I just had my vet out to do vaccinations and she said that she has seen a lot of Lyme in my area this year. Just out of curiosity, what where your horses symptoms of Lyme? What test was run to find out?
My horse has had lyme twice, with the two times separated by 5 years, so they were probably the result of separate infections.
The first time she was intermittently lame in the hind end, backsore, and very hypersensitive to touch, including grooming. It took a long time (about 10 months) before an accurate diagnosis; initially she was tested for lyme and it came back a very weak positive, so weak that the vet didn’t think that it was lyme (and this was before lyme became so prevalent). Did a lot of other tests, including a bone scan (yikes!) that came back with almost no findings (her back muscles lit up in the soft tissue phase). She was treated aggressively for back pain, including stall rest and saddle fitting, but with little effect. Finally, a different vet drew blood again and had it tested for lyme and it came back more strongly positive. Treated her with doxy and she was fine.
Second infection, she dropped weight alarmingly and became lethargic. This time, the vet said almost right off the bat when he saw her, let’s test her for lyme. It came back positive and within 10 days of starting doxy she was picking up weight and feeling obviously better.
Both times she was tested using the Western blot and elisa tests.
A couple of years ago, she came up lame again, and the vet immediately tested her, using the then-new Cornell test. It was negative. When the lameness did not immediately resolve, given the horse’s history the vet decided to treat for lyme anyway, but this time the doxy had little effect, which suggested that it really wasn’t lyme. The lameness subsequently resolved as a result of other therapies.
Frankly, I wouldn’t bother with any test other than the Cornell test for lyme.
I have had two with Lyme, weight loss, lethargy and a NQR all over lameness that we couldn’t really pinpoint. The mare also had some vague neuro symptoms, she had the highest titer. They were both treated with doxy for ninety days, IIRC. Like Posting Trot, both mine were much better after about ten days. However the next spring the mare developed head shaking syndrome and I often wonder if it was somehow related or just a coincidence.
FAEP’s The Practitioner has a good article on Lyme this quarter. Of course, it is WAY above my head.
“Borrelia burgdorferi infectiobn in horses is common in some areas of North America, yet the incidence of clinical disease has not been determined, which makes Lyme disease in horses controversial.”
The article then goes on to explain in words that average 17 syllables why the tests currently used do not always accurately determine whether or not a horse actually has Lyme disease. There is a difference between B. burgdorferi infection and clinical disease.
“The C6 SNAP test, which is based on an antibody to a peptide that reproduces the sequence of the invariable region 6 (an immunodominant, conserved region), has good correlation of results with whole cell or OspF ELISA results in horses; specificity of the C6 snap test may be better than sensitivity…A multiplex quantitative antibody bead test for OspA, OspC and OspF antibody detection is available for the serodiagnosis of equine B. burgdoferi infection. The interpretation concept is that high levels of OspA usually suggest vaccination, elevated OspC indicates recent infection (antibody against this antigen typically increases within a couple of weeks after infection and then becomes negative 3-5 months after the initial infection), and OspF elevationssuggest either chronic infection or more long-lasting antibodies from a prior infection.”
I could go on but probably won’t summarize the article well because of my limited understanding of some very complex medical terminology.
At first my mare was just antsy getting her feet trimmed. 6 or 7 weeks later, she was kicking my farrier, leaping foreward everytime he picked up a foot, rearing and trying to bite me. Had her tested through Cornell and found that she was chronic. 10 days on Doxie and my mare was back to sleeping when her feet were trimmed. She was on Doxie for a total of 30 days. 2 years later, she still dozes off when feet are being done
Sore in many different joints, sore back, hyper reactive to any touch or grooming. Fight reaction to any added stimuli or any increase in his discomfort (dip in terrain=explosive rearing/bucking).
The previous owner told me he only liked the softest brush, I figured it was a thin skinned OTTB thing. His other issues got worse over the months I owned him. Unfortunately he had more issues than just Lyme, although I do think that Lyme was the one that caused the most issues. 1.He had sore heels from being barefoot behind. 2. He had low selenium and was dragging his hind feet. 3. He had sore hocks, which were injected. (He was x-rayed and had mild changes in both but was more sore on one. I elected to inject both to be sure I wouldn’t be back in a few months with the same issue, just the other leg.) 4. He had a slightly too narrow saddle. I fixed all of these AND he was still a grumpy sore camper.
The vet drew blood and sent it to Cornell.
He had elevated numbers in all three categories. Which led us to believe he may have been vaccinated before I got him, but that he also had an infection that was moving from the just exposed to the chronic stage. We treated with Doxy for 90 days. He seems to be fine as long as I keep his saddle fitting JUST SO. Any change in weight and I have to change the padding/shimming or he will be sore and out of sorts.
I went through all of the above in less than 18 months of ownership. I was beginning to wonder if I would have a sound horse to ride. KNOCKING ON WOOD, the last 8 months have been the longest he has been sound and pain free.
Here is another article, in laymans terms:
My guy dropped a TON of weight was NQR in multiple areas that we could never pinpoint to one area, body sore and lethargic. He has about 20 days on his 90 day cycle of Doxy and I did see a significant change about 10 days in. He is almost back to normal and his appetite is back so he is gaining back what he lost.
Mine all got spooky first. Then the body sensitivity and soreness kicked in. All diagnosed with medium titer levels. I also had a mare with a high titer level, and she never once showed a symptom. So now I test yearly, and treat accordingly.
Consistent lameness in his front right which made everyone think it was an injury rather than Lyme’s. Went through many vets and clinics, including a full body bone scan and left vets stumped. He was prescribed 3 month’s stall rest and he would be reevaluated after then. About a month in, a vet was out for another horse and I had him pull blood for Lyme on a whim. It was Lyme - within a week he was completely sound. All of that money spent (nerve blocks up to shoulder, two clinic visits with an overnight stay, many vet visits, medication), and ultimately, I was the one who decided to have a titer pulled.
[QUOTE=sonata;8253847]
At first my mare was just antsy getting her feet trimmed. 6 or 7 weeks later, she was kicking my farrier, leaping foreward everytime he picked up a foot, rearing and trying to bite me. Had her tested through Cornell and found that she was chronic. 10 days on Doxie and my mare was back to sleeping when her feet were trimmed. She was on Doxie for a total of 30 days. 2 years later, she still dozes off when feet are being done[/QUOTE]
I know this is an old post, but this is EXACTLY what my horse is doing. Vet suspects Lyme as xrays have come back clean.
I started a post seeking other’s experiences with this type of sudden reaction to the farrier, while waiting for the vet tests to be done, and had some extremely negative people responding. I’m just glad to see that mine/my vet’s instincts are probably right about it being active Lyme and this violent reaction to the farrier a result of discomfort. Test should be back tomorrow!
Thank you!
Suddenly lame in the front.
Like, second step on the concrete aisle out of the stall, I knew something was wrong by the sound of how he made that step.
He has high ringbone in that ankle… it appears the Lyme exacerbated that.
Luckily, as that was the only symptom.
It was only by chance he was tested, the Vet was coming and I had said to pull a lyme, but then had wanted to tell BM not to… but missed her and she had them pull it. Thankfully.
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Wow - just got my horse’s results and he’s the low end of high for the C protein (early disease). Was acting ulcer-y, I thought - spooky, girthy, then got the hyperesthesia around his neck and chest, and tried to bite the farrier! I’ve had issues in the fall/winter in the past and treated for ulcers, and maybe it was ulcers, because he seemed better (BPR), but now I wonder - has he had lyme before? He didn’t test positive for the F protein (chronic) or A (past exposure). Just weird, but hoping the initial doxy fixes him right up! Did most of you just stop working your lyme horse, or just base it on behavior?
