Who has experience with neurological issues?

[CloverTCS]

I have a 5 year old 18 hand warmblood gelding with neurological symptoms that look like classic wobblers. However, a myelogram shows no significant compression of the spinal cord.

Symptoms are extremely variable, some days it changes by the hour… tripping up front, sinking back on hind end, bending knees when standing, drastic overreaching, knuckling behind when backing out of a trailer, trouble placing feet going down hills. Other maybe related symptoms include muscle atrophy, especially over the rump, bolting and rearing, which is inconsistent with his very quiet, sweet demeanor.

He’s been out of work since January and now lives outside with a herd 24/7 - comes in for grain and scary weather.

What I’m looking for with this post is ideas on what could be going on and help preparing for my next conversation with the vet which will be sometime this week. When it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck… but isn’t a duck…. What is it?!

Battled ulcers for nearly a year - whole nine yards with treatment, multiple scopes etc. Last scope was clean and he’s been doing well in that regard since

Ruled out kissing spine with xrays

Saddle fit was an issue, but I’ve stopped riding and the symptoms are all still there

Spinal tap for EPM was negative

Spinal tap for Lyme was negative

Vitamin E levels are normal

Normal on all CBC values

Has had 3 in hand neurologic exams performed by vets at different times, ranging from graded a 1 at the best, to discussing euthanasia at the worst

Had a myelogram last week and from what I understand so far, there is no significant spinal cord compression - so not Wobblers (CVM) - I will however be having follow up conversations regarding this soon.

What other avenues haven’t I explored?

PSSM or Cushings? Neither quite fit, but going to ask anyway. Brain tumor?

[Jealoushe]

I can not recommend this podcast enough. There is a lot of good info which would be relevant to your horses symptoms.

https://declue-equine.com/podcast/

My horse went neuro after a bad fall in the paddock. Could something like that have happend?

[CloverTCS]

Ohh!! Thank you for the podcast link!! I’m always looking for things like that, have it queued up for my drive to the barn. I’ve been enjoying this one too: https://springhillequine.com/podcast/

As for the fall - yes I think that is totally possible. Something that must have dropped off my original post when editing is that he does have “an old OCD fragment at the posterior aspect of the articular facet at 6/7 but no ventral dorsal compression” this was seen in both the myelogram and cervical xrays. So there was absolutely an injury at some point. Question is then - was this caused by an underlying issue, or is this the cause? Definitely on my vet question list! He has tripped badly and fallen with me riding at the walk on flat ground.

How is your horse doing?

[Jealoushe]

I’ve been listening to that one too! So good!

I’m sorry to hear about these issues. I don’t want to concern you but unfortunately for my guy he had to be euthanized. He had severe ataxia and wasn’t able to feel where his right hind limb was. At first he was improving with body work and steroids, but then he declined quickly and I didn’t want to spend the winter worrying if he would be up when I got home from work every day

I have heard those issues can be hereditary? Hopefully some others will chime in, there is a lot of knowledge from users here about neck/back issues like that.

[CloverTCS]

Oh no. I’m so sorry! They are so big and powerful and incredibly fragile.

Steriods helped my guy briefly too, but yes, I am worried we’re heading down a similar path as you.

[Jealoushe]

@CloverTCS

Oh no. I’m so sorry! They are so big and powerful and incredibly fragile.

Steriods helped my guy briefly too, but yes, I am worried we’re heading down a similar path as you.

Thank you. It was not the greatest experience, he was the best horse too. One that truly didn’t deserve that. He raced until he was 9, it did make me wonder if he had past issues from his hard life that were then triggered by the fall.

Sending you good vibes for some answers!

[IPEsq]

Hmm, well there are some limitations to myelogram in that the horse is under anesthesia. You can move the neck around a bunch during the exam but you can’t ever truly replicate how they are in motion. I think it would be possible given the severity of symptoms and all of the testing you have done that there could be compression happening that could not be duplicated on the myelogram.

Has anyone considered surgically removing the OCD fragment? There’s a cool video of neck OCD surgery out there on the internet somewhere that I have watched. I sadly can’t remember the source.

[Peggy]

I had a horse with some changes at C6-7 including some transposition. Passed a neuro exam up to the point of the blindfold part bc he wouldn’t wear one. Vet said horse was not neuro but that occasionally there was a transient moment of slight compression and a packet of information didn’t make it down the spinal column, resulting in a momentary loss of proprioception. That in turn could lead to him placing a foot incorrectly and stumbling or putting it down too hard, ultimately resulting in soft tissue damage in the hoof.

Hx: Stumbled occasionally from the time he was started; generally we could assign a cause. Finally found it when he re-injured the soft tissue in his foot and we did a scintigraphy if the whole horse.

Myelogram is 2D? Maybe it wouldn’t show up if the neck wasn’t positioned to show it. But as the previous poster noted, if he’s that bad it would make sense that you’d see something.