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  Discussion on Help for a 16 month colt - wobblers?
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Member:
alisa

Posted on Monday, Sep 1, 2008 - 5:02 pm:

Hello,

The owner of the ranch I have my horses at just took a colt back that he had sold. I don't know how long the previous owners had him, I don't believe it would have been very long - a couple of months? They had a vet check due to a clicking noise that showed up in the colts neck.

This is what the vet said:

Today (8/29) I examined a 2007 app gelding named "Leo" owned by XXX. He has been having crepitus/popping noise in his cervical spine. On exam he is reluctant to flex at the poll and when you do there is a noticable crepitus of the spine. His neck appears thicker at this area also. Neurologic exam showed mild deficets in all four limbs. When I crossed his legs he is slow to replace them. He is showing weakness when I pull his tail to the sidde walking. We took radiographs and can see misalignment of C1-C2. There also appears to be some degenerative change of C1 C2 C3 (osteoarthritus). From the exam and findings today I would have to give him a very guarded prognosis for being a riding horse and would likely be unsafe to ride. His condition may get worse with time, however if the vertebrae would stablize he could see him stay the same but have reduced flexiblity and range of motion.

Another vet had also done a brief exam (8/26) Palpable crepitus atlantis-occepetal area with lateral neck flexion.

Above is all the best I could transcribe - if there are spelling errors forgive me.

The colt was born in April 07, a very pretty lepoard app. The ranch owner says you can notice the click noise and the colt holds his head high but has no problem grazing. His plans are to keep him out to pasture - there really is only pastures and shelters at his place. He isn't really planning to do anything but wait and see - hoping that the vertebrae fuse and/or stablise.

I had done a little reading last night on this site and had hoped we could try the pace diet (?) - I didn't realize the colt was 16 months old. Should I try anyway? I happen to have 50 pounds of calcium/phosporus mix - this is what the label says - B and B brand 21% premium monocalc phosplate phosphous and calcium 21-24 % and Florene .04%

I really don't think the ranch owner would consider surgery but I would certainly advocate it if that is what was recommended.

I'm just trying to help this poor little colt - any suggestions?

Thanks -
Alisa
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Sep 2, 2008 - 8:51 am:

Hello Alisa,
Sorry to hear about the colt. The diet is not likely help horses with of this age or horses with remarkable radiographic abnormalities. It is not clear from your post how bad the changes are. Your best next step is referring the radiographs to a orthopedic specialist for a second opinion and advice on the next best step.
DrO
Member:
alisa

Posted on Thursday, Sep 18, 2008 - 10:47 pm:

Hello - an update and some questions on Leo the colt.

He continues to be fine in the pasture with some of my horses. He is the bottom of the herd but he has a mild temperament and doesn't seem bothered by his position and the other horses are not bullies. So, he is safe there and I feed him extra rations when I feed the others but I put Aniflex in it too (Contains 5000 mg Glucosamine per oz. Contains MSM, Yucca and Bioflavonoids Helps relieve pain and heal damaged connective tissue Provides nutrients (glucosamine and antioxidants) which build healthy joints and control inflammation.)

I don't know what more I can do - but I feel more should be done - I had my vet look at the horse on Monday when he was out - and he again said he doesn't believe it is wobblers. I have asked him to try and get the x-rays that the previous owners had taken - he was the vet who referred them to the other vets (the ones that did a more through exam). I have not heard back from him yet regarding this.

I asked if the best we could hope for is his neck bones fusing - pretty much that is what he thought. He felt there was a fairly good chance of this. But now, when I look at the detail of the vets that did the x-rays - I am looking at these two parts:

"We took radiographs and can see misalignment of C1-C2. There also appears to be some degenerative change of C1 C2 C3 (osteoarthritus)." ...

"His condition may get worse with time, however if the vertebrae would stabilize he could see him stay the same but have reduced flexibility and range of motion."

They call it misalignment - and if it stabilized he could be in pretty good shape (- maybe a trail horse?).

He is not even two yet - still growing. What are some recommendations for him? Should he see a Chiropractor? Have a chemical fusion done? He does not seem to be in pain, eats pasture with no problem. He is a bit afraid of me, but maybe that's normal - with patience he eventually comes over. I believe he will get over that pretty soon.

Any suggestions?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Sep 19, 2008 - 8:18 am:

Hello Alisa,
We do not have enough information to answer your questions so I will repeat my last suggestion: "Your best next step is referring the radiographs to a orthopedic specialist for a second opinion and advice on the next best step". If the radiographs cannot be obtained refer the foal for evaluation.
DrO
Member:
ajudson1

Posted on Friday, Sep 19, 2008 - 8:56 am:

Alisa,

No better advice than DrO's but wanted to make the comment that I've used both Aniflex (GL?) and Aniflex Complete and have seen better results with the Aniflex Complete. I'd certainly give him the best nutrition I could while waiting to find out what the next best step is.
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