[QUOTE=JB;8826110]
FWIW, my anaplasmosis horse never had stocked up legs or anything else swelling, not even his sheath or any ventral edema. Just that damn fever.[/QUOTE]
My experience is the same (mare) - but the high fever, lethargy, totally going off feed - all within 24 hours - was the same. Definitely not a case of tired/lazy. That sounds much more like Lyme.
[QUOTE=S1969;8826338]
My experience is the same (mare) - but the high fever, lethargy, totally going off feed - all within 24 hours - was the same. Definitely not a case of tired/lazy. That sounds much more like Lyme.[/QUOTE]
Sounds like they can react in other ways, edema doesn’t have to be present or any of the drastic high fevers. Maybe I should clarify my version of tired/lazy…little spurs and a crop have to be carried at all times. He’s still green and could be partially related to that. He’s always been a laid back and goes with the flow kinda guy. I have a feeling Lyme is also an issue because we did have a huge tick under the tail on 7/6…vet didn’t think much of it. I however…did and kept it in mind. It’s been extremely hot here in VA, like worse than normal. Finn also is one that would rather stand up on the hill in the sun than chill in the shade. I am almost certain that did not help with his energy level. He did start not wanting to come in from the field about 2 weeks ago. Again every other day allergy shots or not feeling so hot? There have just been several factors over the past month.
When my mare came down with Anaplasmosis this is how we found her:
She lived out 24/7. I got a call from BO that she didn’t eat her breakfast…came to gate when she heard the quad, but slowly and well behind her pasture mates. I’ve never gotten up and out of the house faster–this mare was a hoover. By the time I got there, she was standing, listlessly in the middle of her pasture, alone. (Very unusual.) Basically had to drag her up to the barn and was on the phone with the vet as we walked. We hit her with banamine before the fever spiked really high, and she let us and the vets give her shots–at which point I was fairly certain she was actually dying. She was drinking fine after the first day (she got fluids that day). But she didn’t touch any grain for at least 5 days. By the time she started eating again she looked like a rescue, she’d dropped so much weight.
So, it was quite dramatic, as others have described. Riding was an absolute no go.
Also, deer ticks, which are the species which carry Lyme, are very small, even when engorged. (Nymphs are most common this time of year.) From the tick guide I have, unengorged, they are the size of a “.”, engorged the size of an “o”. If you found a very large tick on your horse, it was likely a dog tick or lone star tick, depending on area of the country.
[QUOTE=egrubbs;8826414]
Sounds like they can react in other ways, edema doesn’t have to be present or any of the drastic high fevers. [/QUOTE]
Apparently everyone but your horse reports high fever, though. Not sure what literature you are reading but everyone here thinks your dx is wrong. “Tired/lazy” definitely could be Lyme. But Anaplasmosis usually presents as an acute infection; I’ve never heard of a “mild” case without a high fever, and I live in tick central. There is usually no doubt that the horse is very sick, and definitely not a horse you would think of riding. This is why vets in my area don’t even test many times, or don’t wait for the results before treating. They just start the treatment, because the symptoms are so classic.
4 yrs ago my mare came in from her paddock having difficulty walking. Legs stocked up. Subdued but not lethargic. No loss of appetite. Got her to the barn and called vet. Temp was 102. Vet came, took blood and then gave oxytet IV.,came back 3 days in a row giving oxytet until fever broke and then doxy for 5 days. The vet thought the mare had anaplasmosis. All bloodwork came back normal/neg.
After the week of doxy the mare seemed ok. Then slowly the stocking up returned. Sometimes 1 leg, sometimes 4, no pattern. When her legs were swollen she was lethagic but no lost of appetite. No fever. 3 months after the first episode more bloodwork was done looking for diseases we dont even see here. Everything normal/neg. 4 months the vet put her on previcox for 3 months and everything seemed to clear. Occassionally she would have odd symptoms and the vet I have now believes that some of her odd symptoms can be traced back to the original illness. No one knows what it was. Every test was normal/neg. i had also heard of a horse about 50 mi away from me that had similiar symptoms. That horse slowly got better, took many months and no cause was ever found.
Your horse, OP, sounds like lymne unless its a reaction to the lousy heat/humidity this summer. You cant see deer ticks. Tiny tiny. Lone star ticks have a white dot on their back. They dont carry lymne. They do carry anaplasmosis.
Ive had dogs with anaplasmosis and they never showed traditional symptoms, just lethargy. Good luck OP. These medical conditions can be so frustrating. I know from human med that lyme does not show positive 60% of the time on any test. Those tests do not test for every strain of lymne. And there are emerging tick diseases that have no name and no test. Its very frustrating.
It takes about a week or two from the time of the tick bite until the symptoms of Anaplasmosis present themselves, so yes, your horse could very well have it and only be presenting symptoms consistent with Lyme disease which he/she may also have concurrently. Once the symptoms of A. present themselves, they are pretty hard to miss. If your vet has indeed caught this in the early stages treat, get it gone, and be grateful you missed the show.
Ours showed symptoms during the coldest week in winter after a warm spell when the ticks were active. Wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t drink and then continued that way into the treatment. In addition to the antibiotics and banamine I ended up have to have the vet come back in to pipe some water down him so we could avoid colic. Five days of stress and panic. I hear the drought here is killing off the ticks. For that, I say Amen.
OP, the SNAP test will be positive if a horse has just been exposed to Lyme or tick borne. It has many false positives.
Dr. Casey is around the corner from Piedmont Equine. Piedmont will take blood and send it to Cornell for some much more revealing numbers. (they don not even do the SNAP test since it gives little meaningful information)
FWIW, Dr. Casey was the first person who diagnosed one of my horses with Lyme several years ago, while he was doing chiro work. He based diagnosis on symptoms (tight, tense muscles through back that did not respond to chiro/acupressure) and then ran the SNAP test. Of course the latter was positive. It would be positive for any horse exposed and most all in this area have been exposed.
I put the horse on Doxy and got the Cornell Test through Piedmont. Turned out his numbers were high and the doxy showed a change in behavior within three days.
IF I were you, I would get the Cornell Test and start on Doxy right away in case he does indeed have symptoms of Lyme. Piedmont has compounded Doxy and they have the best price in the area (that I have found).
My mare had Anaplasmosis and high chronic lyme titer in May-sudden high fever lethargic no appetite…vet did IV Oxytet for 3 days then 30 days minocycline…we sent blood to Cornell
[QUOTE=S1969;8826570]
Apparently everyone but your horse reports high fever, though. Not sure what literature you are reading but everyone here thinks your dx is wrong. “Tired/lazy” definitely could be Lyme. But Anaplasmosis usually presents as an acute infection; I’ve never heard of a “mild” case without a high fever, and I live in tick central. There is usually no doubt that the horse is very sick, and definitely not a horse you would think of riding. This is why vets in my area don’t even test many times, or don’t wait for the results before treating. They just start the treatment, because the symptoms are so classic.[/QUOTE]
The high fever spikes up and down; it can happen overnight, and when you take temp. in the AM you find he’s actually LOW. I’ve seen that with this disease any number of times. But it’s pretty unmistakable what you’re dealing with.
The good news is it’s usually VERY fast-moving, and what’s worked best for me over the years is to just support them with Banamine so they’ll keep eating and drinking, and keep the fever in the “safe” range, and wait for them to shake it off on their own. 99% do. The ones that don’t (subset of 1 so far, known to be immune-compromised) get a course of Doxy.
For most healthy horses, this anaplasmosis/ehrlichiosis is usually a “24-hour bug.”
Okay…so within 24-36 hours of being on the doxy, my horse is 100% the same. I do feel partially confident in Casey’s diagnosis. It is possible he “could” also have Lyme in addition, but only the anaplasmosis showed positive on the snap. Tick was removed on 7/6 and was either a deer or lone star tick. I am not sure of a fever since he never presented in a way that would make anyone think to check it. My guess is it was caught in the very acute stages or he doesn’t have anything wrong at all. Just laziness and being excessively hot here. Thanks for the positive and supportive comments.
[QUOTE=Winding Down;8826702]
OP, the SNAP test will be positive if a horse has just been exposed to Lyme or tick borne. It has many false positives.
Dr. Casey is around the corner from Piedmont Equine. Piedmont will take blood and send it to Cornell for some much more revealing numbers. (they don not even do the SNAP test since it gives little meaningful information)
FWIW, Dr. Casey was the first person who diagnosed one of my horses with Lyme several years ago, while he was doing chiro work. He based diagnosis on symptoms (tight, tense muscles through back that did not respond to chiro/acupressure) and then ran the SNAP test. Of course the latter was positive. It would be positive for any horse exposed and most all in this area have been exposed.
I put the horse on Doxy and got the Cornell Test through Piedmont. Turned out his numbers were high and the doxy showed a change in behavior within three days.
IF I were you, I would get the Cornell Test and start on Doxy right away in case he does indeed have symptoms of Lyme. Piedmont has compounded Doxy and they have the best price in the area (that I have found).[/QUOTE]
Thank you! That’s what I’m guessing…tick was on 7/6 or it could have been another tick that bit and fell off on its own. We use equispot religiously! We went for chiro and acupuncture and that’s how he found it! Exact same things…hoping he’s the wizard everyone says he is!
[QUOTE=Lady Eboshi;8828438]
For most healthy horses, this anaplasmosis/ehrlichiosis is usually a “24-hour bug.”[/QUOTE]
I guess a lot of unhealthy horses here in upstate NY then. Our vets treat for it frequently. 
I suppose horses probably would get over it on their own, but they might colic in the meantime because they stop eating and drinking.
One thing to know is if they DO shake it off on their own (with your support and Banamine to keep the fever in the safe range, and keep them eating & drinking), they generally are IMMUNE to anaplasmosis afterward. We often see a bout in a horse who moves into the area–they get it soon, then never bothers them again.
If you have to use the Doxy, they don’t seem to get the immunity.
Once again, this is GENERALLY a 24-48 hour nuisance ailment. Vets very often and sensibly err on the side of caution when dealing with ammies with limited knowledge of how to manage it safely.
Immunity after natural infection with Anaplasma is not lifelong.
[QUOTE=Ghazzu;8829329]
Immunity after natural infection with Anaplasma is not lifelong.[/QUOTE]
Is it correct to say it’s around two years or is the research inaccurate? I know there are many factors like stress, health, re-infection etc.
I’m not sure how the use of antibiotics would negate any immunity? The animal is still developing antibodies to the disease.
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/30997/equine-anaplasmosis
horses that spontaneously recover might maintain immunity for up to 20 months.
The disease is easily treated in the early stages using appropriate antibiotics. The severity of the disease is variable; many horses recover after 14 days without treatment. However, rare fatalities have occurred that are believed to be associated with secondary infections. Horses with severe signs and neurologic signs may benefit from injectable corticosteroids. Recovered horses develop immunity for at least 2 years and are not carriers.
I’m not finding any information stating that abx decreases immunity. I also can’t find reference to this being a “24 hour bug”
My personal experiences over 20+ years and 150+ horses are only anecdotal, and are not the equivalent of scientific research (nor did I claim that). I happily defer to Ghazzu as one with superior knowledge over a broader range of conditions.
Popular thread.
Had two come down with it. Pretty much the same as others have said;
Sudden high fever 105-107
Lethargic, a bit uncoordinated, not surprising given the high fever.
No interest in food, not surprising given the high fever.
Both had yellowish eyes and gums.
Nether had swelling in their legs.
Confirmed by blood test done at New Bolton.
Both were given Banamine and antibiotics.
Temps dropped dramatically by the next day and back to normal in the next couple of days.
1 was a 5 year old TB mare who was in foal around 35 days. She lost it.
The other TB mare that was open.
Every horse that i’v had come down with Anaplasmosis had to be treated with antibiotics,it didn’t just last 24 hours.
I myself have had it and it’s no 24 hour bug,first time i was sick with it. I thought i had some flu bug after 2 weeks of being sicker then a dog went into ER. Attending doctor knew right away it was tick born dease and took blood to test…was Anaplasmosis.
Wouldn’t of just went away on its own,without antibiotics.I was taking ibuprofen every 4 hours fever would break only to spike again. I would treat horse with antibiotics for sure,if they feel anything like i did it was horrible.
[QUOTE=Lady Eboshi;8829922]
My personal experiences over 20+ years and 150+ horses are only anecdotal, and are not the equivalent of scientific research (nor did I claim that). I happily defer to Ghazzu as one with superior knowledge over a broader range of conditions.[/QUOTE]
Do you know for sure that they had anaplasmosis? Or just dealing with a fever of unknown origin?
In my area, a high fever of unknown origin is suspected to be a tickborne illness, but obviously there are other reasons a horse could run a fever - other viruses, illnesses, etc. I’ve had horses run mild fevers and recover with no treatment. But the sudden onset of high fevers? I’ve brought the vet in and treated - and even with treatment (antibiotics and banamine) they were more than 48 hours.
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