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Horse Care and Comfort

Horse is ill

By:
pcarvercorso
Date:
Hello! 100 lessons completed 150 lessons completed 200 lessons completed 250 lessons completed 300 lessons completed 350 lessons completed 400 lessons completed
Hi, three weeks ago Ridge presented with a fever of 103.3° was off his feed and was shifting his back legs, he was poopin ok. He laid up like a dog, then went down flat bout 45min. Vet gave bute and excede and drew blood. He has continued to poop and p ok and has been eating drinking. He has had 2excede boosters now and I have given bute paste 4-5 times as somedays this shifting of his backs seem worse and he's depressed, lip down head down stayin in his stall, he is also draggin his bac toes at the walk.
 This past week the vet went m.i.a. and i could not get a hold of til Saturday. He told me to feed out some uniprim I had and he would be out for a rectal exam Monday. (I don't know if I said something wrong to fall out of contact with the vet or if being so busy he triaged me to some place else on his "list") 
Four years ago Ridge was shifting on his back legs also. I pushed for xrays and i collected urine and got a ua done.
He had slight hock arthritis was put on chrondoprotect for a year then the vet said i didn't have to procede with that it wasn't that bad. One other vet from the office did a cbc and also pulled out a huge bean, which made me feel dumb, but i felt like he had found the problem. So u can be sure i cleaned his sheath immediately upon fever and shifting. I got alot of junk out which seems always typical for him and a very small bean.
There is no diagnosis yet although the vet said it the cbc showed bacterial infection.
Does epm present with infection?
I ran a piece of hay across his flanks but he just looked at it and me like quit!, but he didn't flinch his flanks. I puulled him off balance once pulling his tail but he held the second time. I'm gonna try and cross his back legs today and see if uncrosses fast. He has been itchy belly sheath buttocks and he sometimes keeps his back feet very close together.....
If anyone has a clue....thx aheada time

By the way so grateful for helps with cinchiness, you never know when it's your last ride

 





JoHewittVINTA
Please upload your photo 100 lessons completed 150 lessons completed 200 lessons completed 250 lessons completed 300 lessons completed 350 lessons completed 400 lessons completed 450 lessons completed 500 lessons completed 550 lessons completed 600 lessons completed 650 lessons completed
Hi. I'm really sorry you're having this trouble. I have no expertise to diagnose the problem. However, a thought comes to mind, which may or may not be helpful - it's a bit fundamental. Your vet, are they equine specialists or a general large animal practice? Whilst a general large animal vet can offer great service to horse owners, a specialist is, by definition, more likely to correctly identify & offer more treatment options for unusual or complicated ailments. I wish you & Ridge the best of luck. Cheers, Jo.




pcarvercorso
Hello! 100 lessons completed 150 lessons completed 200 lessons completed 250 lessons completed 300 lessons completed 350 lessons completed 400 lessons completed
Jo, 
thank you for your empathy and insight. That is good medicine.
 I have emailed a vet that is also a farrier and knows acupuncture. He specializes in lameness issues. He is a horse doc and I hope to get his opinion. I also hope I can afford it! The vet clinic I have now even does cats and dogs. The main vet is very smart but his practice includes other (smart)vets and you don't always get the same one. So I am really the only one that is familiar with my horse's history. Wish I was a horse vet. 
At anyrate your point is well taken and it gives me the courage to continue the process of a second opinion also with a gait evaluation.
Thanks !! I will  
Paula
pcarvercorso
Hello! 100 lessons completed 150 lessons completed 200 lessons completed 250 lessons completed 300 lessons completed 350 lessons completed 400 lessons completed
*keep you  
pcarvercorso
Hello! 100 lessons completed 150 lessons completed 200 lessons completed 250 lessons completed 300 lessons completed 350 lessons completed 400 lessons completed
Updated 
bahila73
Hello! 100 lessons completed 150 lessons completed 200 lessons completed 250 lessons completed 300 lessons completed 350 lessons completed 400 lessons completed 450 lessons completed 500 lessons completed 550 lessons completed 600 lessons completed
Hi Paula;  `so very sorry for your troubles with the circumstances surrounding your horse.  As a breeder and a farrier, I can tell you that horses are masters  at sending energy to the areas that are out of balance in order to heal that area.  The problem for us as their caretakers is that we need experience in reading the signs that they are outwardly showing us during this time of discomfort.  That goes for the vets also.  Jo is right-on with suggestion for you to see a specialist with your guy.  From your description, I would guess that his discomfort is in the lower back area, but that is a guess on my part and not being able observe his reactions, I cannot offer you a course for exploration.
MY questions to you would be:
#i  How old is your boy?
#2 How many years since he was gelded?
My thoughts here reside in my experience with the gelding that is performed by some vets and outgrowth of that surgery.  It is very easy for a horse to become unnaturally seized in the growing area due to a sloppy surgery and or incomplete recovery therapy.  If this happens, and the horse is asked to be athletic after the healing from the surgery, he can be very restricted in his backend movement.  The elasticity of the ligaments are left with scare tissue.  Eventually, that can become so irritated and sore that compromises his ordinary life.  I only mentioned this because of the stretching exercises you mentioned on your original post. [CROSSING OF THE BACK LEGS]
Sometimes when we really listen to them, they will communicate to us with extraordinary wisdom.
`Hope this helps you,  Please keep us posted.
Bud
pcarvercorso
Hello! 100 lessons completed 150 lessons completed 200 lessons completed 250 lessons completed 300 lessons completed 350 lessons completed 400 lessons completed
Hi Bud,
Thank you for your kind response and professional understanding.
The vet just left and the rectal exam showed nothing disturbing. He was able to feel the "rings"from Ridge's geld and said it was ok. Nothing wrong there, so on to checking for epm😨and tick bite. Epm doesn't present with a fever and infection so perhaps it's tick+epm.  I think I would rather it just be a tick bite. No longer any infection at least and Ridge is off all antibiotics.

Ridge is a 13 year old quarter horse cross tri color. He was gelded when I got him, and he was about 1yr. 9months then.

The vet said four years ago his shifting was unrelated, but it looks the same! Except now more symptoms and is worse. Dsld is something my vet didn't mention ....idk.  Still no word from the horse specialist

Thank-you!!!,
Paula


pcarvercorso
Hello! 100 lessons completed 150 lessons completed 200 lessons completed 250 lessons completed 300 lessons completed 350 lessons completed 400 lessons completed
Hi Jo and Bud and all,
Epm test negative and the tick titre also negative. The  vet reasoned it was a self limiting infection that infected the nerve endings. I don't know what to think, just thanking God he is better and that I have a chance to catch up on the bills.
I will be keeping an eagle eye on him! I also will be  researching dsld and "tieing up".
Thank you again for the support!
Paula
pcarvercorso
Hello! 100 lessons completed 150 lessons completed 200 lessons completed 250 lessons completed 300 lessons completed 350 lessons completed 400 lessons completed
*PS also will be looking for an equine vet my area!
Tara
Hello! 100 lessons completed 150 lessons completed 200 lessons completed 250 lessons completed 300 lessons completed 350 lessons completed 400 lessons completed 450 lessons completed 500 lessons completed 550 lessons completed 600 lessons completed
Glad to hear he’s better!
Tara
pcarvercorso
Hello! 100 lessons completed 150 lessons completed 200 lessons completed 250 lessons completed 300 lessons completed 350 lessons completed 400 lessons completed
 Tara thanks!
JoHewittVINTA
Please upload your photo 100 lessons completed 150 lessons completed 200 lessons completed 250 lessons completed 300 lessons completed 350 lessons completed 400 lessons completed 450 lessons completed 500 lessons completed 550 lessons completed 600 lessons completed 650 lessons completed
Hi Paula. Phew! Great that Ridge is feeling better. Well done you for hanging in there. Ridge is a lucky lad - not all owners give TIME a chance. Good luck with the expert hunt. Cheers, Jo.
pcarvercorso
Hello! 100 lessons completed 150 lessons completed 200 lessons completed 250 lessons completed 300 lessons completed 350 lessons completed 400 lessons completed
Thank you Jo,
 It was great to see him dig in with his back feet when I called him to dinner. He still drags his backs during smaller turns/circles.  I revisited the cinching lessons,  has been over 6 weeks........it took a few carrot prizes to refresh his memory. The vet said I could ride but I will do other stuff with him awhile longer. Riding doesn't seem nearly as important anymore.
Thank you,
Paula 
pcarvercorso
Hello! 100 lessons completed 150 lessons completed 200 lessons completed 250 lessons completed 300 lessons completed 350 lessons completed 400 lessons completed
* lmost 6 weeks
pcarvercorso
Hello! 100 lessons completed 150 lessons completed 200 lessons completed 250 lessons completed 300 lessons completed 350 lessons completed 400 lessons completed
Sorry I have such a time typing in my words, lol,
**Almost!

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