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  Discussion on Distinct Signs of Ataxia No Diagnosis - Anyone with simmilar experience?
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New Member:
thos100

Posted on Monday, Apr 13, 2009 - 7:13 am:

I have a 20 year old Thoroughbred who is exhibiting distinct signs of ataxia in his hind limbs. Regrettably, know one seems able to give a clear diagnosis. I would be interested in whether others have had similar experiences and what they found.

This all began as my horse, King George first had a cough that was only intermittently discernable at rest, but at work became more noticeable. We kept him in low intensity work and ran a course of antibiotics, and then ultimately steroids. However, when back to work, as the workout became more intense, the cough came back. I sent him to the Equine Medical Clinic. They scoped him, ran blood work, and xrayed his lungs and did ultrasound. He had four strains of bacterial, two anaerobic. He was put on IV antibiotics for about a week and then ran a course of antibiotics for three more weeks. After the first week at the Clinic I brought him home. He was turned out in the field with the usual horses.

Two days later, when they were bringing him in, he was walking like he was drunk, nearly missing the barn door. Not knowing what the issue was and out of concern that if he went down we might not get him back up, I sent him back to the clinic. The ataxia actually got better after he was trailored to the clinic but still quite clearly off. They ran tests all coming back negative for EPM (spinal tap with clear cytology)and negative for herpies. They did neck xrays and found no issues beyond what you might expect for a 20 yr old. Actually, the xrays looked quite good.

So we were sent home with no diagnosis, other than theories. The idea of a myelogram was put forth but caution was advised as the anesthesia is said to be riskier with older horses,especially those dealing with a neurological disorder.

At first I just walked him and kept him to a round pen. Over the last 3 -4 weeks I have been working him inhand with my trainer. We've seen mixed results. He seems to get better, and then maybe there's a set back. He is mostly bright eyed but periodically appears depressed.

I read the section on diagnosis and specifically he seems to fit the lumbar 3,5 lesion category. Physical symptoms are: moving straight: hind left steps forward in the middle and slightly rolls-out as the hind right steps next to the track of the left. He tends to list to the left. Much weight baring on hind left. Hind right toe is periodically dragged in from outside at the stop(effectively making a crescent shaped mark in the ground). Moving in a circle to the left he movement is better, moving to the right, hind left is significantly more rolled out. Tail pull to the left shows moderate weakness, to the right, pretty strong. With inhand work, he's stopping more squarely, but still puts most weight on hind left.

I have people encouraging me to get a chiropractor, others an accupuncturist, most simply don't know. I have a hard time with "hope" as a strategy. Anyone out there with similar experience? How did you approach it? Results?
Member:
mrose

Posted on Monday, Apr 13, 2009 - 7:18 pm:

Hi Thomas. Is the clinic/vet sure the bacteria are gone? Anaerobic bacteria seem to be expecially nasty and difficult to clear up. Our mare was on IVs for a very long time; different antibiotics were tried, sometimes more than one at a time, and none of them cleared up her infection. The only thing that finally helped her was hyperbaric chamber treatments. I don't know enough about vet med to know if all anaerobic bacteria are this difficult to get rid of, but they certainly were in her case. It seems like when they "get a hold" in certain areas they are especially nasty and difficult. Is there a way to test and make sure the bacteria are cleared up? Maybe Dr.O or someone that knows more than I do will know more about the bacteria and will be able to comment.

Other than that, we are retiring our oldest stallion from showing due to problems in his hind end. Although his symptoms sound similar to your horse's, our stallion's vet feels they are caused by an old injury to the spinal column which is now "catching up" with him. Could there be a possibility of this with your guy? Vet says a strong pulling back could cause it.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009 - 5:08 am:

Hello Thomas,
on the initial evaluation you said he was walking like he was drunk. At that time did it look like the front as well as the back legs were incoordinated? Also what medications was the horse on when this happened?

The history of acute onset and gradual improvement suggests trauma but I would not have expected a normal CSF tap. Can you post the whole report?
DrO
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