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Message |
    
Darren Robertson
| | Posted on Tuesday, Oct 26, 1999 - 8:42 am: |   |
The new mare we got from the meat works as a milk machine has an unusual body temp.
We have been taking her temp every day for the last few days, to keep an eye on when she might foal.
Her normal body temp appears to be 36.4 when at rest in the evening.
The one comment we got from the breeders is that she has always been a good doer, Now I assume the body temp is correct for her as it would account for her feed usage. I had to take it twice just to confirm the temp the first time.
Does a low metabolism work well as an endurance horse or more for sprint work?? |
Robert N. Oglesby DVM
| | Posted on Wednesday, Oct 27, 1999 - 7:07 am: | |
Darren what is that in farenheit? See the article for conversion factors.
DrO |
Darren Robertson
| | Posted on Wednesday, Oct 27, 1999 - 9:18 pm: | |
umm errrr
It is 97.52 foreignheit
with the highest recorded so far or 36.6 which is 97.88
It is well below anything mentioned in your article, but it just seems to be her normal body temp.
I am not worried by it, it just seems your normal does not match her normal. |
Robert N. Oglesby DVM
| | Posted on Thursday, Oct 28, 1999 - 7:50 am: | |
That's great, but I must ask is foreighnheit a slur?{smile}
That is a low, but I have seen horses in the high 97's before: First couple of real cool days of fall and in the morning. But I know it is getting Spring where you are at. I don't think I have ever seen a horse that stayed there. By the way when your horses see you coming do they clamp their tails or just get out the vaseline?
Experience suggests that in general, easy keepers are better for endurance (Arab's) and hot horses better sprinters (TB's).
DrO |
Darren Robertson
| | Posted on Thursday, Oct 28, 1999 - 9:57 pm: | |
hehe yep it is the common term for farenheit over here :-)
It suprised me too, I had to check it again to be sure as it was about a week after we got her from the meat works, I was worried she was suffering from something.
Well I wonder how she did at the race track then. She is a sprint bred Racing Thoroughbred, I wonder if anyone ever payed attention to her body temp. I do know they noticed she was a good doer, but beyond that I will have to ask.
As for the next question I think I will refuse to answer that one :-)
Actually both these mares that are due to foal in the next few days are Racing Thoroughbreds, my black mare has a temp of 37.3 (99.15) but her skin temp is the highest I have ever seen. When the horses get wet she dries in less than half the time, with clouds of vapor rising off her, I put it down to very thin skin possibly due to age. |
Robert N. Oglesby DVM
| | Posted on Friday, Oct 29, 1999 - 8:11 am: | |
If the horse with the low body temp was very thin when you got her perhaps that is the reason for the slow metabolism. The body tries to conserve when it needs to.
DrO |
Helen Weedon
| | Posted on Friday, Oct 29, 1999 - 10:02 am: | |
Hey Darren- don't forget that dark surfaces absorb heat and light ones reflect it so I would expect your black mare to dry quicker anyway. Her increased skin temperature would encourage the veins underneath to lose heat too. My mum has a body temperature which is well below 'normal' so why should all horses be standard? |
Darren Robertson
| | Posted on Friday, Oct 29, 1999 - 8:40 pm: | |
Helen yep but that doesn't count when the sun don't shine, even when it drops below freezing with a single winter rug on she sweats lots, but her body temp stays the same.
I agree, I have what is known as spanish blood, my body temp goes high especially if I get a serious cut or bruise, which then causes migraine headaches, 2 hours to 2 days later depending on how far down my body I got hurt.
In Australia the Equine norm for body temp is 36.5 - 38.5 (97.7-101.3) the mare recorded a new low of 36.3 last night :-).
There must be health issues related to such a big difference, we already know she does well on any feed, but as a race horse how does it affect her, will she suffer from founder quicker than most other horses, how much energy is too much.
I don't know all the answers I am just studying and learning what I can about each horse. |
Terri Heckler-Lederman
| | Posted on Wednesday, Nov 3, 1999 - 11:27 am: | |
I want to know the answer to the question "How far away from normal before you start to worry?"
Terri |
Darren Robertson
| | Posted on Wednesday, Nov 3, 1999 - 5:27 pm: | |
Just to make a bigger point of it the mare is still healthy and well and truely in foal decided to record a body temp of 35.8 (96.44), now physically she is healthy and when it rains her temp comes up to 37.5 to keep her warm, but after she has eaten and is relaxed it gets very low.
The other mare we were watching dropped from 37.4 to 36.5 and then started foaling 24 hours later :-).
This other mare just is different, I cant see any obvious health problems, but there must be a point were low body temp must case some worry.
I wonder how low this mare will go before she starts foaling. |
Robert N. Oglesby DVM
| | Posted on Thursday, Nov 4, 1999 - 2:47 pm: | |
Hello All,
Limbo lower now! I have to ask, Terry: worry about what? I begin to worry anytime a horse begins to ACT sick. In a healthy horse I do not think of a temperature that is too low for good health. From a purely theoretical standpoint: The bodies ability to regulate temperature becomes inpaired at 94 degrees and completely loss at 85 degrees. Death occurs at around 77 degrees from cardiac arrythmias.
I guess I have never seen a adult horse who was suffering from primary hypothermia, and I have even had to retrieve a few out of frozen ponds. Newborns who become hypoglycemic (low blood glucose) on cold days become hypothermic rapidly. I have seen their body temps as low as 93. Generally they are near comatose but recover with warmth, IV fluids, and glucose if there are no complicating factors. But it was not the low temp that was the main problem, it was a clinical result of the problem, does that make sense? Its not the temperature abnormality that worries me it is the cause of the temperature that worries me. Of course in the sick good nursing care always concerns itself with helping the body maintain a normal temp.
DrO |
Darren Robertson
| | Posted on Tuesday, Nov 9, 1999 - 5:54 pm: | |
Just for your ammusement the new low is 35.2 celsius (95.36), and no the thermomenter aint broke it is a new digital one :-) |
sandy p
Member
Username: Iride2
Post Number: 16
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, Nov 23, 2005 - 7:56 pm: | |
Questiono-- We took a 2 yr old gelding to the vet today. I had been gone for the last couple of weeks and when I came home I noticed that he had lost weight and muscle tone. Ran blood work and came back okay except for white blood cell count it was 2.3. He was a little wormy- the girl that he belongs to hadn't wormed him since Aug. had some strongyles. What could make the blood count go down so bad? |
Robert N. Oglesby DVM
Moderator
Username: Dro
Post Number: 14189
Registered: 1-1997
| | Posted on Friday, Nov 25, 2005 - 8:01 am: | |
I presume all clinical findings were normal on the physical exam? If so a recent viral infection from which the horse is now recovering seems most likely however the horse needs careful monitoring as it does indicate a temporarily impaired immune system.
DrO |
sandy p
Member
Username: Iride2
Post Number: 17
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Friday, Nov 25, 2005 - 9:52 am: | |
All the blood tests were normal except for the white blood cell count. He hasn't been off our place since the end of July and all of the other horses are just fine. The horses I was showing were at the trainers so no one here could of brought anything in. I checked him this morning when I fed and it just seems like he's getting worse to me. I even hate to ask but could it be cancer? He just stands and seems so depressed. To me it seems like 3 weeks is a long time to wait for the vet to come back should I call and make an earlier appointment? |
Robert N. Oglesby DVM
Moderator
Username: Dro
Post Number: 14198
Registered: 1-1997
| | Posted on Saturday, Nov 26, 2005 - 10:16 am: | |
Not likely in a 2 year old and if the horses symptoms are worsening I certainly would go ahead and call the vet back out.
DrO |
