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

Posted on Monday, Oct 7, 2002 - 8:50 am:

After reading here, I unfortunately think my horse has narcolepsy. After a work out or in between classes at a show he will DrOp his head very low, start to sway and DrOp his fetlock. Yesturday we were at a show and he would start to move towards repeating this anytime my daughter would stop and let him relax. We seem to be able to stop these from coming on to the next degree by giving him a leg or touching the bit. Does this seem odd he would repeat it everytime he is at rest at a show? I have seen him do this only a couple times in the 3 years I have owned him in his stall. In his stall he will actually lean way back and then catch himself. He does have the raw open sores on his fetlocks year round like one of the posts talked about. I am having blood work done with a epm so when they return I can rule things out. My vet said he really had never seen a horse with narcolepsy so I am not able to rely on his experience but atleast I will rule out other things with the blood work.
My main question is if he has narcolepsy how safe is he for my daughter to ride. Can we keep avoiding a deep sleep while she is riding by keeping him working or alert? I have never seen him go completely down although last week while in showmanship he looked like he was asking to go down to his knee.
J
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Oct 7, 2002 - 7:26 pm:

Hello Janelle,
My experience has been these horses do not have a seizure under saddle and they are arousable, but it represents an extra risk that is difficult to quantify.
Member:
Monkey

Posted on Tuesday, Oct 15, 2002 - 10:27 pm:

Just an update on the blood work. All came out fine. He is EPM positive from his blood test but from what I am hearing this really doesn't amount to much since many horses will test positive and not be affected. So I guess I am back to not really knowing what to do again. I am told of a treatment involving a series of shots in a 5 day period that a vet has come up with and is having success. My thought is to treat him for EPM
just to see if his narcolepsy improves. If not then I will just assume he has narcolepsy alone.
My other choice is to have the spinal fluid drawn and see if he actually has EPM. What is your suggestion. Still I am not finding alot of experience in the area. Do you think there is a connection with EPM and narcolepsy. I read the aaep online and they list narcolepsy as a symptom.
Thank you for your help.
J
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Oct 16, 2002 - 7:52 am:

What is in the 5 day shot Janelle?

Despite the AAEP's information I can find no published case reports where narcolepsy onset was associated with EPM and as common as narcolepsy is it would surprise me if there have not been horses with both symptoms. The nonprogressive nature of your problem over a 3 year period strongly argue against a infection so this does not seem likely but I cannot say the chance is zero. If it were my horse and had nonprogressive classic symptoms of narcolepsy, I would not treat.
DrO
Member:
Monkey

Posted on Thursday, Oct 17, 2002 - 2:41 am:

Good question on the make up of the shots. The info came from a big name in the horse business. I figured these shots were standard for treatment but cannot find any info anywhere backing up such a short program. I asked for info from clinic but it sounds like a "secret formula" (red flag)
Do you really feel narcolepsy is common? Do you find it odd that my horse does this everytime he is at an show and is allowed to rest in between classes. I have only seen him do this twice by himself in his stall at home and he stands in there all day. I wonder since he has been a show horse all his life he knows it's going to be a long day and allows himself to relax out of boredom which ends up going into this weaving buckling thing. I take it I should give up on the EPM as a probable case of this thing and deal with the narcolepsy alone.
Thank you.
J
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Oct 17, 2002 - 12:17 pm:

In twenty years of practice I have seen 3 very well documented cases in my own practice. Odd yes but consistant with what we know about narcolepsy.
DrO
Member:
Paul303

Posted on Thursday, Oct 17, 2002 - 11:20 pm:

Dr.O, has a CNS stimulant ever been used in horses? Or is this type of problem so rare that it doesn't warrent the use?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Oct 18, 2002 - 9:39 am:

The problem is not rarity of tjhe disease but costs and availability. Last time I looked either the drug was difficult to procure and troublesome to maintain (Class 2 narcotic), expensive, or there were serious side effects. There has been a bit of recent explosion of new drugs for this condition, Modafinil and sodium oxybate have been developed and approved specifically for the indication of narcolepsy however they to suffer from some of the problems listed above plus have not been tested in horses.
DrO
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