Won't lift his head, swollen throat, swollen lips, no temp...

[four2farm]

Okay, weird. Gigantor was fine at Breakfast, cleaned the bucket. Then he went into dry lot with his buddies. All three took a nap in the normal spot. We left to get the front tractor tires replaced/errands and came back he had not moved, other two at the hay pile, him in the same spot, head hanging. I gave him a cookie, he ate that.

Would not pick his head up, crest felt sore, he went down to the hay pile and nibbled. So I watched, no drooling, but throat latch swollen, lips swollen. He seemed off balance coming back up the hill. Called the vet, he set do a dose of banamine oral, give him dinner and report with video.

He ate all his dinner, still won’t pick up head, acted drunk after banamine. Now he is picking at the loose (different square baled) hay shaking his head. Has not touched his water.

So feed is not changed, end of bag, that lasts a week. No new product since 2 weeks ago. (Due to stock up Monday) New round bale yesterday am, same field, and he had been sampling it over the hay barn gate for a couple weeks. He was on pasture yesterday but fine last night and this am.

He did this once before, a while ago and then a dose of banamine and was fine the next morning. I thought “grass jaw” but they normally won’t lower the head? I thought neck pain but why the swelling? No slobbering, temp normal vitals normal… Rabies Booster June 2020 and EEE + in August 2020

Vet is slammed with a massive leg laceration, another horse got hit by a car and a colic, so I am 4th in line. Okay , o’ wise COTH help me figure this out?

[cutter99]

Any chance he got ahold of something poisonous like a weed or got stung by something?

[four2farm]

That’s all I can think of, but I could find no bite marks and the other two hay eating buddies are finer than frog hair…they only eat their grain separated. Water trough, salt and hay are all shared.

[Bluey]

Ask your vet, but swollen head could be simply from keeping his head down for too long.
Gravity does that, pools fluids down there, more than head can pump back up.

Now, allergies, a sting, trauma also can cause swelling.

Maybe vet will get there to see what is going on.

When we don’t know what is wrong, we call vet, as vet tells us.
Better have him check and not be anything than not call him and then have to play catch-up on something serious.

Hope he again just gets better on his own.

[four2farm]

@Bluey

Ask your vet, but swollen head could be simply from keeping his head down for too long.
Gravity does that, pools fluids down there, more than head can pump back up.

Now, allergies, a sting, trauma also can cause swelling.

Maybe vet will get there to see what is going on.

When we don’t know what is wrong, we call vet, as vet tells us.
Better have him check and not be anything than not call him and then have to play catch-up on something serious.

Hope he again just gets better on his own.

Yes, called him about 6pm and sent video, he is slammed tonight. ( Tropical Storm Delta is Coming through and the vets are slammed)

He said to watch him and if he is still doing okay he will get by when he can.

[MLOaks]

Any weeds in that dry lot? We just discovered a new toxic plant last week in our pastures. There is an amazing variety of Senna plants, for example. This is the classic time of year for toxic weeds to be nibbled on because the grass is waning and the weeds are mature. If you have any weeds in your dry lot, please move your horse into a spot with zero weeds until the vet can evaluate. Some toxic plants take only a small amount to be deadly and the damage could already be done. Not to scare you, but once they get a taste, they can keep nibbling until they get too much. Supportive care and blood tests, if the vet thinks he ingested a poisonous plant. Best wishes for you. We went through this with a heifer.

[four2farm]

ML Oaks- It possible but we keep it pretty well drug and cleaned out, we get the occasional clump of crabgrass. That gets mown down and I hand pull the other stuff when I see it.

Now, he is still acting drunk and refuses to let me get near him. I never seen an EPM move this fast and no throat swelling, it has got to be some sort if plant…

[Heinz_57]

New round bale might be worth investigating? I’m in a totally different area, but once had a horse end up with rye grass staggers (I don’t recall any swelling, though). My other two were eating the same hay and were totally fine. Some horses are just more sensitive - I’d be digging around in that round bale to see if there’s anything out of the ordinary.

[four2farm]

I looked at it earlier, nothing unusual, Bermuda fescue mix, no mold, nothing fine like rye. No leaves but a few little twigs. Something might have crept it but it has already been eaten if so:confused:

[Ghazzu]

Snakebite?

[four2farm]

Possible? He will not even let us near him now. You reach out to touch him, he gets really stressed and tries to leave, he spun and now looks like he has hurt himself. He is on and off holding up his foot. He will stand quietly and eat hay. Vet said not to stress him any more and just hold on until he can get here. So it is going to be long sleepless night…

[AllTheCarrots]

If he were a person, the swollen lips and throat and altered behavior would make me think “allergic reaction.” Snake bite? Spider bite? How is his breathing?

Or maybe grass mumps? No direct experience with it, unfortunately, but I know it’s one of those WTH things that can appear when least expected/convenient.

I’m sorry for your troubles tonight. I hope everyone involved can get some rest and relief as soon as possible.

[four2farm]

Thanks! He is acting so odd. He is just standing there eating hay. I am not bothering him until I have too. Maybe grass mumps, let’s hope grass mumps. Just hoping he will come through it. Vet is still communicating ( he has more urgent cases still) and saying keep him quiet, if he is still eating we are in decent shape…Poor boy!

[MLOaks]

Thinking about you and your horse and hoping things look better this morning.

[Bluey]

Hoping horse is on the mend on its own by now?

[four2farm]

Better this morning, vet was here at 2am and took some blood and did a dose of dex. He is eating breakfast, not big on hay still but eating. He is is very off in character, head shaking, food stomping and really shaky. He is moving his head around better. Let me tell you last night was a rodeo. Finally about 5 am he let me rub his face, (normally he is a total pocket pony). So we will see what the blood tells and will call the vet this afternoon. He is unsure like me and just says " supportive care" until he gets back to lab.:dead:

[NaturallyHappy]

Fingers crossed for you🤞 and your pony.

[MLOaks]

Oh man. I’m so sorry. The wait sucks. Eating is a good sign.

I think you said there were sticks around. Any red maple trees nearby? Wilted maple leaves can be poisonous.

[Shagyas_Rock]

Something similar happened to my horse several years ago - when I checked on him I found him unable to raise his head - the vet was mystified - to make a long story short,
we called the equine chiropractor and found him out of alignment literally from his poll to his tail. He needed chiro adjustments every week for months and he needed daily massage
to loosen the neck muscles that locked up . . . it took us forever to figure out what might have happened because there was no mark on him and no signs of a struggle - but we now theorize that his stablemate ran him into a wall - they shared a run-in . . .anyway it would explain how he got so jammed up.
You might want to call a chiropractor after your vet sees him. . . .best of luck!

[Ghazzu]

@MLOaks

Oh man. I’m so sorry. The wait sucks. Eating is a good sign.

I think you said there were sticks around. Any red maple trees nearby? Wilted maple leaves can be poisonous.

True, but the clinical picture doesn’t really fit that.