What's wrong with my horse?

[Mary Poppins]

Over the last few weeks my mare has gradually been losing condition and has now got so bad that she just won't eat. She keeps trying to lie down and roll much more often than usual. She is very stressed and keeps pacing round her stall - but then she will suddenly be very still for a while. She doesn't have colic and has been like this since yesterday afternoon.

The vet came today and said that he couldn't find anything wrong with her apart from the fact she is slightly anaemic. He has taken blood tests. The dentist is coming tomorrow to check her teeth and I suspect they are causing her pain as she takes ages to chew anything she does decide to eat.

Has anyone got any suggestions regarding what is wrong with her?

[Maclynky]

couldn't say as I'ld imagine it could be a number of things, getting the vet and dentist is the right thing to do and hopefully it'll be something very minor that's putting her off her food. Good luck - let us know how you get on.

[Gill]

It could be all sorts so you will have to work with your vet and go through the possibilities.

Is her worming programme up to date, especially for tapes and encysted redworm? Just a thought.

I hope you get to the bottom of it quickly.

[Stella2]

I don't know what it could be, but its good the vet has taken bloods.

Let us know how it goes won't you?

[Bay Mare]

Is she pooing normally? Is her poo 'normal' consistency? Is she drinking?

What about her obs? (Temperature, pulse and respiration. Any sweating?

It could be her teeth and going from what you've said it does sound like she could have a bit of a tummy ache. What did the dentist say?

[Mary Poppins]

Thanks everyone,

She is a little better now and has stopped rolling around - but she is still not eating or drinking properly. The night before last her hay and water were exactly as I left it but last night she had drunk half a bucket and eaten some hay. She is pooing nothing but water and keeps trying to have a wee but nothing is there to come out. Her respiration is much faster than it should be, but this seems to be slowing down a little now. Hopefully it was just a bug and now she is getting over it.

The dentist didn't turn up (typical!) so is hopefully coming on Friday. We are looking at her worming programme as well but the vet didn't mention this.

If anyone from my yard is reading this, please can I say a big THANK YOU to everyone who has been taking such great care of her (she was put on half hourly checks yesterday and the YO checked her through the night). She was thrashing around so much she got cast on Sunday. I paniced and thought that she was dead, but half the yard came over and got her upright again in 5 minutes. Thankfully she hadn't been down very long. I turned my back to speak to someone and when I looked round she was stuck. I don't think that I have cried so much in years! I am optimistic that she is on the mend now (please let her be!)

[moosey789]

Glad she's feeling better, lets hope she mended ready for christmas!!!

[Colorado Sunset]

Oh no poor girly! Hope shes better soon

Jo

[Mary Poppins]

Glad she's feeling better, lets hope she mended ready for christmas!!!

Her christmas budget has just tripled. My OH has agreed that she now needs a new stable rug, flyrug and a years supply of treats (think he just wanted to stop me crying).

The yard report that she has eaten some breakfast this morning and is looking well. I am still concerned as I don't know what was wrong with her, but she seems to be over the worst of it now thank goodness. I really don't know how I would have coped if she had died.

[ANN H]

Chin up MP - she seems to be on the mend now from what you've said. It sounded awfully like colic to me though, although the vet would've spotted that right away! If you find out what the problem was let us know.

[Stella2]

I'm glad she seems to be on the mend. Did the Vet get the bloods back? I would find it especially worrying if my Vet couldn't tell me anything :eek:

[fair~filly]

I imagine that a worm burden & anaemia could be linked.....if she hasn't been wormed for a while (but I'm sure she has) I'd speak to the vet before doing it.
Sounds very similar to my boy when he had impacted colic....did the vet give anti spasm drugs, just incase..??
I do hope she is brighter now.....F~F
Horses Are Us© (http://horse.notlong.com)

[galadriel]

Sounds like she was really sick :( Very worrisome, and I'd be crying nonstop too :(

Colicky symptoms (discomfort, rolling) can mean just about ANYthing, so frustrating. We had a horse who was colicky, turned out he had something like salmonella poisoning (was recovering by the time we amanged to get a fecal sample to the vet, so we never ran it). He was miserable, sick, lost weight, wouldn't eat or drink, and had very very liquid manure. It was June in a very hot climate; when he went without drinking anything for a day and a half, we thought he was going to die. We started him on heavy-duty antibiotics, and finally after another 24 hours he started to improve and started to drink.

Being sick can make a horse colicky w/runny manure; poisoning or infection can make a horse colicky w/runny manure. It's so, so frustrating when you don't know what the problem is and the vet doesn't know either!

---

But it sounds like she is improving; I hope she continues to.

[FudgieFoo]

A horse I know had something very similar to this. Found down in the field and they couldnt get him up.

I think it was a virus but their vet didnt take bloods.

The other thing could be she is not eating due to mouth pain which would therefor cause an upset stomach due to acid build up.

Has the dentist visited yet?

[Mary Poppins]

She was a little better yesterday in the way that she has started to eat, drink and poo almost normally again. However, she is still distressed and has been box walking. To someone who doesn't know her, she looks like a horse who is dying to get out and have a gallop round the field. But she isn't that type of horse - I have never seen her canter in the field and she spends most of the time by the gate wanting to come in. Before she become ill it would have been her idea of heaven being inside eating hay all day. The vet said not to turn her out for at least a week.

The breathing is also very quick (about 40 per minute). The yard manager thinks that this is normal for a horse with a heart murmour (which she has) but it was never this bad until a few weeks ago. Infact, you couldn't visably tell she had the murmour at all.

The vet couldn't find anything wrong with her and the blood tests didn't show up anything. I find this very worrying as there could be any sort of problems inside her. The dentist is coming on Friday (if he turns up this time) but as she has started to eat again I am not sure that this is the problem.

If she recovers and carries on as usual then I guess I will never know and just have to put the episode down to experience. It may have been a bug or a virus or maybe someone on the yard gave her a treat she didn't agree with.
I just hope that it doesn't happen again.

[FudgieFoo]

Sounds like a bug or virus really. This happened to someone I know. There horse was ill with colic symptoms and nothing showed up on bloods. Do what you can to make things easier for her is best.

[kayjayhorses]

quite frustrating when even a vet can't figure out the problem I hope she gets back to normal quickly, does sound like colic symptoms but obviously your vet has ruled that out.

how has she been today?

[Mary Poppins]

Thanks everyone for all your comments. I am pleased to report that my girl is back to her normal self and happy. Her breathing is down to 20 per minute (still too fast but not as worrying), she is eating anything that she can see and was happy to let me groom her yesterday evening. She isn't pacing round anymore and doesn't seem distressed at all. The yard are still keeping a close eye on her but whatever it was it seems to have past. She is going to have a little time off from being ridden but hopefully by Sunday we might be able to manage a short hack.

It has really made me think that it is so important to really appreciate her and ensure that I make the time to spend more quality time with her everyday. I have her on loan and have been thinking about getting my own horse, however I now know that I couldn't leave her. She means so much to me and is a real friend.

[Giveitago]

MP, give her a couple of days/week off before getting back on board, seems she'll need some recuperation time.

Had followed the postings and sounded really scary but hope all is well now.

[tb_rider]

that sounded like colic. but if the vet said nothing about colic i have no idea; i hope she's better.:o

[griffytayherb]

i think its an ulcer. sounds like it. good luck