Small intestine inflammation is hallmark for IBD. Was the inflammation focal or diffuse?
Did anyone suggests taking duodenal biopsies via scoping? Very non-invasive and could lend good information.
Did they bring up putting her on a course of steroids to see if she responds?
Since small bowel inflammation has been confirmed it might be a good idea to avoid all long stem hay and put her on a complete feed (such as a senior feed). Let that gut rest.
You haven’t mentioned your worming program at all. In the past my equine vet has suggested ‘bomb drenching’ - worming weekly for three weeks with a broad spectrum wormer (Ivomec & Praziquontal)
I also remember many, many years ago my equine vet treating a school pony with similar symptoms to your horse by stomach tubing with a fresh dropping from another healthy horse. This sounds really gross but the effect was seen within days and pony returned to producing normal dung. Lived to raid the feed room for many years after.
The fresh dung was mixed with warm water until broken right up. A nasal stomach tube was used and the whole lot poured in. Idea being that it replaced all the natural gut flora.
Hi. Thanks for all the responses. She has not shown any interest in eating manure, hers or anyone else’s. As far as our parasite prevention, she is on the standard rotating cycle. I did give her a dose of Zimmectrin Gold, just in case there were any tapes not seen on the fecal floats. I had a lengthy conversation with the internal medicine doc yesterday, and mentioned RDC. She feels that this is highly unlikely, because she didn’t see any sign of inflammation in the colon on ultrasound, and because RDC is often the result of NSAID use. My mare has had a banamine shot once, 6 years ago. Other than that, no NSAIDs whatsoever since I’ve owned her. The inflammation was diffuse throughout the small intestine. The vet and I agreed that our next step is biopsies. She knows that my funds are running dry from this, so she feels that a rectal biopsy would be the best bang for my buck, so to speak. I also submitted a new manure sample for another diarrhea PCR, as well as another fecal float/giardia test. I pulled blood this morning, and sent out a CBC/SuperChem. It’s a strange feeling, because obviously I hope everything comes back normal, but then part of me wants it to come back abnormal because then I might finally have an answer!! If the PCR comes back clean, then we likely will start a course of steroids to see if it is in fact IBD. I know the dr was worried that if we did have any kind of a bacterial or protozoal infection and we started something immunosupressive, like Pred, that we would end up with a massive out of control infection. So I guess for now we will just keep our fingers crossed. Thanks again everyone!
Op, if you have a university nearby consider asking your vet to discuss “the best bang for your buck”.
Having been down this road, I was told (by university specialists) that duodenal biopsies were superior to rectal to get a diagnosis. That is, when dealing with the small intestine.
I was open to doing whatever was needed (within certain limits of course). We almost did a rectal biopsy (gi scope broke the patient before us), but after consultation and much apology on their part, the vets and I decided to just reschedule.
My horse has severe diffuse inflammation on ultrasound. The gi scoping and biopsy was interesting and disheartening. My mares duodenum was super abnormal.
The biopsies ruled out lymphoma (their fear) and confirmed a form of IBD.
We are now at the end of a long stint of pred therapy, with good results.
How long will it last no one knows, but it is a start.
I will ask her about it. I feel like there has to be a hospital nearby that would have such a capability, it’s just a factor of cost. UC Davis is 9 hours north, so unfortunately that is out of the question. But it is certainly worth a mention, as I do have reservations about getting a complete picture from the rectal biopsy. Thanks for the advice. I’m definitely going to look into it.
I suggest GastroTec is works great on colonic and gastric ulcers. I have a coupon code you can use for 20% off at www.shop.gastroteculcermed.com The code is z22. Good luck with your Mare!
[QUOTE=katenreno;7712440]
I will ask her about it. I feel like there has to be a hospital nearby that would have such a capability, it’s just a factor of cost. UC Davis is 9 hours north, so unfortunately that is out of the question. But it is certainly worth a mention, as I do have reservations about getting a complete picture from the rectal biopsy. Thanks for the advice. I’m definitely going to look into it.[/QUOTE]
That would be a complicating factor.
When my mare had the procedure done, a 3 Meter scope was used…but it had the capability to thread a biopsy grabber through the scope.
Our university is a little over an hour drive for me, so it’s an easy reach when I need specialty care. If it was the kind of drive you are talking about…well, that would be a whole different matter.
If a biopsy scope isn’t available (or wasn’t for me), the next reach would be a rectal biopsy.
I’d sure like to keep up with how things are going and perhaps swap notes, etc if you are willing.
Well, the lab work came back fairly normal. I have conflicted feelings, because of course who wants their horse’s lab work to be all jacked up, but at least if something were obviously amiss, we might have more answers. I forwarded the results to her vet, so I’m waiting to hear what she has to say about them. Meanwhile, it has been over 100 degrees, so it’s hard to tell how she’s feeling because they are all pretty lethargic in the heat, but I think yesterday was pretty rough. She did have a couple gross blowouts yesterday, and seemed cranky when I was hosing her off. I tried giving her a light rubdown (she usually loves her little “massages”) and she just wasn’t having it. I put her back in her stall where she threw a fit, pawing and nickering, so I brought her back out and she was quite content to nap in the cross ties while I cleaned my tack. I think it was sort of a “I want to hang out but don’t touch me” kind of thing. When I put her back, they were feeding so she was pretty excited about that. That’s probably the toughest part of all this. For as miserable as she clearly is, she still has such a great appetite.
HeatherCK I would definitely be interested in swapping notes and ideas. As I’m sure you know, this is such a frustrating process, so it helps to know I’m not alone!
I know it has been awhile since I updated, so for anyone who might come across this thread with a similar problem, this is what has happened. I opted to get a second opinion from another local vet prior to shelling out big $$ for biopsies that might not tell us anything. She was just as mystified by the diarrhea and recommended that we continue with the biopsies. The kicker is, she noticed that Reno was slightly stiff in her hocks at the canter (she did a VERY thorough exam!). She asked about what kind of work she was in, and I said she wasn’t doing very much due to the diarrhea. She suggested that we start back to work, as the diarrhea had been going on long enough that she was “used to it”. She recommended previcox once a day for 3 weeks, and then taper to once every other day or every two days as needed so that she’d be comfortable while getting back into a training program. I’m not even kidding, within a week of starting the previcox, the diarrhea was GONE and has not returned. It has been nearly two months. I am beyond thrilled. The new vet said her only thought is that there was some kind of mild inflammatory bowel disease, and that the previcox, being an anti-inflammatory, cleared it up. Reno is now getting previcox every other day and doing phenomenal! I elected to get her hocks injected and start her on legend in the hopes of keeping her in work but minimizing the previcox, and it has done wonders. This mare is happy, sassy, and jumping around courses again like a 9 year old. I am so thankful for this happy accident. We probably would have come to the IBD conclusion eventually through biopsies and prednisone, but I am happy that the previcox took care of things on it’s own!
Thrilled for both of you `` thanks for the good news update ~
Thrilled for both of you !!!
Thanks for the good news update ~
That is fantastic news! I was wondering how she was doing!
Wow, that is an awesome new Vet you have! (congrats on having your horse so much improved too)
That’s great!
I agree with rcloissone. Classic RDC, including the cross-cantering, not wanting to move forward. I lived through it with one horse - took five months for her to get over it. I have the COTHers to thank for helping me correctly diagnose my horse, since my local vets were clueless to RDC.
Previcox…I swear it’s a miracle drug… so many horses at the barn have been helped by this drug… all with different ailments!
Glad it helped your mare as well…
Hooray!! thanks for the update 
Love happy endings…
that turn into happy beginnings. I too went through thousands on Gastrogard and scopes and tests to find out why my mare had chronic diarrhea (hose type projectile) that went on for years.
Finally they found that she has Leaky Gut Syndrome/IBS most likely caused by antibiotics. Hospital had me change her diet to quality hay, no grains, alfalfa cubes soaked to deliver vitamins and ADR supplement (Triple Crown recommended the ADR for loose manure) which she has been on for 5 years and other than a little loose occassionally…she has normal poo. So congratulations as I can just see your smile and excitement when you saw normal poo. I actually was so excited I took a picture:lol:
Wow what a great outcome. Thanks for updating
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
