What is wrong with my mare?

[charismatic96]

As a greenie to this forum, I do not know if I am doing this correctly, but I searched through these threads as much as I could before deciding to make my own.

Monday I was riding my mare when suddenly she started showing symptoms of colic. She was sweating more than normal, labored breathing, and was bloated throughout her entire stomach and started doing the ‘colic walk’. With some banamine, a cold hose and lots of walking she seemed better. For the next 4 days she had a 101+ degree fever which is now back to normal. After the fever subsided she had large amounts of swelling in all four of her legs (extremely weird because she lives outside). Today, over a week after the initial incident, she the swelling was nearly gone, but she is still oddly lethargic. She seems uncomfortable and unbalanced, her anus also seems retracted or sunken and she has started licking/biting the wood fencing of her pasture.

Extremely weird I know. Yes my vet has been notified but she sees no extreme issue at hand. I would just really like to know what is going on, please comment if you have any ideas!

[yourcolorfuladdictio]

So the first part of that sounds like your horse was tying up, but I’ve never seen a horse tie up and then later spike a fever and 4 swollen legs. But the ones I’ve worked with were caught quickly and treated properly for it rather than cold hosed and walked.

[charismatic96]

Thanks, just because I would like to know, you do you recommend ‘properly’ treating a horse tying up?

[charismatic96]

[QUOTE=yourcolorfuladdiction;7842707]
So the first part of that sounds like your horse was tying up, but I’ve never seen a horse tie up and then later spike a fever and 4 swollen legs. But the ones I’ve worked with were caught quickly and treated properly for it rather than cold hosed and walked.[/QUOTE]
How do you recommend ‘properly’ treating a horse tying up?

[yourcolorfuladdictio]

So basically, the moment the horse begins to stiffen up when in work you need to stop. We would untack the horse and keep it standing still right there. Usually banamine and blanketed if cool and the vet was called. The vet would come out and take blood. Usually the vet would do nasogastric intubation to provide the horse with fluids mixed with electrolytes but sometimes the horse would get IV fluids as well/instead. It depended upon how bad the horse’s episode was.

You don’t force the horse to move, this is a VERY painful cramp. As the pain meds start to work we would bring the horse to its stall. and it was kept in for a day or two to allow it to heal. We would take the horse out for short hand walks as it was comfortable and slowly the pain goes away.

Some horses need Ace when they have an episode to keep them calm and let them recover.

Basically, their muscles just tried to rip themselves apart. It’s painful, it’s exhausting, and it’s something that needs to be seen by a vet. It can cause kidney damage.

[betsyk]

fever + swollen legs = anaplasma. Could be colicky from feeling yucky from the anaplasma. Mine have been really, really sick with it sometimes and less sick other times - seems to depend on how high of a fever they have.

[Lady_Eboshi]

Seconding anaplasmosis–a tick-borne ailment common at this time of year which comes on like a brick wall. Mild colic, legs stocking up, reluctance to move which could seem like tying up, and above all a scary-high fever (which comes and goes) are the common symptoms.

Lots of times a few days on Banamine to control the fever is all they need to shake it off, though the gold standard is Doxycycline. But in this case I’d definitely get your vet to see her, because something like enteritis could be going on too.

Good Luck!

[charismatic96]

Was definitely anaplasmosis! Thank you! Found a tick under her chin a few days after I posted this. She is well now and back to regular work. Thank you all!

[Zu_Zu]

Glad your mare is ‘back’ to her old self ~

Thanks for posting your good news ~

Glad your mare is ‘back’ !

[beowulf]

That doesn’t even remotely sound like a tying up incidence…

I am seconding anaplasmosis. At this point you will want your vet involved.

EDIT: whoops, saw your post… you didn’t get the vet involved?

[Lady_Eboshi]

[QUOTE=betsyk;7842963]
fever + swollen legs = anaplasma. Could be colicky from feeling yucky from the anaplasma. Mine have been really, really sick with it sometimes and less sick other times - seems to depend on how high of a fever they have.[/QUOTE]

That’s what I was thinking.

[quietann]

I’m happy to hear that your horse is feeling better.