Horse NQR Last Night - UPDATE 6/10/2024 - He's an official event horse

[beowulf]

10/3/16 UPDATE POST #31
10/17/16 UPDATE POST #39
10/26/16 UPDATE POST #77
12/28/16 UPDATE POST #110
03/13/17 UPDATE POST #125
08/20/19 UPDATE PG 7

Paging the COTH collective…

Horse came in a little NQR yesterday. He’s a big stickler for routine and wasn’t sticking to it - napping outside of his normal nap range, a little more lethargic than normal during tackup, and then an uncharacteristic bolt during mounting. Lethargic during hack. Toe dragging during a quick trot around the ring, feels like something up high but I can’t tell which leg. No temp when I got off and checked his temp. There is a small raised welt on his shoulder that could possibly be a tick bite.

He seemed back to his normal demeanor and routine this morning. Welt was almost gone. I’m going to pull a lyme-titer when vet comes out on the 18th for the chiro appointment. He had a titer pulled this spring (I do it annually just 'cause we’re in a heavily infested area) and it was negative. Anything else?

[Cayusepapoose]

Clumpy was a stoic one too.
How about his manure? same number of piles, consistency? Water intake the same? Is his resting heart rate and resp. the same?

[beowulf]

[QUOTE=Cayusepapoose;8869541]
Clumpy was a stoic one too.
How about his manure? same number of piles, consistency? Water intake the same? Is his resting heart rate and resp. the same?[/QUOTE]
You know the triceratop-plops in Jurassic Park? The big mounds of poo? That’s his poo - it’s always formed and consistent and identifiable because it’s the biggest deposit in the paddock :winkgrin: Looks normal.

HR & BR normal for him - he’s usually about 10 for BR and 32 for HR.

[GraceLikeRain]

He’s lucky to have such an attentive owner. I only have one small thought. Did you palpate around his SI area with a light knuckle or pencil eraser? Sometimes it seems that a hand doesn’t produce anything but a smaller diameter palpation will show mild soreness.

[BLBSTBLS]

What about EPM? If he seems unstable and lame in his hind end, and just seems off - although I’m not sure how quick symptoms present themselves?

Just recently one of my horses got stung by a bee by his eye, his eye swelled up huge, I gave him some antihistamine and it went down, but he never had any temp. He didn’t act lethargic though.

Sorry I don’t have any really helpful answers for you, but I hope your guy gets better soon!

[beowulf]

[QUOTE=GraceLikeRain;8869582]
He’s lucky to have such an attentive owner. I only have one small thought. Did you palpate around his SI area with a light knuckle or pencil eraser? Sometimes it seems that a hand doesn’t produce anything but a smaller diameter palpation will show mild soreness.[/QUOTE]
Thank you - it’s easy when your horses live at home… you get into a routine together and IMHO it’s easier to spot something out of the ordinary. Didn’t think of an eraser point. I used my fingers. I’ll report back after work.

[QUOTE=BLBSTBLS;8869586]What about EPM? If he seems unstable and lame in his hind end, and just seems off - although I’m not sure how quick symptoms present themselves?

Just recently one of my horses got stung by a bee by his eye, his eye swelled up huge, I gave him some antihistamine and it went down, but he never had any temp. He didn’t act lethargic though.

Sorry I don’t have any really helpful answers for you, but I hope your guy gets better soon![/QUOTE]

I hope not EPM :eek: will mention it to the vet.

A bee sting I didn’t even think of… maybe that’s what it was? It was a ‘dry’ welt - usually when I see tick bites they’re raised red and wet/weeping - this was just a raised welt with no incision/angry area. Not sure if the raised welt is coincidence or a symptom alongside his lethargicness. There weren’t any hives though…

I’m also kicking myself for not thinking of using banamine… I bought like three tubes of it last chiro visit. I hate to use bute but he seemed NQR enough to justify it.

[Dani]

My first thought was EPM as well. Sounds like he’s got a weakness in his back end.

[Hawks_Nest]

My thought was also that it could be neuro. Could be as simple as a pinched nerve from playing too hard to something more severe. But neuro cases present differently for different horses so it is always best to check everything. Even some tick carried things can present as neuro. But in all cases it is best to get checked sooner rather than later.

At the very least, I would call your vet and discuss it with them and make it clear that you think something is wrong. We unfortunately lost a horse last year because the NQR was misdiagnosed as back pain, a month later he was full blown neuro and before anything could really be done it progressed too far. Not to scare you, but the moral of the story is that anything that could be neuro should not be left to sit for too long before treatment.

Good luck and keep us updated!

[quietann]

Since you’re in MA … start with tick-borne anything. The deer ticks that transmit Lyme are so small that it’s easy to miss them, and there are a bunch of other tick-borne diseases, too.

If anything neuro like tripping continues to get worse quickly, then EPM testing? If caught early EPM prognosis can be pretty good.

My mare had Lyme in 2010, and since then has had another tick-borne illness (probably) twice (treated same as Lyme), and may have had EPM a few years ago. She’s not in quite as good shape as she was before all this happened, but still happy and healthy and sound-with-maintenance.

[kcmel]

When my tb got lazy it was always Lyme.

[BLBSTBLS]

Question: Does Lyme cause swelling in one or more joints in horses as it does with people?

[pezk]

Im in Ma and ticks are back out. Found one crawling on me after walking in woods. I would first look for a tick disease. Symptoms can vary from one individual to another.

[SaratogaTB]

MY TB was NQR last year and I had a Lyme test done by Cornell right away. He was early in the acute stage and after a month of doxy was himself again. Recent Cornell test was negative. But honestly what you are describing reminds me of my OTTB that had a colic situation that came on slowly over days. Especially the lying down part and not getting up as quickly as usual. Good luck and keep us posted!

[2tempe]

I also had a colic situation present somewhat like this. First sign, not connected in my mind until much later, was lack of willingness to move forward. Not lame really but short behind, reluctant to move to trot. Quieter than normal in stall. (but she was generally quiet). Next day punky, off feed. Turned out to be a large colon displacement requiring surgery. Only when talking to a friend whose mare had gone through displacement surgery and she described the same behavior did I connect the dots.

[sdlbredfan]

Please let us know what the Vet says/finds. Could there have been a moldy patch in the round bale?

[Posting_Trot]

I am in the tick-disease camp. Anaplamosis perhaps?

I’d be more worried that there might be some chance that it might be colic.

[IPEsq]

Hate to be that person but lying down, off hay, not moving well, and sore behind means ulcers for my horse. First time around I swore he must have EPM or thinking about colicking, he was so wonky and not himself (turned out to be neither). But you are in tick country…

Hard to say if the welt is related. I have seen spider bites that start out that way and don’t get a scabby part till a few days later.

[cayuse]

I was also reading this and thinking possibly a spider bite. The welt made me suspicious, too. Hope that he’s ok and everything resolves quickly.

[fordtraktor]

Don’t know, could be so many things, but hope he is feeling better today.

[beowulf]

Update - texted vet tonight when I went got home from work. I want her to come out ASAP.

I got home and took his temp and it was 99.8. He’s never had a temp that ‘high’. Not sure what to think of it.

He’s back to normal in terms of demeanor/routine, but he’s lame. Moreso than yesterday. Still looks like hind up high, but I waffle between LH and RH… now it looks like LH. I put him on the lunge very briefly to snap a video to send to my vet. Sent her the video around 8PM. Will update with her response. Definitely going to have her pull a titer and test for EPM when she comes out. I did do a very basic neuro examination since that is usually what my vet asks us to do first (walk straight, on circle, trot straight, circle, zig-zag, hill/terrain walk, tail pull, HQ push - we’ve had more than one neuro case ugh) with a helper and he’s 100% coordinated but did not like his tail being pulled. He tucked his pelvis and flinched.

I’ll let you guys know and thank you again for the suggestions and help. I’m volunteering as HM judge tomorrow at a local PC rally and I cannot back out of that so I am hoping if vet is around we can do Sat night or Sun/Monday.