Please Help!

[Bonnie_RBsLil]

She is 7 years old.  She is not favoring one side or other but does shake her head quite a bit.  The vet didn't comment on pupil color but her pupils are not reacting to light.  The most common cause of sudden blindness is uveitis (moon blindness) but they ruled that out.  I asked about stroke and the vet didn't comment.  Thanks for your imput!  --Bonnie

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I have come across this similar set of symptoms before on a veterinary site. As I recall the problem mentioned in that case was photic head shake syndrome. Not much treatment for it but the shaking can eventually cause blindness due to the trauma it produces. The depression might be due to the sight loss as horses tend to shut down when any of their senses are disturbed. Not definative on the original cause but I think it was exposure to EEV and light reactivates the virus causing head shake when the animal is exposed to strong light. Very hard to diagnose as it comes and goes throughout the year. Anyway just tossing out a thought since it sounded so familiar.

Hope your vet comes to a conclusion soon.

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Twiggy, Interesting thoughts. Except she didn't start shaking her head until today after the blindness. And not very hard, just sort of like there is a bug in her ear. Thanks! --Bonnie

 

[Dream]

Had you done anything differently in the last day or so such as dewormers, vaccines or other medications? Any possibilty she could have gotten into a toxin that other horses wouldn't have had access to?

 

[Bess Kelly]

"...the vet snapped a whip around her. She didn't react to it. "

No reaction? Like ears twitching? VERY odd....even if blind. Maybe especially if she's blind. It would seem all else would be on high alert in her body.

You said she didn't pay attention to the hay until it was put right under her nose.

Is there a chance that ALL her senses are gone? I'm saying, could this "problem" she has have affected every one of her senses? See what I'm saying?

 

[Bonnie_RBsLil]

Had you done anything differently in the last day or so such as dewormers, vaccines or other medications?  Any possibilty she could have gotten into a toxin that other horses wouldn't have had access to?

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No, nothing different. No medicines except the Banamine last night and I talked to the vet about that possibility since she wasn't blind yesterday. She shares hay with another horse and all the horses get hay from the same bales. They are all in getting hay and grain only since the pastures are dead. I didn't see anything unusual in the hay even though I did talk about the possiblity of poisoning with the vets. They didn't think it applied here. Thanks! --Bonnie

 

[Dream]

Her biliruben (spelling) was "slightly elevated

This is due to her not eating. It sounds like her gait might be abnormal. It could be uncertainty but it could also be a neurologic sign.

It's difficult for me to help much since I haven't seen her. Your vets are in the best position to find the answer and you have to put your trust in them. The rest of us are grasping at straws based on 1 or 2 signs but your vet can rule things out based on all the other things they have observed. This sounds like a very challenging case and true to her breed she has found something unusual to stump the pros. I wish her all the best and look forward to updates on her condition.

 

[Bonnie_RBsLil]

"...the vet snapped a whip around her.  She didn't react to it. "
No reaction?  Like ears twitching?  VERY odd....even if blind.  Maybe especially if she's blind.  It would seem all else would be on high alert in her body.

You said she didn't pay attention to the hay until it was put right under her nose.

Is there a chance that ALL her senses are gone?    I'm saying, could this "problem" she has have affected every one of her senses?    See what I'm saying?

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I told the vets that she was "non-reactive" and that I didn't think she could hear earlier today either. She seemed to be able to hear later in the day but it's possible that all her senses were affected earlier today. I have discussed the possibility of brain swelling with them but they don't have any proof of that. They don't have any proof of anything except the blindness. That is what they are focused on but have no overt cause. Thanks! --Bonnie

 

[mizbeth]

Hi Bonnie,

I am so sorry to hear about your little mare. I do hope the vets find out what is wrong with her and can treat her.

I will be watching for positive posts about her recovery. You take care, it sounds like you have a wonderful Vet! You are very lucky.

Beth

 

[Bonnie_RBsLil]

Is she in foal?  If so, how far along?
Sue

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Sue, No she is not pregnant. Thanks! --Bonnie

 

[countryrose]

I lost a mare suddenly about 5 years ago. She wouldnt eat, layed down and had to be coaxed to move. Thought it was colic so vet oiled her and banamine. Within a couple hours she lost her sight, uncoordinated and then went into spasms.

Had to put her down. She had a 3 month colt on her who we had to wean immediately.

Thought it might be poison so had the pasture checked by the state and also had her posted. Never did get a reason for it and the colt and other horses on same hay and pasture never had a problem.

Someone suggested it might have been EPM and it does fit her problems. We also had a lot of opossums around at that time.

Try this website: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/drfenger/

I hope all goes well but the vets really don't know much about these little guys problems.

 

[Cathy_H]

I have not read the above posts but was she recently dewormed? Knew someone that gave too much paste wormer & the horse was blind for a few days.

 

[Watcheye]

I am not very good at this type of thing but perhaps you should pay attention to her liver. McKeever developed a very very nasty breath and eventually drainage. His eyes turned color and he had trouble with his legs. This all hit him extremely fast though. I am hopeful that it is not the case with your lovely lady. Good luck and my prayers go out to you both.

 

[Marty]

Hello Old Friend, Nice to see you again after so long, but so sorry under these circumstances.

I am sorry that I cannot offer any help.

I can tell you that my friend's horse suffered a trauma in a trailer and was suddenly blinded. He was treated with anti-inflamatories, bute, banemine and then they did that thing to the eyes where they put the glowing stuff in there for the exam to dialate them. After a few days the horse was back to normal.

I am going to try and get some links for you to read. I know you are scared to pieces of this and I do hope for a possitive outcome. Please keep us informed Bonnie.

http://www.blindhorses.org/eye_disease.html

http://www.animaleyecare.com/learn.htm

http://sacs.vetmed.ufl.edu/Ophtho/Equine/

 

[Bonnie_RBsLil]

Hi all to have responded,

I will keep you all posted after I hear more tomorrow. I need to go get some shuteye. This is a very nice mare, a Palomino/roan. Very pretty. I hate to see this happen and am hoping that this is only temporary. But we need to get a definite treatment going and don't have that yet. Thanks all! --Bonnie

 

[razzy3d]

Bonnie, I hope all goes well with your mare. I hate to hear about someones kids getting sick. I will pray for the both of you. I'm sorry I can't do more.

 

[Robin1]

Bonnie, I am sorry for your mare. I hope you get a positive outcome and soon. I was wondering about diabetes also. I have a friend who's dog went blind overnight due to diabetes.

Good Luck,

Robin

 

[kaykay]

have you checked out moonblindness? I have seen this is several minis and their owners said it came on suddenly. sometimes it goes away and comes back several times

Kay

 

[kaykay]

sings of moonblindness includes decreased appetite and leaning to one side, head shaking. edited to say i see now you guys checked moonblindness but boy she sure sounds like she has it. most sites i have read said its hard to diagnose in the beginning. Sending good wishes to you! kay

Signs that an episode is beginning can be varied. Uveitis unfortunately is often misdiagnosed as something less severe or in some cases it is totally ignored. It is important that uveitis be diagnosed correctly because lack of or incorrect treatment can have serious consequences.

Equine recurrent uveitis is very painful to the horse. The most common signs are puffy, watering eyes, squinting, and red blood vessels at the sides of the eye and in the lids. Horses will often be photophobic (very sensitive to the sun and often to any light) In some eyes you can notice a white cloudiness or a blue or green tint. Another major sign to look for is a pupil that is constricted when the horse is in the barn or a darkened stall. A constricted pupil indicates that it is in spasm, and is very painful. Immediate treatment is needed to alleviate the spasm.

Other signs may include head shaking, a runny nose, white spots or bleeding in the eye, matter or pus collecting, loss of balance, tripping, running into things or rubbing the eye. In some cases if you look across the surface of the eye you may even see ulcers. They look like little declivities, but usually you will need to stain the eye to see them and the untrained eye can still miss them.

Additional signs that owners in the Nelson Survey mentioned were: stops grazing, decreased appetite, swollen eyes, spookiness, blinking, avoidance of sunshine, and grumpiness.

If signs persist even with treatment, you or your veterinarian may want to consult a veterinary ophthalmologist since this disease can lead to blindness in one or both eyes if not treated aggressively.

 

[stormy]

This may be far off the mark but I have had a horse go suddenly blind, basically overnight. His eyes at first were white than turned yellowish, looked like they were full of vaseline. He also developed stiff gait and eventually went down. He was diagnosed with bacterial encephelitis from an injury during a thunderstorm. He had very sever nerologic symptoms but not at first, the first symptom was sudden blindness. He did recover after about two weeks in a sling though it took several months for the blindness to completely resolve.

 

[Crossbuck Farms]

It sounds like botulism we lost a pony mare to this in 2003.

 

[shane]

aw i hope your wee mare will be okay, please let us know, poor wee thing, does she seem frightened?