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  Discussion on What do these symptoms suggest
Author Message
New Member:
tadargh

Posted on Thursday, Mar 24, 2011 - 6:55 am:

Hello my beautiful Clydesdale x QH mare has been diagnosed as mildly ataxic by one vet ( a rather perfunctory chiropractic diagnosis) and another vet after examination said no, though something is going on...

Symptoms are:

Camps out with hind legs and sometimes fore
Frequently twists her hind hooves at weird angles, both to the right or the left, or like a ballerina both together pointing outwards
Occasionally stands on herself when at rest
Apparently has some rhs muscle atrophy
Careful placement of hind hooves
Quite a weak tail when pulled
Can be a klutz

She is on the EPSM diet and has passed the more common neuro physical tests ( but the vet was new at them)

I am at my wits end - I have one vet saying she is a liability to ride and the other vet thinks she is fine to ride but I know something is not right and I am so worried about her :-(

Desperate for advice

Thanks
Tad
Member:
mrose

Posted on Thursday, Mar 24, 2011 - 1:29 pm:

Personally, if she has any balance issues at all, I wouldn't ride her as your weight or movement could throw her off balance even more. How is she on the lunge or long line?

How long has she been like this? And, did it come on gradually or all of a sudden?

There is info on neurological problems on this site if you haven't read it already. It could help you figure out what's going on I think. Go to the side bar and click on "diseases" then "neurological" and you'll see a list of articles that might be helpful.
New Member:
tadargh

Posted on Thursday, Mar 24, 2011 - 4:26 pm:

she has had it awhile, camped out since a bub apparently.
She is fine on a lunge.

I guess I would like to know if people see this list of symptoms and can identify a similar experience themselves.

eg. Mild Wobblers synDrOme

Thanks :-)
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Mar 25, 2011 - 6:57 pm:

Welcome Tad,
I think you will solve your problem faster and with more confidence it you first determine whether ataxia is truly present then pursuing a diagnosis. Yes some of your symptoms do sound like ataxia but I wonder if they are not a bit overstated since there appears to be no problems on lunge and on at least one veterinary exam no problem was found. If found to be truly ataxic note that these symptoms are fairly general and not diagnostic for a particular cause. There are some things which might help though, for more on this see the article associated with this discussion area.

What was the nature of the chiropractic exam and what were the findings?
DrO
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