EPM Rehabilitation, need advice!

[kkmrad94]

We bought a horse in the late summer and about a month after we got him he started to trip while under the saddle. (His registered name is El Top Notch Kid and he is a 6 year old Quarter Horse.) He kept getting worse until he couldn’t do tight circles without tripping over his feet. We got him tested for EPM and there was about a 67% chance that he had the disease.

He went through treatment for a month and we are now a few months past that. He can do tight circles in his stall and runs around in the pasture.

I wanted to know if anyone had experience with rehabilitating EPM horses or knew of any good links to sites that do? I have googled some things but there isn’t really a set way to go about this. I’m not looking to turn him into a 3 day eventer, just a walk/trot (not sure if I would trust him as a trail horse…)

Just looking for some guidance and positive thoughts to hopefully get him back on his feet, he is such a sweet guy.

[arabracer]

My Vet just told me that the viva stem (stem cell) injections are being used
to help horses recover from epm.

[kkmrad94]

Sadly we can’t afford any more treatment so if he relapses there isn’t a lot we can do. That’s why I want to make sure that his recovery is done right.

There are a few experiemental things out there that are interesting to read about too, I just wish they would find a cure. :c

[csaper58]

Have you looked at www.epmhorse.org/ they have pages on treatment and rehab. There is a new antibiotic for EPM that is very resonable, ask your vet for info on it. I believe it is called Ponazuril.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19746664

[monique1986]

Linda TellingtonJones EPM booklet,

http://www.ttouch.com/shop/index.php?productID=170

[kkmrad94]

I have read from the EPM horse site. I was hoping for something more concrete on where to start and if they show certain signs what should I do, or is it normal?

[SaddleUp158]

A friend just had her horse diagnosed with EPM yesterday. There is a paste that she has to give him for a month. He will then be retested, but apparently, that is all he has to have.

[Laurierace]

Supplementing his diet with 10,000IU of natural vitamin E is recommended.

[Chezzie]

[QUOTE=SaddleUp158;7270776]
A friend just had her horse diagnosed with EPM yesterday. There is a paste that she has to give him for a month. He will then be retested, but apparently, that is all he has to have.[/QUOTE]

As someone who is 4 months into medicating/rehabbing a horse with mild EPM, I’d say that’s an extremely optimistic treatment plan.

[2tempe]

This sounds like a good outline to help you - http://www.epmhorse.org/Rehabilitation/Rehabilitation.htm

Do some additional online research and be aware that the recurrence rate is somewhere between 10-20%, and that there is evidence that stress has a significant impact on the likelihood of recurrence. Other horses recover and go back to prior life.
I would talk to your vet first, have him/her do a neuro exam before getting on him. If you get back to some riding, be sure you KNOW YOUR HORSE - and watch for any changes, as they can come from a number of directions.

Good luck…

edited to add: just noticed that someone else posted same link earlier. Great minds and all that…

[SaddleUp158]

I will be sure to warn my friend. Thanks for the heads up!

[workin_onit]

I did the Marquis for a month and then Re-Balance for 90 days. As far as rehab, my vet just advised to start slow and go slow, adding a few minutes of work each week. Keep the work balanced on each side. My horse was very mild and made a complete recovery including dressage shows at training level.

[Chezzie]

[QUOTE=SaddleUp158;7271513]
I will be sure to warn my friend. Thanks for the heads up![/QUOTE]

My horse did not have remarkably high titers, but had mild neurological symptoms. We did 2 months of Marquis, and are doing at least 90 days, more likely 120, of sulfadiazine/pyrimethamine (Re-Balance). I also give him 5000IU of natural vitamin E a day. We gave my horse the first 30 days of Marquis treatment off, then started him back in work like a horse that had had an injury. Slowly increasing walk/trot work until he was fit enough to trot 40 minutes. Then we re-introduced the canter. He is currently in full work and has started jumping again. We are cautiously optimistic he will make a full recovery to do the A/A hunters with me, but we will always have to be careful of stressful situations and joint injections/steroids.

Long story short, a month of Marquis does not an EPM recovery make…

[Summit_Springs_Farm]

relapsing is very common, retreat with oriquin-10, costs about $200 and its a paste for 10 days.

120 days after first treatment of Marquis.Probably what the previous poster was referring to.

Also supplement with vitamin e. for a year.

good luck

[mroades]

Marquis has a very high rate or relapse (at least in my personal experience) I have used the Oroquin 10 successfully most recently. We will see how it does long term. It sure is more affordable.

[Chezzie]

[QUOTE=Summit Springs Farm;7274799]
relapsing is very common, retreat with oriquin-10, costs about $200 and its a paste for 10 days.

120 days after first treatment of Marquis.Probably what the previous poster was referring to.

Also supplement with vitamin e. for a year.

good luck[/QUOTE]

I was not referring to Orogin or Oroquin-10 or whatever it is called now. I chose not to go that route. The sulfadiazine/pyrimethamine combination is different.

[kkmrad94]

I just wanted to post an update on our EPM horsey Chico. He has changed into a completely different horse than the one we bought. The six year old that we thought was lazy and laid back is actually spunky and very disrespectful!

We had the vet out this Tuesday to do a lameness exam and he passed! She said that he is good to go back to light exercise and eventually be ridden. He felt so great during the exam the he struck out with his front feet (not good, I know).

Chico (along with my healthy horse ) are both going to a trainer that lives close to us for two months starting in April. Chico is going to be started from the ground up and I am excited to see him get back to work! While there is always the risk of him relapsing, for now we’re just enjoying the fact that he is at a healthy weight and is feeling well enough to run around the pasture like a normal horse!

[Laurierace]

Glad he is feeling better but that is no excuse for being disrespectful. At the risk of being a broken record, treating for ulcers after all he has been through might be worth a try.

[LookmaNohands]

[QUOTE=monique1986;7269908]
Linda TellingtonJones EPM booklet,

http://www.ttouch.com/shop/index.php?productID=170[/QUOTE]

This^^^!!!

[rabicon]

If you can have the vet check his crp levels. My one epm guy was very high with inflammation. Possibly in the brain from the epm. He just wasn’t himself at all. Treated for that got his levels to 0 and he is now back to the laid back happy horse instead of the mean faced pissy horse. And yes if by chance you have a relapse which I did with marquis and the sulfa drug combo over months you can do orogin while it’s still in FDA trials. Much cheaper, around 175 and as my vet said as soon as it’s approved the price will skyrocket up with the other epm treatments probably. Treated my guy after relapse with it and over 2 years later we’ve been good.