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HorseAdvice.com » Diseases of Horses » Nervous System » Seizures & Fainting » Narcolepsy, Cataplexy, and Fainting »
  Discussion on Narcolepsy
Author Message

Posted on Wednesday, Mar 13, 2002 - 5:39 pm:

Hi,
I've read your article on nacrolepsy, my horse seems to show some of the signs like, looking very sleepy when tied up and adopting a splayed leg stance and after awhile her knees seem to buckle and she startles herself awake. But the biggest problem seems to be in her paddock, she has chronic sores on the front of her fetlocks, apparently from falling over, but no-one has ever witnessed her fall. Would it be normal for a narcoleptic horse to fall in the paddock? Has anyone experienced anything like this? I have consulted 2 vets without any advice from either.

Posted on Thursday, Mar 14, 2002 - 7:30 am:

These sores are probably not caused by falling but some habit she has, possibly the way she lays on the ground or gets up or from pawing at fences. If the sores are actually now scars they may represent something she used to do and may not do now. If she "freshens" these wounds periodically, bandages, boots, and a softer ground may all be part of the fix.
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Mar 14, 2002 - 8:29 am:

Hi, wasn't there a thread not so long ago very much like this and it turned out the horse was squatting down to get its mouth under the fence to eat the grass on the other side. In the process it was scuffing the fronts of its fetlocks.

Posted on Thursday, Mar 14, 2002 - 1:45 pm:

Hi - It was me, talking about my mare. I saw her getting down onto her fetlocks and reaching under the fence. All winter long, with no green grass to tempt her, her fetlocks have been fine. She is not a show horse, so it does not matter that much to me, except for the fact that any vet (if I ever had to sell her), would take it as a sure sign of narcolepsy. This spring I am going to try and keep the tempting green grass away from the fence and see if that helps.
Lilo and Moonlight

Posted on Thursday, Mar 14, 2002 - 8:19 pm:

I am not sure where this idea of wounds/scars on the front of the fetlocks is a sure sign of narcolepsy but the 3 horses in my practice with it do not have such wounds. They tend to go down kind of quiet.
DrO

Posted on Monday, Mar 18, 2002 - 1:40 pm:

Thanks, Dr. O -
I don't know where the idea comes from, but one of my vets (the junior partner), always brings it up if he sees her when she has just banged herself up.
Lilo

Posted on Monday, Mar 18, 2002 - 4:43 pm:

Thanks to everyone for the advise, I have modified some boots to put on her fetlocks to see if this stops the sores being reopened. It's sometimes a comfort to hear you are not the only one with a certain problem. The two vets I consulted here just said they had never seen anything like it and that I had a very weird horse. Not something that owners really like to hear.
Christine
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