Lung radiographs and/or TTA ought to rule in/rule out Rhodococcus . I have never seen it cause acute death, as with the colt, though. I suppose the intestinal form is a possibility, but if elevated alk phos and LDH are the only blood work abnormalities, I’d put it fairly low on the list.
Glad to hear the fever is abating somewhat.
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The two vets involved still have no recommendations except that you watch, and wait? I don’t know that I’d have the faith to take that advice, but it’s not my baby.
Best of luck, I really do hope it works out. It is heartbreaking to lose a weaner, they are so fragile… As you have seen with the dead colt, things can go downhill so quickly. 
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Pretty sure I couldn’t stay at home and not cast eyes on her myself.
Pretty sure the money spent.on such a trip.would be of.more benefit being used to treat the horse.
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1,700 miles? Really? Your job must be more flexible than mine. I’m teaching four courses this semester; leaving town is not a possibility, especially for an indefinite trip.
Anyways…no temperature spikes overnight! She’s stayed below 102 for over 24 hours now with no Banamine - just keeping her in the shade and hosing at regular intervals during the hottest part of the day. Still no other clinical signs, which is a good thing, but doesn’t help solve the mystery at all!
When there are no signs to treat, it’s hard for any vet to make a recommendation other than “wait and see”. At this point, controlling the fever is really all we can do. A sample of the feed was submitted for testing yesterday, so that’s also a wait and see situation. Patience is not one of my strongest character traits; this has been quite a test for me.
I’m 100% confident in the vets at my vet school here (at this point, I’ve now talked with three of them - perk of working at my particular institution!). Upon learning more, I’m less confident in the vet in AZ…apparently his pet theory is that something frightened them badly enough that it literally scared the colt to death due to muscle/heart tissue damage? :rolleyes: But, at this point, I’m working more off of what the people I know and trust are recommending, so I’m leaving that one alone. It was also his decision not to necropsy the colt. Again, not something I’m happy about, but there’s no point in me making a fuss about that at this point. The fact that he charged me $120 for a CBC is a whole different discussion…:eek:
In addition to the vets here at the vet school, I also talked to a former student of mine who is a vet at Rood & Riddle. The general consensus seems to be that, were it not for the sudden death of the colt, rhodococcus would be the most likely culprit. Other than that, the only other leading guess remains some kind of toxin, but no one is super confident in that diagnosis at this point, either.
Argh. I thought for sure I was done with equine medical mysteries when I euthanized Montana last year. I should have known better! I have the most absurd luck in the entire world.
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very glad to hear the fevers are subsiding. Something occurred to me - just so you know you aren’t alone… I board at fairly large facility; we have a new boarder with an older horse. Last week that horse spiked a pretty high fever, 104-105 range. Not acting himself. He was hauled off to the clinic in Ocala. The fever is now resolved, they have tested for bunches of things, nothing. For some reason he is still there…The difference here is the older guy has cushings and is a non-sweater.
Non of other 20+ boarders had issues so not a grain thing; pastures are checked fairly regularly for weird plants and his pasture pal is fine, so not that…
You are lucky to have the local network of vets to help you evaluate what’s going on. Its hard enough when the horse is nearby, must be quite stressful given your distance.
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Just wanted to tell you that you’re doing exactly what you should be doing, which is gathering as much veterinary input as possible. I’m not sure what point physically showing up to see your foal would serve, even if you had a more flexible job. The person that knows the foal best is already on site providing care, monitoring, and keeping you updated.
With no additional symptoms showing up, it is not surprising that the vet advice at this point from multiple vets is to wait and see. Time has passed, you’ve ran tests and there’s improvement in terms of the sole symptom.
I hope improvement continues and you get to be united with a healthy foal soon. Been there and know the mix of excitement, anticipation and then stress when things take a side-step medically!
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Thank you very much @2tempe and @blitzkrieg!
As an academic, it is my instinct to want to investigate/find the answer. To say I don’t like cases like this that are relentlessly inconclusive would be the understatement of the decade! I am VERY, very blessed to have relationships with vets all over the country/world to help me puzzle through this, though. I think, at this point, I have about 150 former students alone who are now working as veterinarians (although only a small portion of those are equine vets). Doing that math out loud makes me feel very old!
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OP, sounds like you are on the right, albeit frustrating, track of waiting and managing the fever. Sounds like you’ve done a ton of diagnostics with no joy on the results 
You are lucky to have such a wide network of vets to tap into!
Were you ever able to find out if a necropsy of the colt was done? If yes, maybe no results other than gross exam, but would be, at least for me, interesting to know if that is another avenue I might be able to learn something from.
Hope your girl keeps holding her own and improving…
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Well, we just had a holiday weekend, so I would have flown out Friday night and flown home Monday, but that is me. I would guess that the caretaker might like some relief and you could give her two free days from cold hosing and temperature taking. I know how much taking care of a sick horse - even just monitoring and temp taking - takes out of a persons day.
Anyway, hope the fever resolves completely.
"Well, we just had a holiday weekend, so I would have flown out Friday night and flown home Monday, "
a) that’s a whole lot of disposable income right there that could be better spent paying bills for the people who have professional expertise in looking at sick foals.
b) OP has indicated she works in academia. You may have missed it, but we’re all starting fall semester right now, and are as busy as the proverbial one-armed paper-hanger.
Hell, I’m only p/t at this point, and spent 4 hours on Saturday of Labor Day weekend on a site visit nailing down some particulars for a class.
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Didn’t know it was a binary system - either go or be able to pay for care. I get it now. Right. And if the foal dies, then the OP will be OK with not having seen it herself and wondering if she may have made a different decision in person. Not the choice I would make but it isn’t my foal or my circus.
Sounds like it may be a moot point thankfully.
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That is incredibly rude and presumptuous. I don’t know many people - ESPECIALLY horse people - with unlimited funds available at a moment’s notice. Never once did I say that I didn’t fly to see the foal due to a lack of funds. Some of us have jobs that aren’t conducive to last-minute travel. Must be nice to be able to drop everything at a moment’s notice with no consequences. I’d also love to know how I was supposed to know that I needed to fly across the country on Friday when the foal didn’t spike a fever until Saturday (mid-day in my time zone).
I’m getting videos of my filly 2-3 times per day. What exactly could I see in person that I can’t see on video? I’m also getting reports of her vitals every few hours. She has shown literally NO symptoms other than a fever. If she were hospitalized, she would be getting no additional treatments on top of what her breeder is doing for her at home. How on earth would her treatment plan be improved by my being present or by stressing her out and shipping her to a clinic? You can’t treat symptoms that don’t exist!
Thanks to those who have provided useful, constructive input. I greatly appreciate your ideas and support.
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:eek: :eek: :eek: :no: :no:
Last minute round trip 1700 miles over LABOR DAY is easily $1000. Probably more. That’s if there are even seats available. Then add a car. If there’s one even available.
Do YOU have that laying around to spend just to be a babysitter? Or would you rather that be put into paying vet bills that are actually going to help save the filly? Not to mention whatever has to be done to take care of things at home. At the last minute. Over LABOR DAY.
That’s a LOT of hours in the air, and at the airport, doing absolutely nothing either at home or giving the caretaker any relief, to spend what, 24 hours with the filly, getting exhausted for so little difference in anything.
Just because it isn’t the choice you would make does not give you the right to condemn anyone else for not making the same decision :no: :mad:
Your judgement of someone else’s financial situation is pretty amazing. Yes, it IS that binary for a lot of people. And the sarcasm around the “what if” of the foal dying…:no:
You’re right, not your circus, not your monkeys.
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This may be a crappy suggestion, because ghazzu didn’t raise it, but…what about an internal pigeon fever? The area is right, I think? It could go to the liver, explaining the liver values. A burst abscess could have killed the colt.
I had a two year old present with an internal abscess–pigeon fever or strangles–with a high fibrinogen. We treated with excede and rifampin successfully, but it did take awhile.
Glad to hear the fever is stabilizing at least!
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Not a crappy suggestion. I was pondering some sort of internal abscess, but would expect to see some aberrations in CBC/fibrinogen with that.
If the fever weren’t apparently resolving, I might be inclined to do some imaging, including ultrasounding of the abdomen.
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Good news that your weaner is afebrile.:yes:
I think there is a disconnect between people on this thread, which is understandable. People are just coming from very different experiences.
The “custom foal” in utero purchase option is often conducted solely online. It is not like having your own mare foal out at the breeding farm where she was bred, or buying a weanling and taking it home. Some buyers do not visit the breeder’s facility at all. They pick from the breeder’s mares and stallion(s) or they look at the mare that is in foal to one of the breeder’s stallions, buy the foal in utero, and the entire matter is an online transaction.
When you consider that many/most people who have had weanlings care for them themselves (and we all know how fragile they are), it is understandable that there is a gap in understanding between us of how it is possible to release “hands on” control of your weaner.
I wouldn’t expect that anyone in the OP’s situation would be able to drop everything to fly 1700 miles to visit a weanling that has been entrusted to this breeder for the contracted period, for however long that is.
It is a different way of buying a weanling , but that doesn’t mean that OP cares any less about her foal, she just has less control of the situation.
“Custom foals” are a new concept to many of us and to be comfortable with the concept you must be comfortable with internet communication and the resulting “hands off” management of the foal.
That said, if I was in the “custom foal” world, I would not be comfortable doing business again with a breeder that did not have the authority to necropsy a foal that died suddenly on their farm (taking on the expense if necessary), especially when a foal kept in the same enclosure became ill.
Every possible problem that could arise from an internet in utero purchase can hardly be anticipated. It’s a relatively new way to do business isn’t it?
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If you PM me your email, I will reach out…in AZ, had similar issue in May (high fever, lethargy, ZERO other symptoms). Having big issues with PMs not replying/copying.
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@right horse at the right time, you have a PM.
This whole custom foal thing has been quite an adventure, for sure. The breeder has been a dream to work with, but both of us were new to the idea; we’ve learned a lot from this experience!
Another uneventful night with no temperature spikes has me feeling cautiously optimistic that we’re through the worst of whatever this was. My girl even got a few minutes of (small area) turnout at sunset yesterday evening, which she was quite grateful for, based on the video. :lol: She’s handling the confinement much better than I’d expect from a foal her age; thank goodness for well-bred babies with great minds.
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