Pemphigus foliaceous, suddenly

[CHT]

I have a horse here that has/had Pemphigus. The hypothesis is that was triggered by getting a multitude of vaccines all at once (he was in Ontario, and they vaccinated for eight things in one day) OR by something in the hay.

I believe they treated with steroids. Once he was well enough, his owner sent him to me in Alberta, with hopes a less humid area and more relaxed environment would help him. When he came his big abscess lumps were gone, but he was still extremely itchy and missing hair on his groin, neck, head and arm pits.

He was still on steroids when he came, but we weaned him off them, and two years later he has not relapsed. He did have a lot of foot abscesses in the first 6 months of coming here. We did space out his vaccines the first year, but this year we did it all at once, but we don’t vaccinate for Rabies or Potomac here, either way, he didn’t react at all and has shown no signs of relapse.

Obviously not everyone can mail their horse to a new climate, but there may be hope. It is tough when your horse has a rare disease.

[rockymouse]

@CHT, thank you for chiming in. I live in the high desert. She’d gotten no vaccines, nothing out of the ordinary. She just…erupted…with these symptoms. I’m so glad that your horse has stabilized and is doing well. That makes me happy.

The vet came this evening after the sun had gone down but there was still light in the sky. She was relaxed and I fed her apple pieces and I told her she was a beautiful good girl. The best girl. And then we let her go.

She’s in the pasture with my first horse and a human friend - a lifelong charismatic horsewoman - who is buried also in that pasture. They’re in good company.

Thank you, truly, for all of your support and comments. I’m kind of solo here in my horsiness, other than my sweet non-horsey husband, who loves them because I love them. I’m lucky all around.

[BrownDerby]

I so respect you for freeing your sweet mare of misery. The case I knew, a 4 yo AQHA stallion, was allowed to go on far too long; they loved him and he was valuable. But what that colt endured still haunts me.

I am very sorry for your loss.

[NaturallyHappy]

I’m sorry too💔.

[rockymouse]

Thank you, sweet COTHers.

[Gardenhorse]

I am so sorry for your loss.

[skydy]

Hugs from Colorado. {{{{rockymouse}}}}

I’m sorry that your mare had this condition, and proud of you because you didn’t let her suffer.

[CHT]

What a tough situation that you managed with compassion. Hugs to you. Auto-immune can be triggered so many ways that are out of our control.

[ThreeWishes]

Rest easy dear mare. And hugs to you @rockymouse.

[2DogsFarm]

Sorry to be tardy with my sympathy.
Godspeed, sweet mare.
@rockymouse remember @Coreene 's great advice:
Better a day too soon

[rockymouse]

I appreciate everyone reaching out.

My husband was really surprised that I did not chase down this ailment more. I really dived into the kissing spine (before, during and after its ultimate diagnosis), the abscessed feet, the ulcers, the head shaking. I was gonna figure this stuff out come hell or high water, and to a great extent, I did.

But the PF, man. I just knew, with a dread premonition, that chasing this would be months of tinkering, flickers of hope, and deep gulfs of despair. Treating something where the trigger is unknown, or shifts, seems impossible, especially out here, where horse vets are real good at dealing with a colic, or a nail in the foot, but they don’t have the resources or the time or the interest to be dinking with an auto immune mystery.

So I made the decision right away when the vet and I agreed that it was PF. And I never wavered, which made it easier on my husband.

All horses are wonderful, but this mare was special, in a leave-her-hay-to-come-say-hi kind of way. She’d look at you with such intelligence, and loved to droop her lip and stand over you to drowse if you wanted to sit on a bucket in the pen and just enjoy the sunny afternoon.

To the people she liked, she was fond of trading breath, which is an oddly intimate exercise. She’d put her nostril all the way over your nose, then breathe in and out while you also breathed in and out. She smelled green and earthy - I might’ve smelled like a ham sandwich or beer. But it seemed important to her to trade this information, and she seemed to concentrate when she did it, so I’d try to concentrate too - though whatever data she received was probably on a much more sophisticated level than what I could perceive of her.

We really miss her and we’re calm and at peace with what we decided. But, oh, what a friend she was.

[Coreene]

I had an appointment on May 25 to give my Louie - who woke up with a big case of Turned Into A Very Old Horse Overnight the day before - the same “better a week too soon than one minute too late.” Louie, always having to have the last word, took a nap under his favorite pepper tree an hour before the appt and quietly departed. First time in 32 years that I am without a horse and not looking (recovering from TKR).

Rockymare, sending you belated condolences for your loss. Thank you for being her champion.

[Paint_Party]

@rockymouse

But, oh, what a friend she was.

You described your connection with your mare in such loving words. What beautiful memories you have, and I’m certain your mare thought of you as a friend, too. ((( hugs )))

[2DogsFarm]

That’s a lovely tribute to your sweet mare.

& if you don’t mind, reminded me of a story a friend told:
She had a young mare for sale.
Buyer came with her trainer, who - showing off her superior wisdom - told her client “horses like you to blow in their noses” & proceeded to demonstrate on friends mare…
Who nearly took off trainer’s face
So, apparently not all horses accept this familiarity from strangers

[rockymouse]

@2DogsFarm, I had read as a child that native Americans “tamed” horses by blowing in their noses, which seemed mysterious to me, as in, well if that worked, why didn’t everyone do it?

This memory lodged in my deep brain. I’d been around quite a few horses, and owned several, before Wichita came to us as a weanling. I’m not sure when she started doing this, but it was fairly early. She always initiated - except last Friday, when the vet was standing by, and I initiated for one last breath together. It was always a quietly exhilarating moment - so close to one another, trading information and the very air we each breathed. How much closer can you get with another creature?

[2DogsFarm]

Maybe it’s a Mare Thing?
I know they identify foals by smell.

I’ve only owned geldings & while they cooperate with breath exchange, none have ever seemed especially affected.
They all seem more interested in manipulating things with their lips

[Widget]

I am so sorry for your loss! What a beautiful tribute to what I can imagine a beautiful mare.