen

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Sorry will try and keep it brief! 9 days ago B came in with his girth area and armpits very hot. Armpit skin where the folds are was more "saggy" and he was really uncomfortable. The heat went quickly and his discomfort gone within a few days, now the skin in his armpits is scurfy and there is some hair loss but he isn't bothered by it anymore. Very strange and can only put it down to some sort of weird allergic reaction though God knows what as no new sprays, field etc. possibly a delayed reaction to clipper oil (ten days after clipping!)?

A few days after this reaction I heard him make the most bizarre coughing sound. Almost like a sneezing sound but a cough. Really weird and didn't like it at all so immediately started soaking hay and put him on NAF respirator boost at top dose since Friday. I have heard him cough twice since Friday, once on the way to the field and once at the start of our hack this morning but the cough is much more "normal" sounding. No one on the yard has heard anything. I took him for a decent hack today and worked him fairly hard but other than the one tiny cough just after we set off he didn't make a noise and breathing/recovery excellent after trot and canter hill work. I can only assume the cough and weird reaction are some what related. His temp fine, he is bright and well in himself in the field/stable Etc.

However.... The old B was a bit of a lacklustre type, the sort who you had to encourage out hacking and who got half way round and then really perked up on the way home. Since he's become fitter, stronger and hunted a few times he is a different horse. He bounds out of his stable and up hills, he is forward and peppy and just always feels "up for it". If anything he walks faster on the way out than the way home. He felt like this just before the allergy thing. I've properly hacked him about two/three times in 9 days (other than a bareback walk round the block) as had to wait for the girth area to recover and the cough to clear and he just seems to be back to the old B. Lazy, unenthusiastic leaving the yard Etc. Cantered with not much gusto but as soon as we are on the way home he's forward again and feeling fab. This used to be normal for him but this is not normal for him now.

I can't decide whether to get some bloods done just incase or whether he's perhaps just bored as he hasn't hunted in a while or done anything particularly exciting other than xc school and it's just coincidence that it's coincided with this weird allergy thing and then cough? Obviously if he was lethargic the entire hack I would not think twice about calling the vet but he feels great on the way home. it's just his change in attitude that i am more worried about?

Or possibly he's deficient in something at this time of year? He's just fed speedibeet, linseed, chaff and salt.
 
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hmm, difficult one, if you can afford to it might be worth discussing your concerns with your vet and seeing what they recommend
 
I'd wait a week, take his temp every day and if he is not back to forward going get vet, he may need a change in work routine, maybe have a few little pops or something just to change his routine, it seems bizarre, I agree., I always feed minerals all year round, but then I am a perfectionist, and my boy was very needy!
I would get new supplies of micronised linseed and non molassed chaff [thinking it might be sour/musty/mouldy]
I would smell all the feed, and empty bins to make sure it has not got damp and clumped.
 
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Might have been a virus. I wouldn't personally get the vet just yet I would bring him back into work and see how he is.

Are you sure the backwardness isn't a slight nappiness and he's just reverted to that with the time off. Getting back into a routine should sort it out. If not get the vet.
 
A horse that is off colour should see the vet ASAP, not wait, work and keep fingers crossed. Viruses are sneaky things and if the horse dent receive adequate rest it may make it worse.
 
I think it might be actually having let him loose in the round pen last night and him been absolutely loopy... I think he's being a bit of a fake. I'm going to box him out to a diff hacking place later to see if that changes his enthusiasm and then re assess Monday with regards to blood tests. Thanks x


Might have been a virus. I wouldn't personally get the vet just yet I would bring him back into work and see how he is.

Are you sure the backwardness isn't a slight nappiness and he's just reverted to that with the time off. Getting back into a routine should sort it out. If not get the vet.
 
Chaff is non molassed but that's an interesting thought. The linseed was a big 15kg bag and i have had it probably six weeks, stored in a proper bin though. Hmmm.

I'd wait a week, take his temp every day and if he is not back to forward going get vet, he may need a change in work routine, maybe have a few little pops or something just to change his routine, it seems bizarre, I agree., I always feed minerals all year round, but then I am a perfectionist, and my boy was very needy!
I would get new supplies of micronised linseed and non molassed chaff [thinking it might be sour/musty/mouldy]
I would smell all the feed, and empty bins to make sure it has not got damp and clumped.
 
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