Unknown cause of death

[Scarlette238]

Hi all,

I unexpectedly had to put my 31 year old mare down this past Monday. I owned her for 19 years and am very much grieving her loss. I understand I may never get an answer as to how she went downhill so quickly but I thought maybe someone had a similar experience.

The day before (Sunday) I got a call from the barn manager saying my mare wasn’t eating her grain (she was eating hay) and had a temp of 103.1. I drove down to the barn and noticed she was a little lethargic but not noticeably distressed or uncomfortable. I noticed a small abscess few inches above her stifle. It looked to be a possible tick bite. She would quiver when I touched it. I applied a hot compress, some icthamol, 1 gram of bute, and called my vet. She said she would be out the next day around 1pm.

About 1/2 hour before the vet came out, I received a call that she was walking in tight circles and covered in sweat. My vet said she had gone into shock and had a purple toxic line above her gums. she gave her a TQ, pain meds, and 2 large bags of IV fluids to stabilize her so we could ship her to mid atlantic clinic. She was uncontrollably fasciculating (shaking) in her hind end and we were reluctant to put her on a trailer. After about 1/2 hour of fluids she seemed to stabilize a bit. 15 min later she began fasciculating again in her hind end and was fighting going down. Finally she went down and let out a breath of shear exhaustion. It was at this point that I made the decision to humanely euthanize. I am beyond heartbroken and want to know so badly how/why she went downhill so fast. my vet said she wasn’t colicing, and her best guess was possibly an anaplasm or lyme from the suspected tick bite and due to her age may have had trouble fighting it off. She also mentioned she may have had underlying health issues that we never knew about. I was hyper vigilant with the vet coming out every 6 months or so. Has anyone ever experienced anything like this?

[atr]

I’m sorry for your loss. I have a much loved oldie, too, and I know I would be devastated to lose him like that.

Maybe she had a systemic reaction to whatever bit her, poor girl. In a younger, fitter horse it might not have had quite such a major effect.

[tazycat]

Sorry for your loss. Sounds like you did all that could be done. At 31 she lived a long life.

[leheath]

I’m so sorry for your loss. I’ve never had a similar experience, but my first thought when I read your post was some kind of spider or snake bite. The location would be consistent with a bite received while the horse was laying down. Don’t know where you live so can’t say if that makes any sense, but that was my first thought. I don’t think ticks carry anything that would be so detrimental so quickly, but again that may depend where you live as they sure can carry a lot of things in some areas.

[Cheap_Trick]

Oh dear, I’m so sorry.

With abscess, the mare going into shock and having hind end neuro symptoms, it sounds like a spider toxin, likely Black Widow. Due to her age, she just couldn’t fight it off like a younger animal could. So sorry.

[csaper58]

So very sorry you lost your mare. It is such a punch in the gut when it happens out of the blue.

Lost a horse under very similar conditions. Sudden fever, small abscess in an odd place (base of the neck) progressed quickly to shock, shaking and petechial hemorrhaging in the mucous membranes. There was swelling (associated with the small puncture) that was like ‘Rice Krispies’ under the skin.

Vet thought it was snake bite and was treating with fluids and steroids when the horse collapsed in the stocks and broke his ankle. He was immediately euthed.

The COD determined by necropsy was clostridium/gas gangrene.

[stb]

I’m so sorry for your loss.

[BUSY]

((Hugs)), I’m sorry for your heartbreaking loss.

[JB]

I would be surprised at anaplasmosis (and shocked at Lyme) with a temp of only 103. The abscess/wound on her stifle might have been the only sign of a fall she had which did internal damage. Her quivering at you messing with the stifle might have been that clue.

I’m sorry I think you can sleep well knowing it was not anything you did or didn’t do. Clearly something traumatic happened, and even a younger horse might not have been able to make it out of that

[Scarlette238]

Thank you everyone for your feedback. Blood work was taken about 20 minutes before she was euthanized. It did show elevated WBC consistent with some kind of infection. When the vet got there she said the swelling on the abscess had shrunk down, I’m
assuming from giving Bute the day prior. It was definitely from some kind of insect biting her, I think it was up a bit too high for a copperhead or rattlesnake bite. Also, the grass in her paddock is kept quite short.
a spider bite would make sense. Lyme and anaplasmosis surprised me as well, I didn’t think that could cause a horse to go into shock. Gas gangrene would surprise me as well, I thought that was more from IM injections?