[Not-So] Sick Weanling - Update P.5: SHE'S HERE!!

[Montanas_Girl]

Many of you know that I bought a custom foal who was born in April, making her just under 5 months old now. She was weaned a couple of weeks ago and has been sharing a pen/run (she’s in AZ, so it’s a mare motel type set-up) with another weanling, a colt about a month older than her.

This morning, when the breeder fed breakfast, both weanlings were fine. A few hours later, the colt was dead. The vet was (obviously) immediately called. My filly is running a 105 degree fever but otherwise seems fine - she’s distressed by the loss of her friend but is eating, drinking, and has no abnormal vital signs other than the high temperature. The breeder even sent me a video of my filly trotting around her pen - you’d never guess she was sick to watch it. The colt appeared to have some crusty nasal discharge, upon close examination, but my filly does not. The breeder is monitoring temperatures on all of her horses, and my filly has been started on Excede and Banamine while we wait on some blood work to try to get an idea of what we’re dealing with here.

I’ve given the breeder consent to haul my girl in to the clinic if she starts to decline at all, and I’ve also put in a call to my local vet for her input. In the mean time, I’m wracking my brain for ideas. Both weanlings are/were too young to be vaccinated yet, but their dams were fully vaccinated roughly 30 days prior to foaling. My first instinct was that this was something like WNV, which the AZ vet mentioned has been documented in the area recently. Though the colt’s snotty nose doesn’t 100% fit that theory…

Any ideas? Or similar experiences? I’ll grasp pretty much any and every straw available at this point.

[2tempe]

OMG how frightening. I would hope the breeder is doing some type of testing on the colt to figure out what happened - if its something contagious, obviously other horses also at risk. Please take this as constructive, not criticizing, but I’d have her off to a clinic asap like yesterday given her temp and the colt’s sudden death. Hope she ends up ok.

[hoopoe]

I assume / hope they took the foal for necropsy. I would , too, hospitalize the filly and have to wonder about toxic ingestion.

Cardiac /pulmonary death can lead to frothing out the nasal which, when dried, might give the impression of sinus type drainage.

please keep us updated {{hugs}}

[Montanas_Girl]

I’ve consulted with my local vet, who is on faculty at our vet school, and she agrees with the course of action we’ve chosen for my filly. She believes it is some sort of viral infection but agrees that it’s hard to know for sure in the absence of other symptoms. Trust me, my girl will be whisked off to a clinic at the first sign of anything more developing. We’re trying to balance managing her symptoms with minimizing additional stress, since she’s already dealing with the loss of her companion.

I’ve suggested a necropsy for the colt, but I do not know whether that is in the plans or not. So far, all other horses on the property are healthy.

The hardest part about this is being nearly 2,000 miles away. I appreciate the input, though. The idea of a toxin did cross my mind; these horses aren’t on pasture, so it would have to be something in the feed or hay in that case, and since no other horses have (yet) shown symptoms, that seems less likely than a virus, but it is absolutely being considered.

We’re hoping that my filly’s blood work results will be available before the end of the day today, which will help in figuring out where to look next for potential causes.

[bingbingbing]

Jingles for your little girl. I know the hopes and love that go into owning and raising a foal.

With her roommate’s death and her fever, I would send her to the clinic. I also would not have her out where she is trotting or running around with a 105 temp. Youngsters go downhill so fast, the colt was fine and then dead in a few hours.

[jvanrens]

No words of advice, but wishing you good luck.

[AKB]

I would take the filly to a big clinic now. If there is anything toxic, such as poisonous plants or contaminated feed, you will be away from it. She will be well observed at a big clinic.

[Montanas_Girl]

Sorry for the delayed response - I was waiting on an update from the breeder before reporting back.

Sydney’s temperature is down to 102 now. Still a bit of a fever, but MUCH better than this morning. She’s still not displaying any other symptoms and is eating, drinking, etc. normally. She finally stopped pacing her pen/stall when the breeder moved an older (2YO) filly from the neighboring pen in with my girl. (If whatever she’s got is contagious, the older filly was already exposed, and keeping Sydney settled and quiet is priority #1 at the moment.) No word yet from the vet on her CBC results; hopefully we’ll have that first thing in the morning. All the other horses still look fine. For now, the neither the AZ vet nor my local vet recommend hauling her to the clinic, especially since she’s finally settling down a bit after the trauma of losing her friend, but we’re very much living moment-to-moment until we have a better idea what’s going on.

I’ll keep you all posted, and I VERY MUCH appreciate the thoughts!

[Montanas_Girl]

Her temp spiked back up again once late last night but has been holding at 102 since then. Hopefully that’s a positive sign. Every other horse on the place is holding steady at or below 100, also a good sign.

I’m still anxiously awaiting the blood work results.

[Posting_Trot]

I’m wishing you and the filly the best. It’s got to be hard having to deal with this and also having to deal with it long-distance.

[hoopoe]

it sounds like the staff at this facility is being very diligent. That is always a worry, so I think leaving her at home is a good choice. It always disappoints me when horse management does not meet up to the level of quality that the riding and training does. Amazing some horse people dont even know what a normal temp is, let alone have a thermometer. Continued good wishes and healing jingles

[NancyM]

You are right to NOT ship a sick filly with a temperature of 105, as long as top quality care is available where she is. Shipping a baby horse this sick, with a temperature that high and the stress associated with that will kill her quicker than leaving her where she is.

Good luck!

[Montanas_Girl]

Well, my filly’s fever is remaining in the 102-ish range. Her blood work came back within normal ranges, except for elevated fibrinogen and muscle enzymes. Combined with the sudden death of the colt, I’m now increasingly concerned that what we’re dealing with might be ionophore toxicity. When I brought that up to the breeder, she mentioned that my filly and the colt were the only two horses on the property eating a specific feed (I don’t want to mention the product name until we know more), so…I’ve asked her to pull a feed sample, and I’m working with my vet to figure out if there’s anything else we can do.

Ugh. More jingles would be greatly appreciated. Sydney is still acting like a perfectly normal, healthy baby otherwise. She must be one tough girl.

[Montanas_Girl]

Now that I’ve actually seen the CBC results, I’m even more confused…

Upon looking at the report, it’s her alkaline phosphatase and LDH, not CK and/or AST, which are elevated, which is not at all what would be expected with a case of ionophore exposure.

So, maybe not. I’m really scratching my head here. Do we have any vets on the board who have ideas? Does @Ghazzu still actively post?

[merrygoround]

Jingles!

[JB]

Jingling like mad! How confusing and frustrating! it sounds like some sort of toxin still can’t be ruled out, though I don’t have a single clue what might cause those numbers to be off.

[Montanas_Girl]

@JB

it sounds like some sort of toxin still can’t be ruled out

The breeder and I both agree on that point. She plans to have a sample of the feed tested for both ionophores and mycotoxins, out of an abundance of caution, and she won’t feed anything else from that bag/lot.

It is SO frustrating, but I am glad that my girl is hanging in there. She is a tough one, for sure. Makes me a little paranoid about monitoring her health in the future - apparently she’s not going to be one that’s dramatic about her injuries/illnesses!

[fordtraktor]

Jingles!

is EhV-1 a thing in your area? When I had one, super high fever and no other signs for a week (plus lower fever), then the neuro signs showed up. The pony did survive after a week at the clinic. I would send a baby to the clinic after a few days of fever.

[Montanas_Girl]

EHV-1 is pretty much everywhere. But this is essentially a closed herd - I don’t think any horse has traveled/arrived on the property since before my filly was even born. It’s not outside the realm of possibility, but I think it’s unlikely.

[hoopoe]

something is hitting her liver and I really hope they took the colt for necropsy and sampling.