Need Ideas (Very Long and sad)

[rabbitsfizz]

I have been thinking of this, (and you, going through it all, I feel for you) I had a horse with a brain tumour many years back (BH) and it did not act like this- if he had recovered I would have said he never reached the point mine got to (tumours can arrest) but as the result was death, I would say this was not a tumour- the mare I had was so dangerous the knacker had to shoot her over the door - I shall not go into anymore details- your poor boy showed early signs of a tumour but the fever is not normal and the walking in circles quickly turns to galloping in circles-the symptoms escalate quickly.

Is there any chance it could be grass sickness?

Clinical signs

Grass sickness is a polyneuropathy affecting the central, peripheral and enteric nervous systems. The majority of visible clinical signs are related to paralysis within the digestive tract although nerve damage occurs throughout the body. There are three forms of grass sickness:

• acute grass sickness (AGS) - horses display signs of colic and require euthanasia or die within 48 hours
  
• subacute grass sickness (SAGS) - horses display clinical signs similar to AGS but with less severity and may survive up to 7 days
  
• chronic grass sickness (CGS) - horses present with severe and rapid weight loss and a selected portion of these cases may survive.
  

Clinical signs common to all subsets include: depression, anorexia, colic (moderate with AGS/SAGS and mild with CGS), excess salivation, constipation, nasogastric fluid secretion, patchy sweating, muscle tremors and eyelid drooping.

Diagnosis of grass sickness in the live animal requires a thorough clinical examination including a rectal examination. Definitive diagnosis can only be made at surgery (where biopsies of the gut are taken) or at post-mortem (where biopsies from the nerves are taken). Differential diagnoses for grass sickness

 

[JAX]

I am appreciative of all of your condolences and ideas of what it could have been, thank you. I will try to answer a few of the questions.

No sweating, no weight loss, no coughing at all, no nasal discharge, not really constipation just one somewhat dry poop, the next (and last) looked perfectly normal, no colic signs as in he did not lay down at all for the three days of not feeling good until he fell over and stayed, he also did not roll or bite at belly, no kicking up at belly, belly sounds were there but quiet but not too surprising considering he was barly even eating his alfalfa. When I first brought him in vet did not hear fluid in the lungs, I will try and remember to ask her if she listened again or not.

Now a couple questions for yall... Should there be or was there any fever with the choke case or brain tumor, or with grass sickness? Also he was in a dry lot with no access to growing grass, could a horse get this with cut grass hay?

Dr Taylor, Vet said this was a new (to her) test. I believe she said a "titer test". Will also ask about this again and find out the name of the test. Maybe it is not a reliable test?? Ugh I hope not.

I understand that i may never know the cause but I do not handle that very well I'm afraid. My boxer was showing signs that my vet couldnt diagnose so I paid $2400 for an MRI on him. It was a brain tumor and I tried Chemo on him, he handled the chemo just fine but the tumor grew too fast and i lost him anyway. I swear I shoulld not have animals. I get way too attached..

 

[Marsha Cassada]

You poor thing! What an ordeal.

Many of us learn so much from these posts, so, though it is hard, I am glad you discussed this on the forum.

 

[Riverrose28]

I can answer only the one question, that is on the choke, I had a horse that had his temp go down with that as he was going into shock, also had another with lowered temp and low blood pressure, also going into shock with a twisted bowel. So I don't thin a fever would accompany chock, but then who knows, I guess anything is possable as there could also be an infection somewhere.

Sorry I'm not much help, but as I've said before, it sounds like cepilitis of EEE,WEE or some other virus that attacks the brain and nervous system.

 

[JAX]

Barney was actually one of those horses whose regular temp was always a bit low and it definately wasnt low this time. Still waiting on those other test results. I cannot believe how long it is taking. {Knock on wood} No others are acting off and temps are all normal so far. I heard a cough last night and went running down there and they all sat there looking at me like "What??? Wow shes NUTS!!" After an hour I gave up on watching for a second cough to see who it was.

I know i'm reaching here but has anyone ever had a horse be alergic to an antibiotic shot? What would that look like??

 

[slv]

Jax, I am just like you in that I feel like I have to analyze everything to "know" what happened and not be guessing. That is a good thing really...but harder on us as people. My filly with choke was on a dry lot. Her bowels moved, but again not much because she couldn't eat or drink. Her temp was normal and actually lowered a bit near the end. Her gums were purple. I called my vet but he was on another call. I had already decided by the way this filly was going down that she would not survive, so was going to have him put her down when he arrived...but she died before he got here. Again, her primary symptoms were walking backwards, walking in circles, head lowered, foaming at the mouth and throwing herself down...in all of our years of having the minis, this is the worse thing I have ever watched. She would lower her head and make a hacking noise occasionally...but not all the time....I wouldn't even call it a deep cough....she also did appear to have a little watery substance coming from her nose. I truly hope you get the answers that you need...as I know oh too well what it is like to not be able to figure out exactly what happened. Some people can live with that, but others, like us, need answers. My thoughts and prayers are with you for losing your horse....that is always a very painful experience.