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barbara.gregory
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
4531 Posts |
 Posted - 24 Jul 2010 : 10:28:26 AM
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So sorry to hear all this, I do hope she continues to improve.
Does she get up and down normally? If she was kicked could she have a back/hip/pelvis injury and it is painful to stand. Has she been checked for this. Ignore this if she gets up and down OK and has no problems if turned in a tight circle!
A few years ago when my mares came in one of them threw herself on the stable floor and lay there blowing and groaning. Although she ran in OK (they take themselves into their stables when I open the gate). I was sure she had a colic and called the vet. By the time he got there half an hour later she was up and eating her food. He couldn't find anything wrong with her gut but as she turned he noticed she was lame on a back leg. She had obviously had a kick as she came through the gate and the pain in her hock caused the symptoms. She had some painkillers and anti inflammatories and was fine apart from a capped hock which went down over the next 6 months. I was surprised at the reaction she had to pain but he said it was not uncommon. If she has a pelvis problem then I assume lying down might be more comfortable for her.
Good luck and I hope she is OK; it must be awful to see her like that.
Barbara |
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Kristi Belle
Gold Member
United Kingdom
704 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jul 2010 : 10:50:43 AM
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| Has the vet considered peritonitis.It took our vets days to realise that was what was the matter with our filly Niobe.She was displaying EXACTLY the same symptoms,but they would have expected her to be showing in far more pain,some of our arabs are just far too brave for their own good.We all send healing vibes and love.Hoping for good news.xxx |
www.freewebs.com/etherealstud
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kimzi
Gold Member
865 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jul 2010 : 1:30:36 PM
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| Good point kristi, another thing though summer was far far older she was displaying similar symptoms and was eventually found to have ulcers. |
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Anne C
Gold Member
United Kingdom
886 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jul 2010 : 1:06:50 PM
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How's the little filly today, hoping no news is good news....
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Anne |
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kath
Gold Member
United Kingdom
943 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jul 2010 : 1:25:57 PM
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Poor little thing :(
I've heard of the star gazing & walking backwards to me - i'm pretty sure it was something liver-related, and so the toxins were being cleansed properly from the body.
I hope they manage to figure out what it was. If she was mine, i'd be taking her to a vet hospital, but obviously your friend will do what she thinks is best |
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Karon
Gold Member
England
1411 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jul 2010 : 2:07:51 PM
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I was thinking peritonitis too - although when my mare had it she was very, very ill for weeks and nearly died.
Personally, I'd risk the trip to a vet hospital or at the very least get a second opinion and full work up including stomach tap (sorry can't remember the proper name of it) - I lost one to colic a few years ago and so wish I'd got her to the hospital a few hours earlier. |
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Pauline
Platinum Member
England
3185 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jul 2010 : 8:25:37 PM
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There has been some funny virus's around this year.
One of my endurance horses we now believed had a virus before going down to the Golden Horse Shoe.
She was not eating up while away and tyed-up.
I would speak to Roger Hatch I'm sure he will be able to help.
His number is 01243551766
Pauline |
Pauline Higgs
Equine & Human Holistic Therapist
www.thegentlestouch.co.cc
www.endurancegbmidsouth.co.uk
Berkshire / Hampshire Border |
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Berryscroft
Silver Member
England
260 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jul 2010 : 10:54:48 PM
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Just a quick update - my friend called earlier this evening and told me her filly had spent most of the day standing, the first day she has done this for almost 2 weeks or more. She managed to get her to have a pick of grass and she ate some feed from her hand. She has been drinking quite normally and she now is holding out some hope for her. There has been no walking backwards or stargazing today. When I spoke to her last night she was not optimistic the filly would make it through the night - but she did!
I am passing all your comments on to her and will leave it up to her whether she follows up on your advice. She asked me to tell you she is very grateful for all your advice and good wishes and sends her thanks to all.
Terri  |
     
Okehampton, Devon |
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Callisto
Platinum Member
6905 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jul 2010 : 11:07:41 PM
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| So good to hear that the filly is showing signs of improvement - fingers crossed that she is back on her feet soon, and of course that the owner finds out what caused it. |
  Zahkira (GR Amaretto x Taffetta)
Linda
East Sussex |
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suyents
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
1651 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jul 2010 : 12:11:03 AM
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| i too feel thatthere is some sort of systemic poisoning going on here..has your friend checked out her liver and kidney functions yet? |
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Berryscroft
Silver Member
England
260 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jul 2010 : 09:52:40 AM
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Hi Suyents - I do not know the answer to that one, but believe the blood tests were fairly comprehensive as the vet chose to send to Newmarket as opposed to his usual lab. I don't think a urine test has been done yet though, although the vet phones every day to check on any progress. The antibiotics are due to finish Tuesday, so they are waiting to see what happens after that. I haven't heard anything today yet and if there was bad news I'm sure she would have called. Still have fingers crossed for her.  |
Okehampton, Devon |
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pinkvboots
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
3290 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jul 2010 : 2:46:36 PM
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| I do hope she is OK sounds like the antibiotics are starting to work, keep us up dated on her progress. |
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Berryscroft
Silver Member
England
260 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jul 2010 : 9:28:32 PM
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I have just spoken to my friend and she says her filly is about the same as yesterday, she spent today on her feet too ! She has been taken for little nibbles of grass (until she loses interest) about 12 times today and she thinks she is looking a little better in her coat.
The vet is coming to see her again tomorrow. She had already asked the question about liver function and the vet said her colour would not have been so good if there was anything going on with her liver.
Last day of antibiotics tomorrow, so everything crossed now.
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Okehampton, Devon |
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Pauline
Platinum Member
England
3185 Posts |
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Berryscroft
Silver Member
England
260 Posts |
Posted - 05 Aug 2010 : 8:43:53 PM
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This is quite a long one - sorry it's been so long since my last post, such a lot has happened and the news is not good.
Just 2 days after the antibiotics and the painkillers stopped, this lovely filly went backwards very fast. She started the walking backwards and lying down again, was not interested in food at all and was obviously in pain. The vet was visiting on a daily basis and left high dose pain killers for her. He advised worming her with a double dose of a well known wormer for tapeworm, which they did, no worms were seen in her droppings after this worming. The vet was not at all happy with how this filly was going and my friend was sick with worry and very upset seeing her precious filly like this and they made the decision between them to end her suffering and she was PTS last week.
Obviously distraught, my friend has not been able to speak about this until now, I have just come back home after staying with her since Monday.
As terribly upsetting as this has been for all concerned it is also a huge lesson in youngstock management and may be of interest to those who posted on the 'Worming foals' thread. My friend has been connected with horses for over 40 years, as has her husband and this is the first time they have ever lost a young horse. The vet told them that he has 4 yearlings under his care at this time (their filly was by far the worst and the first one he has lost) who are showing these symptoms. All these horses come from large well run studs/yards where their worming programmes and pasture management is second to none, either poo-picking every day or harrowing on a regular basis.
My friends have always wormed all their foals on a regular basis following a worming programme laid out by the leading wormer manufacturers. Their filly was wormed with a double dose of wormer containing Pyrantel Embonate on 29th April - no worms were seen in her droppings after this wormer. She was wormed with a popular 'worm only 4 times a year' containing Moxidectin on 11th July and double dosed with the wormer containing Pyrantel Embonate, on the vet's advice, on 23rd July. Again, nothing seen in her droppings. Obviously I cannot use the brand name of these wormers but if you would like any more info please PM me.
The vet asked if he could do a post mortem examination on their filly and he found that this filly had a worm burden (apparently a rare member of the tapeworm family) which has become resistant and almost immune to the drugs used in wormers and not affected by Moxidectin and Ivermectin at all. Where the wormer used in July may have cleared any round worm/red worm or encysted redworm this rare tapeworm had embedded in the larger tube of the cecum and reproduced forming a large ball and he said the colon had started to invert causing a blockage and consequently excruciating pain for this poor filly and there would have been no way back from this for her.
They have had 2 foals this year and have wormed them as they always had. They were wormed on the same dates as the yearling, no worms found in their droppings after these wormings. Following the loss of the yearling filly, on 2nd August they gave the foals a double dose of the wormer containing Pyrantel Embonate and the following day and for 36 hours after this worming a large amount of worms were found in their droppings. This was a shocking discovery for my friends as these foals had only been wormed with the recommended wormer for the time of year on 11th July, just 3 weeks before.
Their vet says to worm for tapeworm in July and October, not the recommended Spring and Autumn.
Obviously, everyone has their own story to tell and their own opinion regarding worming, but I thought sharing this tragic story might be a slight 'eye-opener' regarding worming and which drugs we put into our horses. Even though I have had worm egg counts done on my 4 for the past 2 worming times I am going to now dose them with the double dose Pyrantel Embonate as this has scared me a bit, I have to admit.
Thanks for reading this far and I am sorry I could not bring the news we all wanted to hear.
Terri
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Okehampton, Devon |
Edited by - Berryscroft on 06 Aug 2010 10:26:49 AM |
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Nut
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
2838 Posts |
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kathleen
Platinum Member
England
1835 Posts |
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kath
Gold Member
United Kingdom
943 Posts |
Posted - 05 Aug 2010 : 9:16:28 PM
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How totally tragic :( I am so so sorry for your friend - heartbreaking
But thank you so much for the information. We only worm once a year now for tapeworm, and worm count the rest of the time and just worm once for encysted redworm and it hasnt seemed to affected ours, but its always very interesting to hear of any more research/news that could be beneficial to horse welfare |
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Callisto
Platinum Member
6905 Posts |
Posted - 05 Aug 2010 : 9:29:58 PM
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I am so very sorry for your friend - how very tragic.
Thank you for the information about the wormers. On our vet's advice (and to prevent increasing resistance to the current wormers) we submit each horse's droppings to the vet for a worm count and then worm as per the vet's recommendation (last time the 2 eldest didn't need worming - aged 19 & 22, but the younger 3 did). However I wonder whether the need to worm against this particular tapeworm would be picked up by this method? I will certainly check with our vet. I know it is small consolation to the filly's owners, but at least this was discovered and this year's foals have been treated. |
Zahkira (GR Amaretto x Taffetta)
Linda
East Sussex |
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Berryscroft
Silver Member
England
260 Posts |
Posted - 05 Aug 2010 : 9:49:24 PM
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| Hi Callisto - apparently there is a blood test for this particular tapeworm but only one lab does it and I am not sure which one, but if anyone needs to know I could pass on the details of the vet which my friend uses and they may be able to help with this information. |
Okehampton, Devon |
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Suelin
Platinum Member
England
2514 Posts |
Posted - 05 Aug 2010 : 9:56:53 PM
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| That is so sad. Poor little filly. Thankyou for the info. Something to be stored definitely. |
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Goldenmane
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
4964 Posts |
Posted - 06 Aug 2010 : 07:50:45 AM
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| So sorry, poor little girl. Thank you for all the information, it just goes to show that we can never stop learning. Say sorry to your friends for their loss from me and thank you for sharing the information. |
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marionpack
Gold Member
England
1073 Posts |
Posted - 06 Aug 2010 : 11:00:58 AM
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| What a sad outcome, but thankfully for the post mortem it has probably save the lives of the other foals, |
Berkshire
   
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saddlebred
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
1706 Posts |
Posted - 06 Aug 2010 : 12:18:46 PM
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So so sorry for your friends loss Terri.
I am paranoid about worms. I lost my first horse after 6 weeks of ownership to encysted red worm. He was a beautiful 2 year old PBA who I had bought because he was poor. I had wormed him twice but the worms were already in his bloodstream and the wormers then didnt touch it. It was a horrible death as the larvae ate through his intestine wall.
I religiously wormed every 6 - 8 weeks for years until the vets started recommending strategic worming 4 times a year. I have had mine worm counted but it is so scary to think that there may be something not showing up.
Thank you for sharing this sad story which I hope will save many more lives.
Big hugs to your friend |
Based Bewdley Worcs |
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Zenitha
Gold Member
England
1078 Posts |
Posted - 06 Aug 2010 : 7:51:22 PM
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What a sad, sad story, I really feel for your poor friend
It is also very frightening, and could happen to any of us. Thank you for the information, I will make sure all of mine receive the wormer type you mentioned.
Hugs for your friend xx |
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Topic |
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Poorly Yearling with mystery symptoms-UPDATE
