We had a big scare this weekend.

[Matt73]

On Thursday afternoon (around 4) I went to the barn to feed the girls. Willow was down and rolling. I thought...please, not again

I called a vet that was recommended to us by a person that had had a Clyde in the area have the same problem as Royal and treated it very differently and she lived. The vet suspected (hold on to your horses, Ontario people) Potomac Horse Fever. Over the last five years he's seen more and more of this kind of thing due to less reliance on pesticides etc. (it's carried by the mayfly/fishfly). The main course of treatment is tetracycline. So...on his hunch he gave her tetracycline IV and some banamine and was going to come in the morning. She perked up right away and started eating. In the morning, however, she was down and in a lot of pain again. More tetracycline, banamine, a huge bottle of electrolytes IV and God knows what else. Again, feeling better and ate some of her soaked timothy cubes. This is key, I believe to why she got better; we kept her comfortable and she always was eating (at least intermittently). Saturday came and he gave her more tetraycline. Throughout the day I'm also giving her electrolytes, pepto bismol, gastrogard, and banamine at night (IM). She's still eating but has watery diarrhea by this point. Last night she looked okay, but we still had to clean off her bum. By this point she has some big semi-solid piles of poo in her stall. Last night I loaded her with pepto, gastrogard, another shot of banamine, and electrolytes. I went in this morning and she had four completely normal poos, was bright-eyed, and pawing for her food

I was so ecstatic. The vet came this morning, gave her more tetracycline etc....He'll be back tomorrow for her last dose. But...we did it!!!!! We got her through this. I only wish we had done this for Royal.

 

[MindyLee]

THATS GREAT! Huge congats and hope you and your little mini feels a lot better!

 

[Watcheye]

So glad to hear it Matt! That is scary!!!!

 

[Jill]

Matt, you have had a rough weekend! I've been following your progress with Miss Willow on Facebook. I'm so happy she is doing better.

But, please, don't second guess yourself about Royal. You'll never know if doing something different would have changed anything and you know you did the best you could and all you and your vets knew to do at the time. It's hard not to play that "what if" game, I know, but it isn't good for you.

 

[Mona]

Oh no Matt, I bet you were just sick with worry. Thank God she pulled through this!!!

 

[twister]

Matt, I am so glad Willow is better but Jill is right, don't second guess yourself about Royal. You did what you thought was best for him at the time and what your vets thought was best for him.

Yvonne

 

[Miniv]

Matt, you have had a rough weekend! I've been following your progress with Miss Willow on Facebook. I'm so happy she is doing better.

But, please, don't second guess yourself about Royal. You'll never know if doing something different would have changed anything and you know you did the best you could and all you and your vets knew to do at the time. It's hard not to play that "what if" game, I know, but it isn't good for you.

I agree with Jill......There is NO WAY you can do the "what if" in regard to Royal. Every situation and every horse is different. PLEASE don't travel down that road. It will drive you crazy.

 

[Matt73]

Thanks everyone. It's more Kevin that's saying "What if...", and he gets me thinking that way; I tell him the same thing that you guys are saying...But it does wash off on me, I guess. Thanks for the "kick"

Here you go, Mary Lou: http://www.waterlooanimalhospital.com/Library/Horses/phf.html

Seems difficult to diagnose. Willow and Royal never even had a fever throughout. This is just what my vet suspected. And it's important to treat it very quickly; I caught this within 3 hours of any symptoms. So far...no evidence of laminitis (which is a common secondary complication/killer of this illness).

To add: Tetracycline is the main course of treatment for this. However, if you treat salmonella poisoning (which has very similar symptoms) with tetracycline "you can kill the horse" (vets' words). We took a gamble and from the info from Guelph on Royal (no salmonella), he acted. I'm glad he did...

 

[jleonard]

Thanks for sharing and I glad she pulled through!

I was told just a few days ago that there have been 5 cases in our area recently so it's great to have your information on file!

 

[barnbum]

Oh gosh--that IS scary!! I'm glad the happy ending was already included!! Bravo!!

 

[HGFarm]

OMG Matt!!! How scary! I am sure glad it was the right treatment and that your Mini is better. Hoping for a full recovery with no other ugly side effects or problems!!!!

 

[Matt73]

Thanks guys. She's still looking GREAT! She didn't even lose weight. I'm in awe. I'm amazed. I'm so thankful

 

[GypsyMoonMinis]

Matt,

This sounds EXACTLY what we went through about 3 weeks ago with our yearling gelding! I made a post about it (I think I titled it Potomac Horse Fever). I was convinced is issue was stress related ulcers but he never got better. Took 3 days at the vets on IV"s before he made a turn around, and it was PHF. Also, he never had a fever either.

Also about the tetracycline (we used oxytetracyline or something of that nature, big words:RollEyes ), your right that it can kill a horse if they are carrying a bacteria. its a strain of clostridium. I lost a foal to it many years ago and it was an agonizing death, so I had my yearling tested before we started any anti-biotics. I didn't know until now that the salmonella and clostridia bacteria are similar. Scary stuff! Im so glad everything turned out ok for you!!

 

[wingnut]

What great news!

 

[Matt73]

Matt,

This sounds EXACTLY what we went through about 3 weeks ago with our yearling gelding! I made a post about it (I think I titled it Potomac Horse Fever). I was convinced is issue was stress related ulcers but he never got better. Took 3 days at the vets on IV"s before he made a turn around, and it was PHF. Also, he never had a fever either.

Also about the tetracycline (we used oxytetracyline or something of that nature, big words:RollEyes ), your right that it can kill a horse if they are carrying a bacteria. its a strain of clostridium. I lost a foal to it many years ago and it was an agonizing death, so I had my yearling tested before we started any anti-biotics. I didn't know until now that the salmonella and clostridia bacteria are similar. Scary stuff! Im so glad everything turned out ok for you!!

Glad your gelding made it, too

Has he made a full recovery (no laminitis/founder)?

Yes, it's oxytetracycline that he is using. One more shot today and she's done (it's a 5 day course). Willow is a fighter; she's out in the paddock right now with Lex and you'd never know anything had happened. Crazy how quickly they can crash and then how quickly they can come back. I was sure I was going to find her dead in her stall on Saturday. Now she's running around and bucking outside

I don't know what I or Lex would have done if we'd have lost her (Lexus needs another horse around).

 

[Allure Ranch]

I'm so glad to hear that "Willow" is feeling better....

 

[user 488]

WOW Matt! Talk about stressing you out! I am sure glad this had a good outcome!

Carol

 

[Filipowicz Farm]

Matt, Very glad your horse is ok and I learned allot form your post. Thanks

 

[Matt73]

Matt, Very glad your horse is ok and I learned allot form your post. Thanks

 

[StarRidgeAcres]

Matt,

Thanks so much for posting all the information. It's much appreciated. I'd been following her progress on FB and so glad to hear the treatments worked for her. How scary for you to go through this and so soon after Royal.