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  Discussion on Sortness of breath and rapid heart rate
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New Member:
carrieb

Posted on Sunday, Oct 5, 2008 - 9:32 pm:

I have a 14yr. TB/Cylde cross last fall in late sept. he had a fear 104 the vet came he did blood work which was normal We put him on an antibiotic the vet thought he might hear a little infection in the lungs We treated him for 10 days fever gone be still not himself altogether we treated him with antibiotics for 3 10 days courses. When he would be off the antbiotics and I would ride his fever would come back every time I tried to excercise him finally after all 3 courses of antibiotics (over 2 months) he seemed better.
Everything was fine this spring I rode all spring and summer no problems but again this time the first of sept. he developed a fever 104 shortness of breath and fast heart rate (60) and he seemed achy.After one course of antibiotics he seemed fine I did some trail riding but then the shortness of breath and heart rate when he excercies lightly returned. He is over weight but that didn't seem to bother him all summer We thought acorns might be a problem last year. I repeated blood work this year

results range
Glucose 95 60-125
Urea Nitrogen 16 8-26
Creatinine 1.0 1.0-2.2
Total Protein 7.5 5.4-7.8
Albumin 3.2 2.3-3.8
Total Bilirubin 1.2 0.8-3.2
Alkaline Phosphatase 282 50-250
AST(SGOT) 322 180-380
Cholesterol 94 50-140
Calcium 11.3 10.8-13.5
Phosphorus 3.9 2.0-5.0
Sodium 134 134-146
Potassium 4.0 2.4-4.7
Chloride 99 97-108
Globulin 4.3 2.2-4.4
CPK 487 100-300
GGTP 103 1-35
LDH 394 150-450

Hemoglobin 12.8 11.0-17.0
Hematocrit 36.0 32.0-50.0
WBC 6.9 5.5-12.5
RBC 6.95 7.00-12.00
MCV 52 34-58
MCH 18.4 12-19
MCHC 35.6 31-36
Platelet Count 197 100-400
Platelet Estimate Adequate

Differential Absolute%
Neurtrophilis 3933 57 2600-7500
Bands 0 0 0-300
Lymphocytes 2346 34 1500-7700
Monocytes 345 5 0-1000
Eosinophilis 207 3 0-1000
Basophilis 69 1 0-290
This blood work was run after the horse had been on antibiotics for 5 days
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Oct 6, 2008 - 8:14 am:

Hello carolyn,
From your history and lab it is not clear what is happening with your horse including the possibility that he has contracted a viral infection twice in the last year. Influenza can have a two month recovery time during which the symptoms you describe might be observed. Though there are some mild elevations in some of the liver/muscle enzymes these are not remarkable and can be related to some drugs or exercise in the past few weeks.

The one outlier is the elevated level of GGT. This is a liver specific enzyme that does not normally become that elevated in response to normal events. However the clinical signs you are experiencing are not really consistent with a chronic liver problem. Hmmm....I think I would like to start with a more detailed explanation of the recent febrile episode and the current problem you are having.
DrO
New Member:
carrieb

Posted on Tuesday, Oct 7, 2008 - 10:31 am:

DR.O
I noticed the fever when I brought him in to eat, my horses are on pasture 24/7 I bring them in their stalls once a day to eat their grain they have free access to the barn at all times. When I brought him in I noticed the fever and that he seemed achy and note wanting to move around. I checked him over picked up all four feet he didn't seem to be sore on any one foot or leg. I started him on penicillin and called the vet, my regular vet was out of town it took 5 days to get another one to come(we don't have enough large animal vets) When the vet saw him she did blood work and put him on a sulfa antibiotic for 10 days the fever left and he seemed better ,One week after I stopped the antibiotic I took him on a light trail ride he did fine, we rode 3 more times no problems then the last time I rode he was not himself again he was tired easily and breathing shallow and quickly. We were trail riding again no trotting just a nice easy walk. My horses have all been vaccinated and wormed regularly.
I had changed feed about 2 months before this episode. Both feeds were a 12%, one was mixed at a local feed store and the one I changed to was prepackaged with less whole grains.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Oct 7, 2008 - 12:59 pm:

How high was his fever when you brought him in carolyn and when the vet finally showed up? What did the veterinarian find on auscultation of the lungs?
DrO
New Member:
carrieb

Posted on Wednesday, Oct 8, 2008 - 8:17 am:

Baby's fever was 104. when I first noticed it, by the time the vet came it was normal 100. but the night before it had been 101.2 The vet didn't hear anything in the lungs she said they were clear. When baby gets sick like this as he did last fall also the antibiotics seem to work but after he is better and I try to ride he will spike a fever 101.-102. any time he gets over heated he also sweats heavily
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Oct 9, 2008 - 8:17 am:

I don't think we can draw in conclusion about the efficacy of the antibiotics without knowing the cause, Carolyn. Undiagnosed fever is a common event in horses and 90% of the time it is one of the equine viruses and self limiting, for more on this see, Diseases of Horses » Fever of Unknown Origin. As noted above these can cause
problems.

Carolyn it is also normal for a horse's body temperature to rise with exercise: a degree or two with light exercise and 3 or 4 degrees with heavy exercise. This is not a fever this is just a normal physiological reaction to exercise, for more on this and generally evaluating your horses health overall study, Diseases of Horses » First Aid » Taking Temperature, Pulse, and Respiration. In this article you will find a discussion on the character of respiration.

Because of the overlap of normal and your description of the problems I remain uncertain we have seen anything more than a virus or two, some recovery related problems, and normal changes caused by exercise particularly with a draft cross. I would expect their temp to rise a bit more than a normal horse with exercise do to the greater muscle mass. And though we have little direct evidence on this the draft connection and stiffness should be considered for PSSM (Diseases of Horses » Lameness » Muscle & Tendon Diseases » Rhabdomyolysis: Tying Up, Shivers, PSSM, EPSM).

Does your veterinarian feel there is a chronic disease process going on and what is the plan to pursue it?
DrO
Member:
carrieb

Posted on Friday, Oct 10, 2008 - 10:44 am:

My vet doesn't have a treatment plan.
This problem only happens in the fall, spring and summer he is full of energy. As far as PSSM I have never found him with tight, hard muscles. He just can't seem to get his energy back. Am I asking to much of him if he's had an infection should I give him more time off? When we do ride it's just on trails nothing hard.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Oct 10, 2008 - 11:08 pm:

I think that is possible carolyn but it requires an examination to make the diagnosis. That does bring us back to the elevated GGT, does your vet plan to recheck that in the future?
DrO
Member:
carrieb

Posted on Saturday, Oct 11, 2008 - 8:55 pm:

The vet was not concerned about the elevation, she said the achy muscles he had with the fever could be the cause of the elevations
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Oct 12, 2008 - 8:58 am:

I do not agree with him about the cause but the lack of other signs certainly suggest it is transient and not serious. I think I would want to consider rechecking it next time convenient however.
DrO
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