30 yrs old horse in very good condition for her age all of a sudden walking crooked in back end… started walking into circles w back end and finally went down. Of course called vet and gave iv dex and recovered. But next day still showed signs of walking crooked but much improved. Has anyone dealt with this condition in an elderly horse. Vet thinks most likely arthritis because of her age. But wondering about long term outcome
Did the vet run any tests for neurological diseases? Walking in circles can sometimes be a symptom, as can sudden weakness or loss of coordination. I may be totally off base, but dex seems like an odd choice for medication given your description of her symptoms? Is she receiving any medication for pain management (Equioxx, Bute, etc)?
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I doubt it’s arthritis if it was a sudden onset. I agree that it is more likely neurological. Or EPM.
At 30…not sure that there is a lot to do other than treat symptoms and keep the horse comfortable. Could test for EPM and/or treat; I wouldn’t do in-depth diagnotics (e.g. spinal tap) to confirm with an aged horse though.
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I had this happen to my OTTB many years ago. You should be able to find the thread on here. We started treatment for EPM immediately, but she tested negative. We ultimately did a heavy course of DEX, DMSO, and bute IIRC. We assumed some sort of tumor pressing on her spine, and she was completely unaffected from the rib cage forward. She recovered 90% in the first weeks, but never 100%. She relapsed a few times, but always responded fast to steroids. We ultimately lost her to an internal rupture/aneurism type thing a few years later.
Something very similar happened to a horse at the barn where I board. late 20’s QH type sporadically ridden. Came in one day with his body shaped like a banana, haunches way out of line with front end. Stood in stall with one hind leg propped way out.
Tests done for EPM, DMSO administered some improvement but not 100%. Owners took to Univ. of Florida and horse diagnosed w/ cervical arthritis. In this case the horse was ridden day prior to onset - vets opinion was that possibly the weight of saddle and rider caused some nerve impact. He has had the offending locations injected and is quite a bit better 3 weeks post injections.
Cerv. Arthritis can be managed to a point, and the neuro symptoms need to be monitored - is horse stable and safe for farrier to work? can horse get down and up in stall, etc. At some point a decision will need to be made for the safety of all involved.
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An injured horse can walk in circles. Galloping into a gate or falling over in canter.
Yes, this is true. I wasn’t imagining anything like this but was thinking just sudden change of symptoms.
This happened to an elderly horse I boarded years ago; no riding. We did look around for any signs that the horse had had an accident but couldn’t find anything…but of course, it might not be obvious.
The vet treated with high doses of DMSO and maybe Dex; I wasn’t there for the first vet call and it was a really long time ago. The horse recovered to some degree but never fully. The vet suspected possible cervical arthritis (and potentially that a bone chip had broken away), or EPM. No confirmation for EPM without a spinal tap which the owner refused (and I think that was the right call).
We kept him comfortable and safe for a few more months, and euthanized before icy weather. He was at least 32 at the time.
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My old TB was fine one morning but a mess that night - his looked like his backend was just going to fall over. Took him to the equine hospital the next morning where I worked on the weekends. We did do neck xrays which just showed arthritis (expected at his age). We treated him with DMSO, dex, vitamin E. Everything pointed to EPM based on symptoms - he was in his early 30s so I wasn’t going to do extensive testing. Took him home for a week where he lived out 24/7 in a huge pasture with my other TB. By the following weekend he couldn’t walk to the left at all. His backend was even worse so I had him euthanized. This was September 2012 and winter was coming - didn’t want to get to the barn in the frigid weather to find him down and suffering. All happened in the span of nine days. And right up until the end he was still trying to graze and was still happy - his body just wouldn’t work and it became dangerous to be around him. Yes it sucked.
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Might be something less severe. Our 21 year old BSP came in “walking like a banana” --love the description --better than mine, “Walking like the dog Atticus Finch shot in To Kill a Mockingbird” --anyway, turned out one of his buddies had kicked him really hard in the hindquarter, and he had a massive hematoma that affected his hind leg motion -I couldn’t see any swelling because I would lead him to try to see where he was lame —vet stood me directly behind the horse and from that angle, one side was clearly bigger than the other. Treatment was rest --no riding --but still had turnout. The hematoma started at his spine and continued down his leg almost to the stifle --very, very large.
It can be. Cervical Arthritis can come out of “nowhere” and seem sudden onset, and it does present neurologically.
It’s not that the CA wasn’t there the day before - but maybe it just wasn’t the right degree of compression/narrowing, or something tweaked and/or changed - such as the horse’s health… which can make CA symptoms worse. Or the horse fell.
BTDT, got the really crappy t-shirt.
Lots of hugs and jingles for you OP. I ended up putting my geriatric TB down - he came in one day with very similar symptoms. We first thought EPM too. Lyme titer was negative. He lived for about six months after the first major symptoms presented, because he had a string of good days where he was creaky but lively, but would then have a day or so of listing/sidewinding… It usually coincided with the weather. Since he was kept at home and I/family members were the ones handling him, we were okay with taking this risk - but what ended up really sealing the deal for him was he had a few other issues that compounded the neurological issues, and couldn’t hold his feet up for trimming and or shoeing, which he needed…
A couple things that helped him:
High (8000-12000 IU) dose daily of Vit E
Dex / DMSO
Steroids (iirc, prednisalone? it was a while ago) daily
Previcox daily
Blanketing heavier (I think the cold weather made his neuro symptoms worse)
As much turnout as possible
Good luck, and lots of hugs OP. :no:
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Yes, it happened to one of my horses at age 26. Perfectly fine when turned out in the am and walking sideways when came home for lunch. Vet came out the next day did an exam. Horse was not in pain. Stabled for a few days and started large amounts of vitamin E. Horse would lean on the walls. Gradually improved to a point that I felt it was safe to turn him back out. He was alert and had good appetite. I still have him and he will turn 31 in early Feb. His symptoms wax and wane and are definitely affected by his environment. They get worse in the warmer months to the point where he gets ataxic. During those times he is content to stay in his stall. In the colder months he returns to almost normal. He walks, trots and canters and is able to get down and roll and get back up pretty easily. He gets bute EOD for arthritis and large amounts of Elevate Vitamin E daily. He seems pretty happy and is still boss of the herd. Google “crab walker” and take a look at the YouTube vids.
Yes, there was an aged (I think he was over 30) horse at my barn that suddenly developed severe neurological symptoms like this. Apparently, he’d done it before and recovered with a course of steroids. Even this time had a colic that appeared to be neurologic in nature, but things (and he) started moving again and was ok. He was not able to be weaned off the steroids this last time and was put down because he was too ataxic.
Agreed; when I read “vet thinks arthritis” in the OP I thought it meant arthritis in the hind legs. That would be hard to believe; but cervical arthritis - yes I can understand that.
Dex is a great anti-inflammatory. If there is inflammation causing neurological issues, such as displayed by this horse, a dose of Dex could be a cheap, low impact way to test if that is indeed the cause.
Ah, good to know! Thank you!
Could it be vestibular syndrome? A horse at our barn had that. The imbalance was the first sign, the her mouth started to droop and she couldn’t blink one eye. She was in her teens. She had surgery and a long recovery but the last picture I saw of her on facebook, she looked like she was fully recovered.
Thank you for all the comments. I Just Remember that there was a gelding at this barn that presented the same way but did not go did not fall down because of it. This was also a very elderly horse. It did take him a long time to get out of it (without help from a lot of drugs) but eventually he ended up walking normal again. UPDATE: this mare seems to be doing well. Still some sideways in backend but bright alert and even trotting pretty sound. Farrier trimmed her yesterday and that was no problem. Last dex and dmso treatment was Saturday and it’s now Tuesday, so keeping fingers crossed!
VITAMIN E question: what was used, how much/day, I read about the liquid nano 3, or elevate, and this sounds the best. We probably want to start that
My vet recommended 10,000 iu/day of any natural vitamin E in liquid form. You don’t want synthetic vitamin E.
update again:
horse got real bad again on Jan 10 and it was obvious she needed to be put down. Went from being really good after 3 days of DMSO and Dex starting Jan. l to really bad in just one day on Jan. 10. No control over back end. Thank goodness the vet came quick. Very sad day. I was so hopeful. I just wonder if another few days of DEX would have helped, but since she has cushings, vet didn’t recommend it. Such a SWEET horse; you could find no better! was 30 yrs old.
I’m so sorry for your loss, @blueribbonpanel. I went through something similar just before the holidays. My guy was pushing forty, and looked AMAZING… great weight, glowing coat. He looked perfectly fine walking from the side, but from the rear his hind end looked like a drunken sailor. Vet ruled out neurological issues, said he was just plain wearing out. He was already on a good dose of Previcox, and we did a week of Banamine to see if it helped. What made my decision was that I put a spy cam in his stall to see if he was having trouble getting up. He wasn’t, because he wasn’t laying down, just leaning on the wall. I decided to put him down before the ice and snow. My vet hated doing it because he looked so great, not skinny like some of the other oldsters in his practice. But I knew it was for the best. RIP Charlie Horse, and RIP your old girl, may they forever run in green pastures.
