Need help anyone experiance this

[Alisha514]

Ok first I want to say I do have the vet working with me but wanted to know if anyone else has seen this as the vet doesnt really know whats going on with her. First its my buckskin mare Bahama. She hasnt been eating her grain for over a week now. She was picking at her hay but now she wont eat anything. She will eat grass but I dont want to give her a lot of that as she is used to being on a dry lot. She has gut movement and in my opinion sounds angry. very loud. On tuesday she has diarrhea badly, called the vet out. He took her blood and I'm waiting on the results. He also took a fecal, also waiting on the results (actually waiting for him to call me as I type). She is very moppy she just stands in the corner and looks very tired. She is not laying down. When the vet came on tuesday he gave her some probiotics and said that should help her and some diarrhea medicine. Well the diarrhea stopped but she hasnt pooped since tues. Once again she has a lot of gut movement. We did have her ultrasounded on tues and she is in foal and the foal had a pulse at that time so it is/was still alive at that point. She is about 120 days. I know something big has to be wrong with this mare as she LOVES her food. Has anyone ever experianced this or has an idea what about be wrong or what else I can do. I really dont think the vet has any idea whats going on. I really cant loose this mare she means the world to me.

Alisha

 

[Reble]

Sorry to hear about your mare, but do not have an advice

sending lots of prayers

 

[Minimor]

My vet always tells me that if a horse goes off her feed, it is better to let her eat what she will eat rather than have her eat nothing because she refuses to eat what I want her to eat. I tend to agree with that--so if a drylotted horse will eat grass and nothing else, I let her have some grass. If normally the horse is on grass hay only but now that horse is sick & won't eat anything but alfalfa, I let that horse eat some alfalfa.

Is she drinking? If so, how much? Are you giving her extra fluids/electrolytes? How is her gum color? Temperature?

 

[Alisha514]

I have been letting her eat some grass just not a whole lot.. and i let her do it a couple of times a day so shes not eating a whole bunch at one time. shes not drinking a whole lot but isnt dehydrated yet. her gums are still pink and she had a 99.6 temp.

 

[ohmt]

I believe I've read on here that if a horse will not eat any hay, but will eat grass, then it is due to stomach ulcers so I would check into that. Prayers sent your way for a quick recovery!

 

[Alisha514]

Ohmt, I will ask my vet about that. I hadnt thought about ulcers. Thanks. I hope we can figure out what is wrong with her quick.. she cant go much longer being like this. When I look at her I want to cry she looks so miserable.

Alisha

 

[chandab]

I'll second the suggestion of ulcers, pregnancy can be more stressful for some mares than others, and stress can cause ulcers. Most ulcer meds are pretty safe, so can just be given to the horse, if they improve then ulcers are likely the problem (or at least one of the problems, if you are still ruling out other issues).

I have a couple that have had ulcer issues: one always goes off her grain, but will still eat her hay and grass; the other gets pickier than normal.

 

[epetrilli]

I actually just went through this exact thing with my 10 year old mare the last 2 weeks. Went off feed, acting dull would graze but nothing else. We suspected gas colic at first and treated it as such but she showed no improvement after several tubings. She is 120 days into her pregnancy and was just downright uncomfortable. She got to the point where she stopped eating and even became hypolipemic and this is where it becomes dangerous. I would urge you to discuss ulcers with your Vet asap, because after 3 days it finally dawned on me that this is what my mare was experiencing.

It has been a SLOW process but after 5 days on rinitidine and gastroguard she really did perk up and today (10 days out from original symptoms) she ate an entire meal, grain and hay!!! I could not be more pleased. She is much more comfortable and is anxious to get back to her herd again. It might take a few days of treatment to see the results and initial blood work might not show anything if it is an ulcer so talk to your vet if you can! I know we were fortunate to catch ours just in time as once the liver function gets too low you can then begin to have serious problems!

Best of luck with your mare, I will be crossing my fingers you can find the cause and she gets some quick relief I know how scary it can be and how helpless you feel when things are not working. Feel free to PM me if you would like to know specifically what we used for treatment I can get you the write up from my collegue over in repro, she had me use a combination treatment that she felt was safe for pregnant mare and fetus!

 

[Barbie]

I'm not a vet, but I would suggest starting her on Ulcerguard or Gastroguard right away for ulcers. It's not going to hurt. According to Dr Porter at U of F, if a horse has ulcers the horse should not have sweet feed. I had a mare who had chronic ulcers - finally had her scoped by Dr Porter. He told me 4 weeks at a full dose of Ulcerguard, 2 weeks at a half dose. Mare has never had another problem (it has been over 2 years now).

Good luck with your mare.

Barbie

 

[Miniv]

I totally agree about Ulcers..........and I would have her liver enzymes checked for Hyperlypemia (Fatty Liver Desease), just because she's been off food AND is pregnant.

 

[Alisha514]

I did talk to the vet and suggested ulcers. he gave me that ritandine(sp) and I started her on it tonite. I have to give it to her every 8 hrs for 1-2 weeks. Her blood work came back as nothing but he did say that when they spun her blood down her serum looked off so is sending that out and he said that could have something to do with her liver. I am hoping we got to her in time. Thanks for all the comments. I knew I could count on you guys for some info. My vet didnt even think about ulcers I dont think so if it wasnt for you guys I wouldnt been able to suggest this to the vet.

Thanks and I will keep you updated on her progress.

Alisha

 

[ljc]

I'm holding good thoughts for you! Glad the blood work came back ok because your symptoms sounded exactly like what my 22-year-old TB gelding went through earlier this year - he went completely off his feed (hay and grain) and the only thing he would eat was grass. Blood work showed his kidneys were shutting down. Rushed him to equine hospital, where he went on IVs for over a week. He dodged a huge bullet but came through it ok (one kidney still functions).

Treated him for ulcers, as well, after he got home from hospital. He still wasn't eating until about the fifth day on gastroguard.

Prior to that event, I had no knowledge of how dangerous kidney problems are for horses. Another chapter of horse care!!!!

 

[sfmini]

I agree with the others, ulcers and possibly fatty liver.

At this time of year, the grass in Ohio shouldn't cause her problems so I would let her graze as much as she wants. In the spring it is another story, but in the fall it is pretty safe.