Sudden onset of neurological symptoms

[inca]

SORRY THIS IS SO LONG. CLIFF NOTES VERSION:

Horse was fine at 10 a.m. and displaying neurological signs at 3 p.m. Took her to vet and left her for treatment. They had no firm diagnosis as to the WHY.

Update on Post #3.

Very long, detailed version:

So, this morning my horse was fine. Farrier came so mare got 1 cc of ace (she has been bad for the farrier since her stifle ordeal/surgery.) Feet got done, no problem. Turned her out after the other 2 horses were done and everything seemed normal. She was had ace for farrier before and also when first started rehabbing and it has never been a problem. She was alert enough that the farrier didn’t know I gave her any until I told him.

I left immediately after I turned the horses out to go to my trainer’s for a lesson on the horse I have boarded there. This was right around 10 a.m. (Ace was given at 7:30.)

I got home around 3 and got mare out of the pasture to groom and tack up. I always do a little massage stuff with her and didn’t really notice anything unusual. Did notice she was picking up her hind legs a bit and then putting them down. At this point, I wondered if her feet hurt a little (she is barefoot.) Tack up and turn her to walk down the barn aisle and she was moving VERY strangely behind. Seemed to get better as we were walking to the arena so decided to stick her on the longe line to see what is going on. Took some odd steps but overall looked better. Thought maybe she just had some kinks she needed to work out. Got on and something just isn’t right. Trot enough to see if she will work out of it then got off and walked her back to barn. Walking up the slight incline right in front of barn she took REALLY bad steps.

She was walking in a straight line but leaving her leg (both) in the air abnormally long and putting them way forward before putting them down. She was not wobbly like she had no balance. More like she wasn’t quite aware where her back legs were.

Called vet and talked to tech who gave me option of giving her banamine and seeing if that helps or bringing her in. It seemed very neurological to me at this point so I took her in. She looked awful getting off the trailer. Then walked into clinic almost like she has stringhalt in both hind legs. Then as we were waiting, kept one hind leg held in the air even more pronounced. Totally thrown off balance by tail pull. Then started standing with her hind hooves touching each other.

Senior vet thankfully gets back from field call. Finds a “dead spot” in her back where he get no reaction, no matter how hard he pokes and prods.

While we are there, a mare and foal come in and foal is wandering around exam room. My mare notices the foal and looks at it but doesn’t move a muscle. Just does not seem like a normal reaction.

They pulled blood for a CBC and to send off to test for EPM.

We still don’t know what caused these symptoms but she is staying at clinic to get fluids and DMSO and I think they said dex. Said if she doesn’t respond to treatment in 48 hours, will need to go to Texas A&M clinic.

The senior vet seems to think injury - fell in pasture, kicked by pasture mate, they were playing and ran into each other, etc. Seems weird to me because she and her pasture mate LOVE each other and just hang out grazing 99.5% of the time. They are not ones to be silly and were quietly grazing when I left and when I came home. However, their pasture is right by the road so always possible something spooked them.

Other possibilities mentioned were EPM and ate a toxic weed.

On the drive home, I thought about west nile (although haven’t really seen mosquitoes yet) and EHV (she hasn’t gone anywhere to be exposed.) Also thought maybe she had some sort of stroke or something like that.

Mare is 9 years old and this seems to have just happened out of the blue. I am still in shock and hope they figure out what is wrong!

[Laurierace]

Jingles for good news!

[inca]

So, she is walking better this morning but still holding a hind leg up at times. CBC panel was normal. They are going to send blood off to test for EPM.

At this point they don’t know what caused this. They are going to continue to run fluids and DMSO. Mentioned she may be able to come home tomorrow.

How worried would you be about bringing her home if you have no idea what caused these neurological issues?

[fordtraktor]

Jingles for a quick diagnosis.

I would be worried but I would be worried about leaving her there indefinitely too esp. if she was getting better and the vets were confident she was stable, no use running up a huge bill if it is not necessary. If you aren’t confident she is stable can you ask for the referral to A&M?

[inca]

You are right that she doesn’t need to be there indefinitely. She would be happier at home. And easier on my checkbook.

Guess my concern is if the cause is a disease instead of injury or some weed she ate. Also worried about bringing her home right after they stop fluids/DMSO. In my mind, possibly those things are improving the SYMPTOMS but not necessarily addressing the CAUSE. So worried that I bring her home and she craters.

I can get her into A&M myself. So, I suppose if I bring her home and she does take a turn for the worse I can take her there.

I had to ask if they had any idea of the cause. Now, I was talking to the very young vet and not the owner of the clinic who thankfully arrived before I left yesterday. But, I got the impression that finding the cause was not top on the priority list, as long as she was getting better.

I have had horses for 25 years and have never seen something like this. If I can’t get there today to talk to them in person (I work 45 miles away from the clinic) I am definitely going by there in the morning. I will probably get a better feel for the situation if I am there in person to see the mare and ask questions.

[fordtraktor]

I would probably take her to the big vet school for diagnostics as a next step personally as it sounds like you aren’t getting there from your local place. I am all in favor of supporting the local place if they are getting you what you need but I would NOT be happy with what you are being told. At all. Hopefully it is just a lack of communication but that would not be enough for me.

So sorry you are going through this, hope she makes a full recovery.

[inca]

Thanks. This poor mare had a fenestration go terribly wrong in August (yes, A&M did that!) and had to have surgery on her stifle in October. She recovered from that mid-January and finally got to go back on full turnout and full work mid-March. Now this. I can’t believe this is happening and it is SO depressing. I was going to bring her along to the horse show next weekend to hang out a do a few flat classes. Hopefully she will recover from this but the sudden onset of symptoms is what has me scared.

Hopefully I will get more info this afternoon.

[inca]

I talked to 2 vets at A&M. They both said neurological cases can be very frustrating for everyone involved. Said you can run every test under the sun and still not know what caused it.

Bottom line is that after talking with them, I feel more comfortable with what my vet is doing. He suspects trauma but is testing for EPM. The one vet at A&M said she doesn’t sound like a West Nile case but that I can talk to my vet about doing the blood test for West Nile and encephalitis to be sure.

A&M would treat her the same way and might consider adding oral Vitamin E. I am going to talk to my vet about that.

They did caution me that there are false positives on the EPM blood test (I was aware of that) but that treating her with Marquis would not hurt (other than my checkbook.) Said that Marquis can actually have benefits even if the horse does not have EPM.

So, looks like plan is to proceed and bring her home when she is stabilized enough. Then if she regresses after being home, I will take her up to A&M for further diagnosis/treatment.

The only thing they did suggest is that she be on banamine for a while at home to help stabilize things after she is done with the fluids/DMSO.

[drogheda]

Sounds like Erlichia, had two friends horses come down with it and it stumped the vets. It can present with or without a fever. Treated with Doxy IV.

[Chachie]

Inca, we just went through a very similar situation with a boarder and to this day, we still do not know what caused his issues.
Last week, I had kept the horses in because I kept hearing thunder but it wasn’t raining yet. I was playing the “should I or shouldn’t I turn them out” game. I am glad I kept everyone in that day.
My boarder’s horse is a sweet drafty fellow, a large kind soul who doesn’t bother anyone and kinda hangs out in the back of his stall with his head in the corner. His owner had taken him and her other horse on a trail ride a few days before but he was fine there up until the other day.
That day I was feeding lunch and put him in an empty stall so I could clean his stall. Gave him some hay and when I was done doing his stall, put him back in his own stall and gave him his usual alfalfa gruel as a treat. At this point, he was fine. Walked across the aisle like normal, nothing unusual or out of the ordinary.
Within 15 minutes of him being back in his stall, he was collapsing. I was in my stallion’s stall next to him when I heard him kick the dividing wall, nothing unusual. I loved on my horse for a few minutes and as I was closing his door, I heard a loud crash from my boarder’s stall.
It wasn’t unusual for my boarder’s horse to roll in fresh sawdust or nose fight with my stallion over the wall so I went to the draft’s stall and saw him standing there, looking well, odd.
He was breathing hard, like he had just rolled but had this WTF?! expression on his face. He was hunched over his hind legs and rocking back and forth but his front legs were in a normal position, just spread apart a bit more. Then suddenly he fell over.
He didn’t lay down like he wanted to roll. He didn’t collapse in a big heap. He fell over head first like they sometimes do when they forget to lock their knees except he didn’t catch himself. He crashed.
Immediately he got back up and looked at me like HEEEELP! He was cognizant and panicked but he couldn’t find his legs. He crashed again. each time he got right back up.
I called his owner and told her to get her NOW and that we needed to call the vet. I kept thinking what could he have gotten into that caused this? Was it the sawdust? The food? Did I accidentally give him someone’s supplements? Nothing was different than the day before. The sawdust was the same batch, the feed from the same bag, even the hay was from the same bale that he had had earlier so not one thing was different. I started worrying that maybe he had brought back a virus from his trail ride.
I called the owner and called the vet. In the time that it took the owner to get there, he had started to stabilize a bit. while it was still scary for her, I saw that he was improving slightly. By the time the vet got there 90 minutes later, he was much better.
He could turn without crashing. His tremors had stopped. He was pooping and passing manure. He was a bit more stabile. She did the same as your vet did: ran fluids with DMSO and gave him a banamine injection, drew blood etc. By that night, he was completely normal.
The blood results came back normal and like your vet, the only thing that we can think of is that he rolled when he got back to his stall and somehow injured his neck. The owner said that in her trailer he was twisting around a lot to see some commotion behind him so maybe that plus the rolling set something off.
He is now on day 3 without any meds as we did a stepdown dosing to wean him off. He is back to group turnout, albeit after everyone has gotten their kicks and giggles out of their system just to be safe. But to this day, you would never know he was that bad.
It happens like that sometimes, especially with neurological symptoms. I’ve been a vet tech most of my adult life and have seen these kinds of situations before. It’s not uncommon but certainly not something you see every day. It is scary and upsetting but the best advice I could give you is don’t panic.
I have seen some people rush in when a horse goes down, thinking immediately that they are colicing. Sometimes taking a few moments to assess the situation will help more in the long run. Do not run into a stall when a horse is crashing or neurological. You may end up hurt. you can’t help if your hurt too.
Take a long at their eyes first. Is there any weird eye movement? If so make a note of it for the vet and keep an eye on it.
Look at their feet and stance. Make note of how they are moving their legs. What is their body position? Are they rocking front to back, side to side? Are they camped out, hunched up, standing on their toes? These will all help a vet to think while on the way there.
If they go down, did the fall, did they drop to their knees, did they realize they were going down? Were they able to get back up immediately?
Watch their breathing. Is it rapid? Are they gasping for breath or are they breathing normal?
Look at their skin and muscles. Are there tremors or all over shaking? Sometimes only a few muscles move faintly so watch carefully and make a note of how long it lasts.
Watch their tails. Is it clamped down, just hanging there limp, or is it swishing?
Make a note of any manure, gas and urination. If there is manure in the stall, try to note how old it is if you can. Try to keep track of passing gas and urination too. If they are struggling to do either let the vet know.
You want to be able to give your vet as much information as possible so try to keep your thoughts straight. Try to remember when the last meal was, what was eaten, if the horse has been recently vaccinated or taken off grounds. There are a lot of issues that start with neurological symptoms and the more information you can give your vet the better understanding they can have on how to address it.
I realize that a lot of you know this information already but someone may come across this thread, such as a new horse owner or a younger rider, who doesn’t know it so I wanted to make sure I added it to this thread.
I hope no one goes through what Inca and I just had to go through. It is scary and frustrating not knowing what really set them off. But if you do, please remember to stay calm and safe.

[inca]

Wow. See, it is totally possible she had an episode like that in the 5 hours I wasn’t home. She was nowhere NEAR that unstable when I saw her. Walking very funny with hind end but not wobbly. I never though she might fall.

Vet is fairly convince it is from trauma - getting kicked, falling in the pasture, running into a fence, etc., etc. Although she RARELY runs around in her pasture, other than for a minute when turned out IF they had to stay in the day before. But, you just never know. Something might have spooked them.

[CAH]

I’m guessing trauma. Were cervical xrays done?

The DMSO is taking down the inflammation. Usually the goto for symptoms.

[SAcres]

When my horse started with a tick borne illness he presented with what seemed like neuro symptoms. Odd balance, dragging legs, didn’t want to move, bad circles, etc. He had a high temp. Within 48 hours of doxy and bute he started acting normal again.

[BCGirl]

If it is EPM/they strongly suspect it then another option to look into is toltrazuril compounded with DMSO. It is cheaper than Marquis and I had great success with it on one of my guys, although he was low grade, only about a 1.5 or a 2 when I had him check out and put on it. Just an idea!

Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

[FindersKeepers]

These cases are truly frustrating and it is possible that you will never know what happened. The important thing is that simple treatment (DMSO and fluids) are relieving her symptoms and she’s comfortable. I would not suspect WNV or EEE as those do not turn around that fast, if at all.

Wishing best of luck! Please keep us posted.

[inca]

Vet is firmly convinced it is trauma related. I was able to go see her this morning and I would say she is 50% better. She now does offer resistance when you pull her tail to the side (maybe not full resistance but Wed. afternoon she completely stumbled when you pulled her tail.) And she responds everywhere on her back when poked (and her back seems sore.) She is not lifting her legs as high when she walks but she still does hover with each leg before she puts it down. When I was handgrazing her, if we walked somewhat briskly for more than a couple steps, she would walk a little more normally after the first few steps.

She is nowhere near normal but significantly better. She is still on dex and banamine.

I am picking her tomorrow morning. They want to continue with the dex, but I am not sure for how long. I think the plan is for her to be in her stall and small paddock that is attached.

My plan is to bring her home and if at any point I am uncomfortable with how she is doing, we will go to A&M. I will also probably touch base with them on Monday to give them an update. They were really great on the phone with me yesterday.

[CrowneDragon]

I’m so glad you are seeing improvement. I hope it continues and she is back to normal soon!

[AddieMarie]

EHV-1? We had a big outbreak here in March and into April. Severe neuro symptoms suddenly appear. Several were euthanized. Many are slowly recovering.
Jingles and love from here!!!

[Ben_and_Me]

Hind limb laminitis can also present like a horse that is neurologic behind.

[sid]

[QUOTE=Ben and Me;7550881]
Hind limb laminitis can also present like a horse that is neurologic behind.[/QUOTE]

So can a fractured femur. As me how I know. Took a while to diagnose, but that’s what it was.