Could this be Lyme Disease?

[raisethebar]

Sorry for the extensive book in advanced… Who are my lyme disease owners? Could anyone chime in with their experiences?

I have been having off and and on performance problems with my horse. He is 7, and I finally caved and got a full body bone scan done at one of the top vets in the country in February of this year. I went through 7 months of vet work, carefully and slowly breaking down everything that our vet saw. The horse was responding well and everything was great and his only reoccurring issue was his back soreness. They found some boney changes in his articular processes and we shocked his back 2x and did 2 rounds of Osphos before my insurance money ran out. We ended up injecting the SI and back joints directly about 5-6 weeks ago. He responded beautifully and between the 2-3 week mark, he was not sore at all and he was doing his job, got his changes back, and we were starting to jump small courses. We added in Adequan and during that time frame, I saw a HUGE difference in him and any and all back pain was gone.

1 week ago from today,I jumped him around 8 jumps, biggest being 2’6" (only 2x) on a Tuesday & he was perfect!

I gave him off the next day (Wednesday) and he got his healthcare routine shots done, and Thursday he was back sore again. Although it is NOT the same level of soreness that he was before, he definitely is sore. Just like that he took a complete 180 spin!!!

gave him 4 days of Equioxx and thought maybe some of his pain could be related to being stiff from getting his shots done and after 3 days I did not feel a huge difference, which I thought was really odd I called the vet and they said that it is possible that he tweaked something and just “over did it”. Does that seem possible after all that vet work to still have inflammation in his back? Originally, she suggested Robaxin and Equioxx for a week and to stay off his back and let him rest, maybe lunge him to keep him moving and not standing still.

The fact that I feel like he is making amazing progress, and then he takes a step back is just simply odd to me. His last titer was in February of this year (before we took him for his bone scan) and my referring vet said that with his numbers being higher for early infection, that we could have treated him with Doxy but wanted to wait to see what the results of the bone scan was. I feel like at this point, the only thing we haven’t done is treated with Doxy. I know that it would obviously make his arthritis feel better but I keep coming back to it. I just do not want to continue to mask anything! I have done everything for this horse to the book and I cannot stop thinking about having to retire him if we cannot control his pain. I have a call into my insurance to see if they would cover another test and the Doxy and potentially UlcerGuard.

Another thought we had was about saddle fit and it not being quite right (even though it should be custom to him) and it aggravating his back. My thoughts are that that if he feels great, but still doesn’t have a perfect saddle fit, could he be moving in a way that is making him sore that is unrelated to all of the work that we just did? I am having the CWD reps (two) come out and talk about my saddle fit. I had them come out about 2 months ago and check - and there were changes that needed to be made to the saddle in the back of the panels. She added a felt lift and it did feel better, but obviously it isn’t perfect. Unfortunately, the back panels is really close to where his back soreness is. I also wonder if the saddle isn’t sitting evenly and causing pressure points along his back to make the problem he already has, worse. Lunging the horse, he looks absolutely amazing so this is why we are taking a lot of thought into saddle fit as well.

What are everyone else’s thoughts? I swear I’m making myself sick over this! Any helpful information would be greatly appreciated!

[2tempe]

Could be saddle…some years ago I had a dressage mare, new to me. Had saddle person come, ordered a new version of my old saddle, fitted/measured just for her. Long story much shortened, it turned out that this brand of saddle just did not work for her, had to go a completely different direction. Your comment about his soreness near the panels does certainly raise the saddle question. Personally no imput re the Lyme.

[Gardenhorse]

Can’t comment on the Lyme either, but think it could be worth having an independent saddle fitter out for an opinion. The CWD reps may adjust the saddle as well as they can but may not tell you if the fit of the brand just doesn’t work well for your horse.

[2tempe]

OP - second saddle memory: Current dressage horse was working fine, but vet happened to run her hand down his back while checking something inconsequential. He flinched rather significantly. Called saddle fitter and his otherwise perfect saddle had developed a lump in the flocking exactly where he flinched. Fixed saddle, problem solved.

As noted above, you might want to consider an independent fitter if there is a good one in your vicinity.

[Elouise]

It could be Lyme, but from what I understand about Lyme is that it takes about 6 months from bite to debilitating symptoms. So if you have a clearish Lyme test from February, then it probably isn’t Lyme. But when my horse had Lyme, his first symptom was unbelievable back soreness. Test again…check that box off. And not that expensive for peace of mind.

I think it is more those back boney changes you mentioned since you noted a change in your horse after injections and shockwave. Did your veterinarian recommend putting the horse in a Pessoa rig to strengthen the back muscles? I would start with long and low work, Pessoa rig a few days a week. There is something on the internet that explains horsey yoga to help the horse with back issues. See if you can find it. It is all these stretches and regimes to help a horses back. Shockwave, injections and back strengthen exercises…it’s a three prong approach to fixing back issues.

I second finding an INDEPENDENT Saddle fitter to review your Saddle and get your Saddle reflocked with wool! This allows the Saddle to be refitted to the horse every few months as your horses back develops and improves.

I would also consider buying a therapy blanket for your horse and use it! How is your horse on high doses of Robaxin? Did your vet recommend trying Robaxin?

I also had a horse with a very sore back because of ulcers. Have you had your horse scoped? You could try an Ulcergard series trial, but horses who have significant back soreness, might need more than just ulcerguard. I would have the horse scoped and have that checked off for peace of mind too.

Good luck!

[raisethebar]

Thanks everyone!!!
I got him scoped before we did any of the big vet diagnosis work. He had grade 1-2 ulcers and we treated him. I think he got better, just wasn’t the answer.

I came out on Tuesday and he was not sore at all… Unbelievable! I rode him in a Pro Panel Voltaire that we have available at our barn, and he was PERFECT! Lazy but willing, not spooky, and willing to come up underneath himself. Very interesting and the CWD rep will be coming out Saturday… I definitely think she needs to fix something in my saddle. It is only a year old and I’ve had her out a couple times. I’m thinking they didn’t fit him properly and need to do something different with the issues in his back.

I’m almost thinking he did “tweak” something like the vet said, but everyone at my barn including my manager didn’t think that was possible, but low and behold, he still is a mystery as to why he was feeling like that. The only thing I HAVEN’T done is rode in my saddle…

I do have a Pessoa rig and I do believe that strengthening is key! I’ve been a little hesitant to put him in it before due to the other issues that were going on before, but now that they are all fixed, I think we need to spend some time being friends with the Pessoa. I also have a cotton lunge aid that is absolutely amazing for my horse, it encourages him to stretch up and down without being confined to a frame. I think that I could use the Pessoa 1x and the Cotton Aid 2x a week and really get him much stronger.

I do have a Back On Track blanket, but unfortunately it is way too hot where I live right now. Once it gets cooler, he will be wearing it.

Robaxin was recommended this week while I felt his back before sore, but I didn’t even get a chance to give it to him when I came out to the barn and he felt better already.

I got a titer pulled yesterday and I should have the results on Tuesday. My plan is to treat him with doxy if the numbers showed little change from the first test in February. If they are really high, I will treat him with tetracycline and minocycline and do the stuff that is shown to work more effectively than the doxy. Either way, I do think I should treat him. He shows all the classic signs of Lyme and it is something that 2 vets have now talked to me about but per the titer in Feb. it doesn’t say “100% yes”… My big clinic vet said definitely treat him at least with just doxy for a month, if anything, it will take anything inflammation elsewhere and make him feel really really good so that he can strengthen and hopefully not regress.

This horse is the trickiest horse I’ve had yet! face palm if this is what it takes to fill in that missing piece to him, then I’ll be very thankful!

[Libby2563]

Thankfully I haven’t had a horse with Lyme disease that I know of, but I have it myself and my own main symptom is actually back pain. (It took years and the insight of a physical therapist to figure out that it was Lyme disease and not something mechanical–the orthopedists were no help whatsoever.)

I’ve been in treatment for almost 4 years now and one thing I have noticed is that (sorry, this may not be scientific at all but it’s how it feels) if there is existing inflammation in the body, Lyme disease tends to aggravate it. So any underlying pain or soreness or lameness the horse has could be magnified.

Also, it affects the entire immune system because the body is constantly fighting it off. It would therefore not surprise me at all if a horse with Lyme disease had a flare-up of symptoms after vaccines. When my Lyme was at its worst, before I was diagnosed, flu shots made my arm almost unusable. If it were my horse and I had already done all the other things you mention, I would definitely try treating with appropriate antibiotics per discussion with your vet.

[Elouise]

Sent you a PM

[raisethebar]

@Libby2563 wow I’m sorry to hear that you are dealing with that. That’s pretty much my exact throughts on his horse - glad to hear you can verbalize that I could actually be thinking correctly. Does this horse have some boney changes in his back? Yes. But we treated it not long ago and did all this work with some but not full progress in the back. Very frustrating and I feel like we are missing a key piece to this horse.

Seeing as his behavior changes have raised another huge red flag for me, I’m hopeful that even if his numbers are low, we will be treating him either way. Fingers crossed. I’m hoping to have the titer on Tuesday!

[Posting_Trot]

Well, I’ve had a horse with lyme disease (as well as a dog and, unfortunately, my husband with lyme disease). I didn’t see where you’re located or where the horse is originally from, etc., but it is absolutely worth doing another lyme test at this point, and make sure that it’s the Cornell test. (This test is more accurate).

Lyme is a very nasty disease. One hallmark symptom is on-again, off-again lameness, but it can often manifest as just general body soreness. Often a horse becomes extremely sensitive to touch and/or lethargic.

You may never have seen the tick that bit the horse; deer ticks are very small and easy to miss even if you’re going over the horse (everywhere!) very carefully on a daily basis.

With my horse’s first diagnosis with lyme, it took several months; she too exhibited some mild lameness and body soreness. Ended up having a bone-scan done (before lyme diagnosis). Very little lit up although she did have obvious back soreness and the beginnings of arthritis in one hock. After expensive treatment for these issues, she was still off. After extensive rehabbing, she was still off. Eventually another vet basically said let’s start her on doxy while we send blood off to be tested, and this time (she had been tested before both for lyme and for EPM with negative results), came back positive.

The doxy helped a lot, but I think the intervening 10 months or so between the first symptoms and the actual treatment created long-term (if low-level) damage.

[Bedina]

Back pain could be a symptom of EPSM/PPSM. Animalgenetics.com will test for Type 1 for just $40 - it may be worth the cost to you to rule it out.

[raisethebar]

Just an update: Lyme came back “negative” but still equivocal and higher than my titer from February. My main lameness vet suggested we go ahead and treat with doxy for 30 days and see what we have after that. Fingers crossed that it is the missing link - if not, he will be feeling very good for the next month and hopefully we will be able to work on our strengthening program.

I had a lesson on Sunday and he was very good. We did 2 days of Robaxin before, day of, and 1 day after along with the day after we got back from lessons with Equioxx. I figured it is a preventative measure to see if it made a difference. He felt wonderful, and the day after his back was only a smidge sore. Rubbed him down again with bigeoil liniment and I was really happy with him.

I think I will be doing the same type of routine for lessons (we just started back in a lesson program with a new trainer that we are traiilering to, so I want to make sure that I’m taking precautions as we are both getting back in shape). But unfortunately with their show schedule and my work schedule, we will only be able to lesson on some weekends. I’m going to try to get out during a week day as much as possible so that I’m not just leaving the weekends for lessons.

[Libby2563]

Good luck!! Come back and let us know how it goes.