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  Discussion on Diagnosing possible poisoning
Author Message
Member:
Tiani

Posted on Tuesday, Sep 21, 2004 - 1:41 pm:

Have a developing situation here in my state, which has resulted in 3 horse deaths (that we know about so far). The symptoms are vague and can be ascribed to other things, but the basics are (in the four cases known anyhow)

Occasional bouts, very mild diarrhea (not cow patty, just wetter than usual) lasting perhaps a day or two
Occasional camped under stance in the rear, lasting only a day or so
Excessive consumption of trace mineral blocks
Gradual loss of mane and tail, coupled with developing seborrhea which can be widespread across the body
Occasionally moving with head abnormally low (like exhausted?)
Gradual loss of condition

The condition/disease/poisoning or whatever it is, leads to the following results:

Colic like symptoms which rapidly become severe, along with severe diarrhea. Fluid support via IV does not rectify this. Developing fever (at the end). Heart rate over 120 bpm, not able to control with meds. Extreme pain in abdomen, but no digital pulse. Within maybe 48 hours, the digestive tract shuts down, the horse becomes septic and shocky, and dies (or is euthanized). WBC is very very low, almost non existant. Liver and kidney function are normal until nearly the time of death.

Upon necropsy the digestive tract is found to have these cottage cheesy looking nodules/tumors/ulcers, which disintegrate upon touch. One vet concluded colitis x., cause unknown. All other internal organs appear normal tho.

What poisoning could cause such an ulcerative condition?

These symptoms presented for nearly a two year span, and was ONLY put together because one person lost two horses to what appears to be the same thing. There is a mare also showing the coat condition and stance right now, but basically all the vets are plain stumped. It has been suggested to me that arsenic might be the culprit....there is arsenic in some wells locally and that is something I plan to persue.

All horses afflicted had premium diets, regular exercise, and were maintained regularly as far as deworming and farrier care goes. Altho 3 of the horses were at the same facility almost 3 years ago, no other horses have shown any symptoms. There is nothing in common in the way of feedstuffs between the four.
Member:
Traveler

Posted on Tuesday, Sep 21, 2004 - 2:02 pm:

I'm really sorry to hear about this but it stikes my interest. What state are you in? What are the soil conditions? Are they pastured? What kind of forage do they get?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Sep 21, 2004 - 11:25 pm:

Serious disease of the bowel is a common event in the horse and there is nothing in your post that really allows us to diagnose a particular disease. In each case a thorough history, review of clinical presentation and treatment, and a review of the pathology report would be needed. Unless there is some close relation between these horses, it very well could be these are unrelated.
DrO
Member:
Classy

Posted on Monday, Jul 11, 2005 - 4:39 pm:

I have an ongoing situation with my gelding Classy. On May 22, 05, Classy had surgery for colic. He was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and The strictured area was resected. His recovery has been slow. He spent a total of four weeks at WSU. I have all the details of the surgery but don't know just how much information you need at this time. What I am hoping to find are others that have had horses with this problem and how they deal with it. Will my horse have a normal life? I continue to give him around the clock care. He continues to colic but not as sever as it once was. I am soaking all his food. Equine Sr. was recommended along with pasture. The diarrhea continues. He has gained a substantial amount of weight since surgery but I know we are not out of the woods yet. I have had a very difficult time finding information on this decease. Any help will be so very much appreciated. Thank you, Lynn
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 12, 2005 - 11:08 am:

The fact that your horse is gaining weight is very encouraging Lynn but there are so many individual factors that it is very hard to generalize from surgery to surgery: what does the surgeon say and how much and what part of the bowel was removed.

You should take this and repost your original post along with the details in the colic section, starting your own discussion. We don't have a topic specifically on ulcerative colitis but this page is about surgical conditions of the large bowel: Equine Diseases » Colic and GI Diseases » Colic in Horses » Large Colon Torsion, Displacement, and Cecal Intusseption. You will find the new discussion button at the bottom of the page under the titles to the other discussions, some of which may apply to your situation.
DrO
New Member:
Mlgreen

Posted on Wednesday, Nov 1, 2006 - 5:54 am:

I have a 3yr.old gelding that has been sick for almost 4 weeks. He started out with colic like symptoms - but my vet did not think he was colicky. He thought the horse ate mushrooms. His temperature fluctuated between 99.5-102.5 the first week with his heart rate at the highest of 55 bpm. At this point I would give him a shot of banamine. He also showed signs of pain by pawing, lifting his front legs up towards his belly than pawing in the air. He would then put his foot down and lower his head and stretch out his front leg as if to alleviate his discomfort. He would lay down a lot and stay down for some time than get back up and start all over again with the pawing etc. The Banamine helped a lot and eased his discomfort for about 8-10 hours. The first week he was off his feed, but did drink water. We also gave him 5 days of antibiotics. The second week was about the same except he was eating grass hay and drinking water. . My vet did do a blood test the 2nd week and it showed that his liver and kidney were normal. He was still laying down a lot and showing signs of pain. We were still using some Banamine then we changed to 1 tablet of Bute. The Bute helped some, but not as well. By the third week he was showing signs of getting better – I would say 50% better. I have continued to give him 1 tablet bute almost every evening. This is going on the 4th week and during the day he is actually getting around much better and I have turned him out with the other horses. He is only showing discomfort at night now, so I have to continue to bute him. I am concerned about the amount he is getting. When he lays down to sleep, he lays all the way down and at times in the middle of the night he won’t even acknowledge that you are there. We have to pat him to make him respond. He seems a little disorientated after this. Needless to say, I haven’t gotten much sleep in the past 4 weeks.
Member:
Mcbizz

Posted on Wednesday, Nov 1, 2006 - 2:19 pm:

Hello, Mary...My Arabian gelding had a similar condition as you are describing about six weeks ago. On again, off again colic signs and general unwellness. My vet came out, checked him for all signs, gave him a shot of banamine and took blood work. Put him on antibiotics (SMZ) for seven days. The bloodwork showed extreme anemia and signs of an internal infection. Scoping for ulcers would have been next had he not improved, which he did. He is now doing well so we did not do the scope. He has a 4/5 grade heart murmur, so we are doing another blood test. This site offers very good information on ulcers and heart murmurs, one of the reasons I spotted it...I wanted more info. I hope your gelding has improved; if not, I would pursue other tests with my vet.
New Member:
Mlgreen

Posted on Wednesday, Nov 1, 2006 - 5:51 pm:

Unfortunately the lack of vets in our area is a HUGE problem. The one we have is not equipped to do too many tests and the closest is 4 hours away. I need to trailer to another area, but at first was afraid that the horse would not make it. I will give the vet 4 hours away another call (called earlier) and see if I can bring him to do more tests. If you know any vets who would like to move to Alaska on the Kenai Peninsula send them our way!!
Member:
Mcbizz

Posted on Wednesday, Nov 1, 2006 - 6:22 pm:

Mary, my heart goes out to you! It is so hard to deal with that sort of thing. How are his stools? Is he urinating? My gelding produced hard, small biscuits during all this. His are usually big and moist. He did not run a temp at all. He seemed repulsed by hay and water, almost like he had trouble swallowing. But he immediately ate warm bran mash with some molasses after the banamine shot. Because of the anemia, I increased the alfalfa with the Timothy.
As I said, he is currently looking great and has gained weight. If it was an ulcer problem, my vet said it must not be that bad. I wish I could loan him to you...he is excellent.
I would like to know how this turns out for you.
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