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  Discussion on Muscle pain in lower back
Author Message
Member:
frances

Posted on Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - 8:46 am:

My 25-year old mare was diagnosed with severe pain in her lower back on Sunday. Blood was taken and the results that were outside the normal range were:

glucose 49 (normal 50-100mg%)
SGOT 323 (normal <275 U/L)
CPK 575 (normal <300 U/L)
calcium 12 (normal 9-11.6 mg%)
phosphorus 2.2 (normal 2.5-4.5 mg%)
magnesium 1.4 (normal 1.70-2.19 mg%)

The vet has told me to give electrolytes every day (2 oz divided between meals) and 1 gm Bute every OTHER day. She's to be handwalked morning and evening and can go out in a small paddock but only for 2 - 3 hours.

Could you please comment on the severity or otherwise of the results, and whether they indicate tying up or trauma, acute or chronic?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, May 13, 2011 - 7:16 pm:

Hello LL,
These muscle enzyme levels would be considered mild changes like may be associate with exercise. They are not diagnostic of a acute severe muscle disease with muscle cell damage. Milder muscle spasms can occur without remarkable cell damage but may appear quite painful. You can read about the interpretation of these enzymes in detail in the article associate with this area under the Diagnosis Topic and Muscle Enzyme subtopic.
DrO
Member:
frances

Posted on Thursday, May 26, 2011 - 6:18 am:

Many thanks DrO, that's very helpful.

We're now down to 1gm Bute every 3rd day; strangely enough she seems to move best on the morning of that last 3rd day (although she doesn't get the Bute until later, in the evening). Can it take that long for Bute to reach its peak in an elderly horse?

We're continuing the above dose of electrolytes per the vet, and I've noticed recently that my horse tries to stop and eat clay or dirt from the arena wall, which is solid rock on two sides. She also wants to pull out and consume some roots growing out of the rock, and a wooden jump. This is new behaviour. Should I be concerned that there's a lack of mineral balance due to the electrolytes? (I would expect them to have the opposite effect.)

One other question regarding the electrolytes: although I've always read that they make horses drink more, mine is drinking less - which actually makes sense to me, if they are helping her to retain more water. Is that in fact the explanation?

Thanks again for all your help.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, May 26, 2011 - 6:57 am:

The levels of phenylbutazone in the blood and the tissues would be going down by the third day post treatment. I don't know of a mechanism by which increasing the electrolyte intake would result in decrease water consumption. In both of these cases I think there are other factors at work than the ones you suggest.
DrO
Member:
frances

Posted on Thursday, May 26, 2011 - 10:12 am:

Hmmm, thank you. Yes, indeed, the third day should be the least comfortable ... but it isn't. As you say, there must be a reason I haven't thought of...

Any thoughts on the sudden interest in eating earth etc? I suppose it could just be that I'm pretty much letting her saunter along at her own pace so she takes the opportunity to investigate stuff, rather than a mineral imbalance?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, May 27, 2011 - 12:44 pm:

Hello LL,
We have an article that covers the most common causes of pica at HorseAdvice.com » Horse Care » Equine Nutrition, Horse Feeds, Feeding » Pica: Horses Eating Inappropriate Materials. Also look at todays discussions, jones has recently found that adding copper to his horses diet helped. However this is just one case be sure to consider all the possibilities in the article before instituting changes.
DrO
Member:
frances

Posted on Friday, May 27, 2011 - 1:46 pm:

Thank you, will do.
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