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Julia M. Fogassy
New Member
Username: jfogassy
Post Number: 1
Registered: 4-2007
| | Posted on Tuesday, Apr 3, 2007 - 4:18 pm: |   |
Dear All,
I just joined last night and have spent several hours reading articles about anaemia, blood disorders, etc., but nothing seems to quite match our situation.
Ike is an eight-year-old quarter horse. We have known him for two years and owned him for one. He is big, gentle, well-trained and very handsome. He boards at a place that has cared for him for four years. He has always been in perfect health except for a little bout of shaking and apparent pain last year after a change in feed.
We didn't see Ike from the end of October until last week when the caretaker called us. He reported that Ike seemed depressed, and has been steadily losing weight. He tried increasing his feed, and Ike ate it all, but did not gain.
We called the vet last week. Ike's blood shows a count of 27. His coat recently began to get dull. Coggins test was negative. His appetite is HUGE. He keeps eating and eating, but still loses weight. Stools are normal and formed. He seems willing enough to do ground work and he responds properly, but with little enthusiasm. Palpation yielded no useful information. There are no other visible signs--no swelling, bleeding, restlessness, or odd behaviors. We are awaiting results of a Coombs test. This is my 13-year-old's horse and he loves him dearly. It would be a terrible shame to lose him if there is any possibility of helping him. Any ideas? }} |
Julia M. Fogassy
New Member
Username: jfogassy
Post Number: 2
Registered: 4-2007
| | Posted on Tuesday, Apr 3, 2007 - 5:04 pm: | |
Here is a P.S.about Ike. I forgot to say that his stool was already tested for parasites and it came back negative. Also, his fibrenogen (sp?) was normal (200?) as were all the other blood tests (like liver function, etc.)
When I say these things, I'm just repeating what I heard the vet say, I don't really know what I'm talking about, so I might have got it wrong. We live in Western Washington so there are few if any ticks or those kinds of things to cause trouble. |
Robert N. Oglesby DVM
Moderator
Username: dro
Post Number: 18157
Registered: 1-1997
| | Posted on Tuesday, Apr 3, 2007 - 8:05 pm: | |
Welcome Julia,
It will help if we know his height, weight on a weight tape, estimated condition, a list of feed items, supplements including amounts and frequency, and the normal and abnormal laboratory results including units and lab normals.
Lastly are there other horses being fed all the same feeds, pasture, and supplements and using the same water source?
DrO |
LL
Member
Username: frances
Post Number: 411
Registered: 3-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, Apr 4, 2007 - 7:27 am: | |
Hi Julia
Have you considered tapeworms? The eggs don't usually show up in fecal tests like the eggs of other parasites, as they are shed only sporadically.
Hope you get to the bottom of this soon. |
Julia M. Fogassy
New Member
Username: jfogassy
Post Number: 3
Registered: 4-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, Apr 8, 2007 - 10:05 pm: | |
Dear Dr. Oglesby,
Something went wrong. I tried posting a detailed reply to your questions, but somehow, it got lost. I'll try again:
Ike is 16 hands high, (was) very muscular and well formed.
He is sharing the same space and food as about 30 other horses. They all seem fine. He has lived at this place for three years off-and-on and has done well. He spent a few months in central Oregon last summer where my son was working at a ranch.
The Vet guesses that he has lost about 150-200 pounds. I think that is a conservative guess.
Ike usually weighs about 1250 pounds. The Vet thinks he is at about 1,000 pounds.
We had blood tests run again and double-checked by a different lab. The RBC count is up from 28 to 35. The Fibrinogen level is up from 200 to 400. White cell count was between 5,000 and 8,000 in both tests. No cytological abnormalities noted.
Previously, Ike was eating orchard grass. He was losing weight around November, so they added half alfalfa and half orchard grass. They said he got too fat so they went back to orchard grass. He lost weight again so they went to only alfalfa. He continued to lose weight. That is when we called in the Vet.
Since then he has been on alfalfa (two big flakes twice a day) grain with 1/2 cup corn oil, Equine Shine, lexatinin (?) and now, fresh grass beginning last week, a little a day until this week when he will be going out to the pasture all day. He won't get the alfalfa, but he will get the grain, the oil and the Equine Shine.
As a precautionary, the Vet wants to start him on a five-day blast of parasite treatment beginning tomorrow, Monday. He says if that doesn't do it, he is out of ideas and the only thing left to think is some sort of internal cancer that is sapping Ike's energy.
The Vet is an elderly man who has taught at the university and specializes in horses. He is completely baffled and says that Ike looks like a horse who has not been well fed. |
Robert N. Oglesby DVM
Moderator
Username: dro
Post Number: 18191
Registered: 1-1997
| | Posted on Monday, Apr 9, 2007 - 6:58 am: | |
Julia I really need all values run, the units and the normals from your lab. What about electrolytes, kidney function, and liver enzymes / function tests? Has a fecal test been run?
Concerning feed I need I would not discontinue the alfalfa until he gets back in a weight gaining frame. How much (by weight) and what type grain is he receiving daily? Does the horse need to compete with the other horses for hay or concentrate. What has the deworming program been like for the herd over the past year.
I know it seems like a lot of questions but until each is answered clearly an important cause of weight loss can be missed.
DrO |
