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  Discussion on Mare having seizures! HELP!
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Posted on Monday, May 27, 2002 - 9:58 am:

Dear Dr. O.

My family and I moved to Budapest, Hungary about 2 years ago. We brought along our 2 horses. About a year ago my husbands mare, a 16 hand, 12 yr old Irish Draught, started having seizures. (We have owned her since she was 4 yrs old and never had any problems) We have not witnessed any of them but are told that they are quite violent. She usually has injuries to her face after an episode. I have been reading the other discussions and see a couple of similarities but not a lot. We do believe they are related some how to her "cycle". We just had her on some medication to prevent her from coming into season to see if this would stop them but unfortunately, she has had another seizure while on the medication. We hoped they would stop and might consider removing her ovaries. But now we don't feel this would help. She does not seem to be upset after an episode as in other cases I have been reading about here. I do not see a change in her personality. The seizures do seem to be getting worse. Her last one was saturday evening around midnight and lasted about 10 minutes. They do not seem to be triggered by fear or feedings. They have only happened in her stall. She is still being ridden (6 days a week) is in good physical condition. About 6 months ago a small animal vet witnessed and episode and felt that she could have lyme disease (a big problem in Hungary). She was tested and it was positive. She under went two weeks of treatment and is now lyme disease free. She still has the seizures. The vet here seems to feel that she is safe to ride since they only occur in her stall. Do you have any suggestions for us? Any tests that could be run? We plan to bring both horses back with us to the States next Summer. I am now worrying about her having a seizure on the plane and them putting her down. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,
Dayle Holleger

Posted on Tuesday, May 28, 2002 - 6:38 am:

Hello Dayle,
From a diagnostic standpoint I would start with a good physical exam, complete blood count, and a panel or serum chemistires that include both kidney and liver evaluation. I think you will find these are all normal but this is still a first important step.

If following a good physical exam and laboratory work up everything looks normal you should think about starting one of the treatment regimens listed in the article on Seizures. Start with the lowest doses and keep a written record. Also on your trip home you may want to keep some xylazine handy (see the article for dosage of seizures) but before using it you should experiment at home to see the effect.
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 - 8:21 am:

Hi Dayle,

Sorry to hear you've got these problems with your mare. You will have read the other posts about my mare too, can I ask what makes you think there is a link with the oestrus cycle in your case please? My mare always shows the same interval between seizure and start of being in season and even when her seasons have migrated by a few days (influenced by other mares on the same yard) her seizures have moved accordingly.

Dr O is right, get her on some treatment straight away. Do you have any problems buying phenobarbitol in Hungary? Here is the UK it is a major problem, not so much obtaining it but being able to have such large quantities and the price is appalling too. I know how you must be worrying about the journey home with her. Mine had a 1 hour drive to go to hospital and had to be sedated anyway due to travel nerves, but I was terrified she would fit in the lorry.

Please remember that you cannot use the sedative ACP with your horse, it could cause her to fit. My consultant warns against the use of wormers containing ivermectin or a similar drug from that group of wormers.

Please let us know how the treatment goes on before you set off for the US. I can only wish you the very best of luck (feel free to email me privately if you want to talk more about your mare)

Helen

Posted on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 - 10:44 am:

Thank you Dr. O. and Helen for your advice. I have a call in right now to speak with my Vet and arrange the tests. It is interesting, we took her off of the medication to stop her coming into season on Monday after her seizure late Saturday night and today she is in full blown season. I am wondering if the medication we had her on was not strong enough. I intend to speak with my vet about this as well. We may still consider removing her ovaries. Have you ever heard of anyone doing this Dr. O.? Has it been successful?

Luckily I will not be leaving Hungary for another year. I hope to have this all under control by then. I do not know about getting medications here in Hungary yet. That is not something that we have explored. But, I will let you know how it goes. Most things are less expensive here and hopefully her medicine will be as well.

Well, thanks again for the advice and I will let you know what happens.

Dayle

Posted on Thursday, May 30, 2002 - 6:14 am:

THat is the normal behavior for Regumate Dayle, after 10 days use no matter where in the cycle the mare was they will return to heat when removed from the product. No I do not know of any horses whose seizures where treated with colopotomy (ovary removal).
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