Posting here as I posted in the horse care section but only got one response. I know this is rare, even for IBD which isn’t common. Has anyone had any of their horses get diagnosed with this, and if you did do you know if they ever improved to the point they could have a career, be rideable and show at least at local unrated shows? I think the drugs she is on are not allowed in rated shows. Any knowledge anyone has of this disease would be most appreciated.
My horse wasn’t diagnosed with exactly that … but he did have extensive intestinal inflammation, eosinophils in tissue samples, and vet did use the IBD term.
Treatment did resolve the inflammation and related issues.
Were you able to treat once and done and it never came back? We did steroids about 10 months ago but it only helped for 2-3 months after she came off them. We are trying a less conventional treatment now that does seem to be helping, and we have severly limited her diet, which its looking like she will need to stay on for life. We have had to change her entire environment - put her on a dry lot, etc, and that is hard to manage where I live as I board I was just trying to see if that is for a lifetime or if people have had success getting them into remission for extended periods of time. Thank you for responding.
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Hi,
No knowledge to add but following with interest. Can I ask, what breed is your horse?
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My boy was on steroids for about 9 months. He was on a massive dose for at least 2 months, then slowly stepped down - and I mean s-l-o-w-l-y.
The big thing was understanding that his stomach was overrun with bad bacteria. There was no healing his intestinal inflammation until that was under control.
Once diagnosed (gastroscopy with fluid pulled to test pH and send to lab for bacterial analysis) and treatment started (enrofloxacin and steriods), we started moving in the right direction.
He is now on a completely normal diet, and is completely comfortable. I’d be happy to recommend my internist for your vet to consult with if you want. She made all the difference - my boy was so sick, for so long, the vets at the hospital wanted to euthanize.
He is now happily doing third level work and looks phenomenal. Feel free to PM if you’d like; also would be happy to jump on a call if you would find that useful.
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Mine is an oldenburg.
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Thank you for the detailed response. Mine didn’t tolerate the steroids very well the first time, and I do worry about laminitis. Interesting point about the bacteria and an antibiotic.
If you are willing to share your internist I would love to speak to her. Thank you!
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When you say ‘didn’t tolerate’, what do you mean?
I’ll PM you the contact info.
ETA: I was concerned also at the high dose (28 tabs). We did assess his insulin levels, etc. prior to using steroids - but at that point he was so very thin and at death’s door - it wasn’t much of a risk tbh.
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That was the dose we used. Her gut was very grumpy and unhappy. It kept her from colicking but it never completely addressed the huge amount of bloat and gas or grumpiness. We didn’t know her diagnosis at that time so we didn’t change food or supplements. Now we know and have pulled her off everything except the meds. She is very allergic to all grasses so tends to do better in winter. I also did 6 weeks of ulcer treatment this time around.
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Yeah, I would definitely get a gastroscopy to learn what is going on in re pH and bacterial analysis. Did your vet ultrasound after fasting to look at intestinal thickness?
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Mine is an Oldenburg!
Yes, she had a full workup at the local veterinary school by their colic specialist. She had a previous hospital visit with a full ultrasound that showed nothing, and same time around the last time. She doesn’t have any thickening which surprised everyone. The only way we got a diagnosis was from rectal biopsies. She was also full of ulcers which makes sense. Her body is telling her everything is an allergen, and severe allergic reactions ulcerate the gut - its a vicious circle.
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