This is an archived Horseadvice.com Discussion. The parent article and menus are available on the navigation menu below:
HorseAdvice.com » Diseases of Horses » Cardiovascular, Blood, and Immune System » Discussions on Cardiovascular, Blood, and Immune System not covered above »
  Discussion on Low wbc what's up????
Author Message
Member:
rusty

Posted on Friday, Jan 23, 2009 - 2:07 pm:

Hi Dr. O, Rusty came down with a runny nose & cough on 1/19 with temp 102.8, I called the vet & recommended bute & watch as he was eating, drinking, pooping, & perky self. On Tues the temp was just above 101 & no chg otherwise. Wed I took him to be evaluated dx w/upper resp infect. temp in am was 102.4 & no chg. The vet recommended lab work cbc & fibrinogen. The WBC ct is very low 2.2 (nl 5.5-12.5),rbc 6.8, hgb 12.5,hct 35, Diff. neutrophil 924(nl 2700-6700), lymphocytes 924(nl 1500-5500), mono 242, eso 110, baso 0 platelet adequate w/ct 143 (nl 100-400);Fibrinogen 202 (nl 100-400) Thee blood was rechecked from the same specimen & results are the same. Rusty did have a cavity filled mid Dec. was on antibiotics & has had no problems until the sx this week and he has never had a cold or been sick. This was the first time this Vet has seen him since mine is not avail this wk out teaching post knee surg. I have placed an emergent call to have him call me as well to see if there have been similar issues r/t the filling. The Vet that saw him this week has said Rusty's clinical picture does not match the decrease in WBC, poss. precurser to colitis, or viral infect could possibly cause the decrease. I don't know what to think. Any ideas?
Member:
rusty

Posted on Friday, Jan 23, 2009 - 5:01 pm:

ok my reg. vet called me & he thinks this is all related to a virus, which he says will DrOp the wbc's, especially since Rusty is acting normal. He recommends stopping the SMZ's continue to give probiotics and he should be fine in a week or so, monitor feed, water etc...
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Jan 24, 2009 - 8:52 am:

I agree with your regular vet, viral URT infections often present with a low WBC count and it is not a good prognosticator of future complications. I also like his recommendations although I don't use probiotics, for more see, Diseases of Horses » Respiratory System » Fever & Cough in Horses.
DrO
Member:
rusty

Posted on Sunday, Jan 25, 2009 - 1:00 pm:

Thanks Dr. O., Here's the latest. Rusty is doing better temp nl yesterday & decreased coughing, runny nose not
thick stuff like before. He is definitely feeling good, running around his corral yesterday, in fact after his running is the only time I heard him cough. Today is appears almost dry just crusty. I did start him on Immune one on Fri. thinking it could not hurt. The probiotics were actually recommended by the vet that saw him not my regular vet, my vet just agreed they couldn't hurt. This vet called me Sat. to check up on Rusty & see how he was doing. I told him I stopped the SMZ's & reasons given by you & my reg. vet. He was ok with stopping them. He still has the thought that the WBC were too low for viral & fvr not high enough so his thoughts were the poss. collitis, but he also said if it were collitis he would not tx w/antibiotics. I think he may want to reck Rusty's cbc this next wk, my vet said he did not think it was necessary. Thoughts???
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Jan 26, 2009 - 12:04 pm:

As to the "Immune one" it hurts your pocket book and if it really boosts the immune system you need to consider all of the diseases that are caused by a hyperimmune system (many allergies, recurrent uveitis). I have seen many viral infection WBC's this low and lower so I guess I disagree with the assessment. More importantly the horse has not shown any signs of an overwhelming infection.
DrO
Home Page | Top of Page | Join Us!
Horseadvice.com is a BBB Accredited Business. Click for the BBB Business Review of this Horse Training in Stokesdale NC