This is an archived Horseadvice.com Discussion. The parent article and menus are available on the navigation menu below:
HorseAdvice.com » Diseases of Horses » Colic, Diarrhea, GI Tract » Diarrhea in Horses » Diarrhea an Overview »
  Discussion on Diarrhea, ulcer, kidney failure
Author Message
Member:
Kchariot

Posted on Sunday, Apr 24, 2005 - 7:00 pm:

Dear Dr. O:

My 2 year old QH had diarrhea and cramping Monday morning. She was given a shot of bannamine and the vet came out. He took a stool and blood sample. He was to come back at noon to tube her and give her (I'm sorry I don't remember the name of the stuff)some sponge solution.

The vet called to say the blood and stool samples were good.

He did not return at noon and by 3:00 my horse was once again in pain. She was given another shot of bannamine. The vet came back and put the sponge stuff in her. He said to give her another shot of bannamne at 10:00. He also left some antibiotics.

Tuesday morning the vet came back to give her another sponge treatment. He was to come back that evening and give another one. Tuesday afternoon she was in pain and another shot of bannamine was administered.

The vet came back Tuesday night and did the last sponge treatment. He said to give the horse another bannamine shot at 10:00.

Wednesday morning the horse was in pain once again. The diarrhea was still going on. But, now the horse had stopped eating and was stretched out in pain. She got another shot of bannamine, but it was of no use whatsoever.

My horse went to the vet's facility. They ran bloodwork again and this time found she only had 25% kidney function. They said she had an ulcer and kindey disease. the vet said they would hydrate her with 5 gallons of fluid and if the kidney problem was related to the bannamine injections the kidney function should improve by Thursday morning.

The ulcer improved, the diarrhea improved, the kidneys didn't. They just got worse. I lost my sweet, precious, baby girl Thursday night.

Dr.O, I just want to know.... if the diarrhea, as our vet believes, was caused by a virus... did the bannamine cause the ulcer and kidney failure... or could the virus have caused that as well? I think she received at least 6 injections in 2 days.

Thanks.
Member:
Sctamaus

Posted on Sunday, Apr 24, 2005 - 9:46 pm:

Kathy,
I'm so sorry for your loss. Too many of us here know the pain you are going through.
You have my deepest sympathy.
Cheryl
Member:
Shirl

Posted on Sunday, Apr 24, 2005 - 10:59 pm:

Kathy, I too send my condolences and prayers to you in your time of loss.

Shirl
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Apr 25, 2005 - 7:03 am:

My condolences Kathy. If I read your post correctly your horse received 3 injections of Banamine on Mon, 2 on Tue, and 1 on Wed. Though this exceeds the recommended dosage it does not exceed what is generally thought of as toxic. Generally a one time 5X dose is not considered toxic and in one experiement where 5 horses were given 3 X the daily dose for 13 days only one horse had signs of kidney damage and I don't believe it was life threatening. Concurrent dehydration could potentiate the toxicity on the one hand and on the other Banamine helps prevent some of the deleterious effects of endotoxemia often associated with infectious diarrheas. If you do a necropsy, the type lesions in kidney will help determine whether the flunixin was responsible or not.
DrO
Member:
Dyduroc

Posted on Monday, Apr 25, 2005 - 2:59 pm:

Kathy, I was very sorry to read about your loss. Please accept my condolences.
DYD
Member:
Lilo

Posted on Monday, Apr 25, 2005 - 5:32 pm:

Kathy,
So sorry about your loss.
With deepest sympathy,
Lilo
Member:
Redalert

Posted on Monday, Apr 25, 2005 - 6:30 pm:

Kathy
I, too, am very sorry to hear about all that you are going through. It seems like it all happenned so fast to you and your young girl!
Nancy
Member:
Mrose

Posted on Monday, Apr 25, 2005 - 9:29 pm:

Kathy, I'm so sorry you lost your dear mare. I also lost a wonderful mare just a couple of weeks ago, so understand your feelings. It is especially destressing if you don't know the real cause, or worse, are concerned you didn't do something right or did something wrong. You did what you could for your mare, poor thing. Sometimes, it seems we just can't do much.

If you have a necropsy done, please let us know the results.
Member:
Warwick

Posted on Tuesday, Apr 26, 2005 - 11:30 am:

Very sorry to hear about your loss, Kathy.

Thinking of you.
Sue
Member:
Kchariot

Posted on Saturday, Apr 30, 2005 - 9:31 am:

Thank you all for your kind words. I had my girl cremated. She was my first horse and we decided we wanted to keep her with us always.

It seems the diarrhea was caused by a virus. We just had no idea how serious it could become in such a short amount of time. We are still in shock.

"Kappi" had a shoulder injury last October and she became a Sweeny Shouldered horse. She had improved so much. Initially going from a 3 legged horse to learning how to compensate for the lack of muscles. A month ago she had been given back her full run and only the day before the diarrhea she had been let out in the pasture for the first time in 6 months.

We had thought maybe the grass from the pasture was the culprit. She was only out there for about half an hour. She was in heat and was far more interested in the geldings than eating. I didn't see her eat more than 3 mouthfuls of grass.

I guess we'll just never know.
Member:
Skeller

Posted on Saturday, Apr 30, 2005 - 10:03 pm:

Kathy it sounds like you've definitely provided Kappi with a lot of love and care. It is amazing how short of a time span the it took for the virus but you were very quick to react. I know Kappi will have a special place in Horse Heaven
Member:
Sunny66

Posted on Sunday, May 1, 2005 - 9:59 am:

I'm so sorry Kathy for your loss.

(((cyber hugs))) to you.
Member:
Qh4me

Posted on Monday, May 2, 2005 - 4:33 pm:

Hi Kathy,

My condolances to you. I know what your are going through. I lost a mare in February - 16 hours after she got diarrhea. Healthy one minute and the next, she was down. I had a necropsy done and it came back as Colitis X. Which I believe is what they label any unknown cause of Diarrhea. Still to this day we have no idea what caused it. But the report did mention ulcers as well, which the vet said were likely brought on due to the stress of the bacteria/diarhea.

Was it BioSponge that he administered?

Again, my heartfelt sympathy to you.

Shawna
Member:
Kchariot

Posted on Tuesday, May 3, 2005 - 1:58 pm:

Shawna,

Yes, it was BioSponge on Monday. We added the Ulcerguard with it Wednesday morning. We did a lot of other treatments, but we couldn't get the kidneys functioning again. They just got worse.

I have a picture of Kappi in the pasture on Sunday. Happy and healthy, just like your girl. I am grateful she was able to enjoy it. She loved the pasture more than any of the other horses.

I am sorry you didn't get a better explaination of what happened with your mare from the necropsy. Had her kidneys also shut down?

This website has been a lifeline. It provides the latest information for just about everything,a ton of experience, lots of support and kindness.

You have my sympathy for your loss, too. It sure is heartbreaking.

Kindest regards,
Kathy
Member:
Mrose

Posted on Tuesday, May 3, 2005 - 2:17 pm:

It seems once the kidneys are involved it is very hard for the horse to recover. Several yrs. ago we also lost a mare basically to kidney failure. She had just been off her feed and kind of depressed. She was an older mare (over 25) Although we had her to the vet right away, We never did find out what was wrong really. She just went down hill really fast. Her blood work indicated her kidneys were involved, but don't know what else was wrong. It's so hard to loose them. No matter how many years you've had horses or how many you have at one time, each one is special and is sorely missed for a long time after they are gone.
Home Page | Top of Page | Join Us!
Horseadvice.com is a BBB Accredited Business. Click for the BBB Business Review of this Horse Training in Stokesdale NC