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HorseAdvice.com » Diseases of Horses » Colic, Diarrhea, GI Tract » Mouth, Esophagus, and Liver » Liver Disease and Failure »
  Discussion on Leptospirosis
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Posted on Tuesday, May 7, 2002 - 5:11 pm:

We have a foal who is approximately 1 month old. Approximately 8 days ago she was in her stall and couldn't get up. We were able to stand her up and she immediately went over to the mare and nursed. We had the vet look at her and noticed she was very dehydrated. We began fluid treatments and administered 3 cc Naxcel 2x daily along with an average of 3-4 l/day of saline. We continued this for a week with the vet looking in very frequently, Four days into this we also did a plasma transfusion along with the fluids. She hasn't gotten better and has lost approx 40lbs since it started (she now weighs 60#) We ended up taking the foal to Cornell University yesterday and they are continuing treatment. The injected a radio nuclide into her rectal artery to confirm there are no schunts. There are none. The next item that comes up on the radar screen is the possibility of Lepto. The reason this comes up is that in January we had another mare that we had purchased lose a foal and the autopsy that was performed picked up lepto in the liver. This mare was in close proximity of the other mare and often turned out with her. Cornell will be treating the foal with tetracycline starting tomorrow and will test the mare for Lepto also. If Lepto is left undiagnosed and untreated in a mare, can the bacteria live in that mare for an extended period without showing outward signs and be continually passed on to the fetus leading to abortion and/or liver problems in foals? If you treat it in the mare, is there still a chance that it will be passed on to the fetus? Can Lepto cause non repairable liver damage? How would you confirm lepto in a foal, the effectiveness of the treatment, and whether or not permanent damage has or is occuring? What other types of diseases or bacteria could exhibit the same types of symptons? What types of questions or test results should I ask my vet for?
Thank you for your help?

Posted on Tuesday, May 7, 2002 - 5:16 pm:

One other item, I read in one of your topics of discussion that a lady was concerned that her horse had been misdiagnosed with liver failure and you had asked her if the horse had been given Tetanus Antitoxin any time recently. She responded no but I was curious why you asked. The foal discussed in our previous email was given Tetanus Antitoxin (Fort Dodge) when she was born. Are we missing something here?
Thanks again.

Posted on Wednesday, May 8, 2002 - 6:51 am:

Hello Christopher,
Most if not all of your questions on leptospirosis are answered in these two articles:
1) Equine Diseases: Colic and GI Diseases: Mouth, Esophagus, and Liver: Liver Disease and Failure (article associated with this forum)
2) Equine Diseases: Reproductive Diseases: Problems Keeping Mares Pregnant: Leptospirosis & Abortion
If after reading these articles you still have questions post them here.
DrO
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