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KATHLEEN WHEAT
| | Posted on Monday, Sep 27, 1999 - 9:36 am: |   |
Hi, I posted this message last week and since I saw no answer, I figured it was because of the problem with posting. So I'll try again.
DrO (or anyone else who has had a similar experience),
I consulted you a few years ago about an Arabian mare with allergy problems and wheals under the elbows. This same mare has had 6 years of stomach ulcer treatment. She also has been showing signs of heat cycle pain. We have been struggling to keep her healthy. We now seem to have most everything under control and she is consistently working fairly hard at learning team penning (something she seems to really enjoy). She is scoped every two months and the ulcers are not coming back (6 months now). She went through a fairly mild winter (1997-98)in San Antonio and she lost weight, was perpetually cold when the temp dropped below 40-45 degrees, coat was very dull and long and coarse and she didn't start shedding with the other horses. She also had little energy and was generally dull and had not been coming in estrus normally (didn't come it for months then came in and stayed for 30-60 days straight. In March 1998 my vet ran CBC, Profile, T4. He put her on Thryo-L immediately (2tsp 1x day) and waited for test results. Everything came back normal, including T4 (don't have copy of results). We saw immediate results after putting her on the Thyro-L so he said that even though the T4 was within normal range, he wanted to keep her on 1 tsp 1x day. We moved to Virginia and my vet here ran T4 on Jun 9, 1998. Result: 29.63 (norm range 9-26). She cut the dose in half to 1/2 tsp 1x day. The mare had the same problem through winter 1998-99 as she did winter 1997-98. When we scoped her, the ulcers were back (or still there?). We are wondering if it was ulcers causing most if not all of the symptoms, and not a thyroid problem. I have been reading your article on Hypothyrodism and other information and am questioning the whole thryoid issue. Of most concern to me is that she has been on the Thyro-L for a year and a half and according the the info I have found, prolonged use of Thyro-L can cause the thyroid to cease functioning. I brought this up to my vet yesterday and she agreed, so we have taken her off the medication and she is going to do the TSH test. If
the results come back that the thyroid is functioning normally, it has been suggested that she be retested at 60 days because the thyroid may not kick back in on a regular basis, and also that stress could trigger another "episode" because of an already weakened thryoid gland. If the test comes back that itis not functioning normally, do we put her back on the medication or is there something else we should try. I am a little concerned about making this change going into winter, but am more concerned about the implications of keeping her on the medication. What are your thoughts? Is there anything I should discuss with my vet about the TSH test, such as where the blood is sent, at what intervals the blood is taken after the hormone is injected, etc?
Approx 3 days after taking her off the Thyro-L, she seems to have come down with an upper respiratory infection (slight fever - 101.6, coughing, yellow nasal disharge) and the vet is treating with SMZ, no bute due to history of stomach ulcers. Is there any problem that you know of in giving the SMZ to this horse at this time?
Thanks, Kathleen |
The Advisor Vet, RN Oglesby DVM
| | Posted on Monday, Sep 27, 1999 - 1:26 pm: | |
No Kathleen,
Nothing other than the risk of any antibiotic: idiosyncratic reaction and possible colitis. These are uncommon but documented problems.
I think you need to look at the Thyroid problem differently. My article addresses the fact that these extremely fat and sassy horses that founder on lush grass are very unlikely to be hypothyroid.
Also important to understand is that resting T3 and T4 values are not indicitive of thyroid function.
Hypothyroidisim in adult horses is poorly understood do the rarity of the situation.
Your horse on the other hand with problems of chronic infection and your references to poor doing and skin problems fits the profile much better. If your horse was doing well on Thyro-L and is now doing poorly after coming off, discuss with your vet the possiblity of going back on. Once on, and if the horse is doing well, you could consider lowering the dose very slowly over time, if at some point unexplained signs of poor doing return, run the TSH. I use the general term "poor doing" because there is not a system that thyroid function does not touch so anything may show up first as a sign.
Let me know what happens. These cases that we follow over several years are extremely interesting.
DrO |
Susan Brown-Leger
| | Posted on Thursday, Oct 7, 1999 - 5:12 pm: | |
Dr. O--I am a new member. I just purchased a new horse, an 8 year old Arabian mare. She has been diagnosed by her previous owners' vet as being hypothryoid on the basis of one blood test only. The only symptom she has is that she is a little cresty in the neck, and fatty on her rump at the base of her tail. However, she was also being very well fed and perhaps underexercised. After reading your article on this forum it seems that I should slowly withdraw the Thryo-L and see how she does. Currently she gets one scoop twice a day (the scoop that comes with the medication). Over what period of time should I withdraw the Thryo-L?
Another thing I want to mention is that although her coat is in excellent condition she has several small dime sized roaning areas (she is bay). The previous owners said that their local hay (SW Pennsylvania) is low in selenium and the roaning was caused by a seleneium deficiency, and also it can be caused by a Zinc deficiency, so they have her on Clovite, 2 Tablespoons twice/day to correct this. Do you think they are on the right track here? Thanks! |
Administration
| | Posted on Friday, Oct 8, 1999 - 8:10 am: | |
Susan,
Instead of posting your question at the bottom of someone elses discussion you should create your own. You will get more responses and it helps others find related information better.
This is also the wrong topic's forum for your discussion, so pick a closer related topic in which to post. The easiest way to do this is using the navigation frame at the left of this page and selecting the best fitting topic, perhaps Disease: Endocrine fits your question best. Once on the subtopic page click on the Forum. Once on the Forum page select: New Discussions and choose a title that is descriptive. Thank you for your cooperation.
Administration |
Maria Miller
Member
Username: Ccet
Post Number: 14
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Friday, Apr 2, 2004 - 8:23 pm: | |
Dr.O
I have a 20 year old gelding that has the thickest longest coat I have ever seen on a horse. I think thyroid is a possability - generally what are the signs and symptoms? This horse has all the energy in the world so maybe I'm wrong or perhaps hypothyroidism is a possibility rather then hyper.
maria
|
Robert N. Oglesby DVM
Moderator
Username: Dro
Post Number: 10198
Registered: 1-1997
| | Posted on Sunday, Apr 4, 2004 - 10:10 am: | |
I think Equine Cushing's disease is most likely Maria, see the article Equine Diseases » Endocrine Disorders » Cushing's Syndrome and Pituitary Tumors. YOu will find articles on thyroid diseases on the Endocrine Disorder page.
DrO |
