Need suggestions (sick horse)

[Windhaven]

Hello everyone

I am looking for suggestions on a sick mare I have. Now I have had horses for a 40 some years and only had one other case that had me and the vets baffled on what was going on.

Now for history of this mare. She is 6 months in foal, on a regular worming program, up to date on vaccinations, farrier, and dental.

She gets alfalfa cubes, beet pulp, bermuda hay, oats, omelene 300, vitamins, flax, and boss. Has always been very healthy.

4 days ago she quit eating (not totally but just picking). I thought colic, ulcers or she was getting ready to abort. Treated her for colic (oil and malaox) and gave her ulcer guard and monitored. She did poop three times that night and everything looked good. Ate most of her breakfast but only picked at hay. Wants to be by herself.

Next day, ulcer guard, ate most of her food but still only nibbling on hay.

Next day, ulcer guard, not eating again. Half rolled but did not shake off dirt.

Vet came out, low gut sounds but she thinks it was due to not eating enough. Has a temp now of 103. Did a blood panel on her.

Every thing came back as normal but her white blood cell and calcium levels are down.

Not sure what is going on but low calcium levels could be slowing down her intestines.

Vet oiled/watered her. Took about 10 hours for it to get through, but manure looked fine.

Have her on now: ulcer guard, banimine, electrolytes (has calcium in it) and antibiotic. She gets to graze on the grass 3 times a day until she is eating better. Vet thinks some type of virus but not sure. Thinks the foal is okay but that is hard to tell right now.

But even with all that stuff, when she eats she gets stomach pain and then quits eating.

Any input would be great.

Thanks

 

[Genie]

Have you wormed for bots?

 

[Windhaven]

Yes even thought we really don't have any bot flies here. I have not had to clean off bots eggs since I moved to GA. But I still do worm for them.

 

[targetsmom]

It sounds like you have thought of all the things I would suggest - I just hope she gets better and doesn't lose the foal. Did she get a Pneumabort shot at 5 months? I sure hope it isn't Rhino......

 

[Charlotte]

Sure sounds like ulcers except for the fever and that could actually be from the stress of pain. Is her temp elevated all through the day? It doesn't sound like she has been on the ulcerguard long enough for it to be helping much. I've had horses take as long as 5 days to being to improve with Ulcerguard so I add Ranitidine and Sucralfate to the Ulcerguard treatment. You might try those and see if she perks up for a while after the Ranitidine.

The banamine and maybe the antibiotic can make ulcers hurt worse....just a thought.

If you think it's ulcers then a very bland diet...no grains, no sweet feeds or feed products with molasses. Alfalfa hay is good for the calcium and sometimes ulcer horses will eat it when they won't eat much else. Grazing is excellent if you have grass. An ulcer horse you want eating something about round the clock to buffer the acid (I know, difficult with minis to not over feed, but have to get those sores healed)

I wish you and your little mare the best. I've been in your shoes more than once and had a good outcome every time.

 

[Eagle]

When my stallion had ulcers it took at least a week on Gastrogard before he started to feel better. Have you checked her mouth for sores or cuts? Any food caught between her gums and teeth?

I am sending prayers that she gets better soon.

 

[Windhaven]

Thanks for all your replies. I am thinking ulcers too and have heard that some do run temps with it if it is bad enough.

She does get alfalfa hay at night but is not really eating that either. Most of my horses have turned around in 48 hours of giving ulcer guard. She just might have them worse than the others.

I know grain is not good for ulcers but she only seems to want Omelene 300. I do mix it in soaked beet pulp and alfalfa cubes to help buffer it.

She is on banamine so it is hard to see if she has a temp all day. And I know this stuff is hard on their stomachs.

I will start her on Ranitidine and sucralfate and see if that helps.

No she did not get the Rhino shot. My horses don't come and go so I don't worry about that much and haven't had a problem with it in the past. The vet didn't think it was Rhino either.

Again thanks for all your help.

 

[sfmini]

We are dealing with the same thing, have her on gastroguard and pepto and she is perking up and starting to eat better. The pepto helped until the gastro started to work.

Good luck with yours.

 

[Miniv]

Another test for your vet to run is for "Fatty Liver Disease", also known as Hyperlipemia. Some vets don't think to look for that. In the mean time, I would syringe some molasses to her two, three, even four times a day to keep her blood sugar up. It's also known to stimulate appetite.

 

[bevann]

Ask your vet about giving her aloe vera juice.I had a horse many years ago with ulcers following surgery and lots of bute.Had ulcers to the point of grinding his teeth.tried lots of things.finally took the advice of a Rutger's vet who suggested aloe vera juice.6 cc 2 or 3 times daily squirted in the mouth.It coats the stomach and seemed to help my guy.Can't hurt.I have used it myself for bad indigestion.You can get it at Walmart or many pharmacies.Just keep it in fridge after opening.Hope your baby gets better soon.

 

[stormy]

Being on Banamine will make ulcers worse. Have more then once treated with banamine for colic and ended up with ulcers to deal with afterward. If ulcers are the problem I doubt you will see improvement as long as she is on Banamine!

 

[ionafarm]

I do not know where you are located, but If the ulcer treatment is not working, I would ask the vet to test fo Potomic horse fever. These symptoms are very much like that. With the weird weather patterns across the US this past year, potomic is showing up in horses in places it never has before , and vets are not even considering checking for it.

 

[wildoak]

It does sound like you are dealing with ulcers.. I had an in foal mare this summer go off feed - no fever with her though. It took months to get her appetite back, I initially put her on Gastroguard, had no effect. I tried a good many things, all kinds of feed, ran blood (all normal but slightly depressed protein due to not eating). She would graze but nothing else interested her, and with the drought we had very little grass. Ended up turning her out in the yard all summer. I never did figure it out, nor did my vet, but I'll tell you what finally jumpstarted her appetite - I put her on Body Builder. She went back to eating, now eats everything I put in front of her. I had ordered it for show horses and gave her some just as an afterthought. She was on it for nearly a month. I do think the extreme heat & drought was part of her problem, but ulcers may still have been at the root of it.

Jan

 

[Carolyn R]

I am going to say that in my experience, with the fever of 103 and the slightly off bloodwork, she has caught something and it needs to work itself through her system. Owners that are very involved with their horses tend to know precisely when they are going off, before a vet may be able to notice it (my vets know if I say my horse is off, believe me. Blood work is done and vitals are taken and usually the horse is at the beginning stages of something).

While it will not hurt to treat for ulcers, I think the best coarse of action is turning all feed into a wet mash, soaking hay,offering some soaked alfalfa, offering a bucket of regular water and electrolite water and maybe even giving some paste electolites as well as giving the antibiotic 2-3 days to start working. If it is ulcer related large amounts of concentrate pelleted feeds tend to aggrivate the situation.

As far as being in foal, well only time will tell, but it iscompletely possible for her to have an unrelated issue going on and not have it affect her foal.

Potomic tends to very quickly have a horse go from no manure to very loose/liquidy manure being almost explosive episodes in nature. Sending you well wishes for you girl, hopefully she will work it out with antibiotics and some TLC.

 

[Windhaven]

Thanks for all the input and help.

My mare has only been on banimine for a day and a half to help get her fever down. The symptoms started 4 days ago.

It really is looking like ulcers but she might have an underlying virus also.

She is on ulcer guard and started her on ranitidine tonight. She is on an antibiotic, electrolytes and banimine (hopefully not for long).

She does get soaked beet pulp and alfalfa cubes and as soon as I knew she was off I started giving it to her more soupy but she is not eating much. She does not get a lot of pelleted feed.

She was perkier tonight so I am hoping things are getting better.

As for potomic horse fever, I don't think this is the problem, we really don't have mosquitoes here. But I will keep it in mind and if things get worse I will consult my vet.

She did have a complete blood work done and does not show signs of hyperlipemia (have had a horse have this before). But if she continues to not eat I will make sure I check for this.

I have not heard of aloe vera juice, and will check into this. I will also look into the body builder supplement.

Again THANK YOU for all your help. There are some good suggestions and ideas. I deeply appreciate it and so does my mare.

 

[Marty]

Agreed that banamine is not good for a horse with suspected ulcers.

Bevann hit the nail on the head with Aloe Vera juice. Was just discussing this with my brother in law who has been breeder of the year in thoroughbred racing who swears by it as a regular part of their daily regimine. He puts it in a spray type bottle and squirts it on top of feed.

I also think you feed way too much stuff that is not necessary. Please don't hit me because I said that.

The 103 temp is worrysome and I don't think its due to ulcers. I think ulcers is due to the 103 temp so fear something else may be going on in way of a flu. I hope not. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

 

[targetsmom]

One product I have had great luck with in stimulating appetite is Natural Plan Stomach Soother, which is simply pureed papaya. You can order it on-line (Google "Stomach Soother') or might be able to get locally. It is also great for ulcers - not as a treatment, but as preventive - so it won't hurt if that is the main issue. You can put it in the feed or use a dosing syringe. I always use that first at any sign of stomach pain and sometimes the effect is almost instantaneous.

 

[valshingle]

Another test for your vet to run is for "Fatty Liver Disease", also known as Hyperlipemia. Some vets don't think to look for that. In the mean time, I would syringe some molasses to her two, three, even four times a day to keep her blood sugar up. It's also known to stimulate appetite.

Agreed. This can happen quickly when a mini goes off it's feed. You can also use Karo syrup if you don't have molasses on hand. I've used honey as well.

 

[kaykay]

If her calcium levels are low please talk to the vet about giving her some calcium. This can be so dangerous in a pregnant or nursing mare. Most vets do not realize that minis and ponies are much more prone to it than big horses. My mare almost died because 2 vets wouldnt listen to me.

some call it thumps and some call it hypocalcemia. It can present with very strange symptoms. The first vet thought for sure my mare had encephalitis and advised putting her down.

Some mares get it during pregnancy and some after they foal. Mine got it with a 4 month old foal on her side which the second vet said was impossible. (she apologized after getting the reports back from the 3rd vet)

After getting calcium she rebounded and is still here now. But we barely caught her in time. I still have a file with the blood tests showing almost zero calcium and electorlites.

 

[wildoak]

One product I have had great luck with in stimulating appetite is Natural Plan Stomach Soother, which is simply pureed papaya.

Great stuff! I feed a lot of it, on a regular maintainence program. FYI, cheaper to order it through horse.com or one of the catalogs usually, than to order it direct from Stomach Soother.

Jan