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Discussion on Prognosis- Pleural Effusion
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New Member:
Dettlja
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Posted on Tuesday, Aug 2, 2005 - 12:02 pm:
I have a 5 year old 1/2 arab mare that I purchased approx 4 weeks ago. At the time she was lethargic and quite a bit underweight. We chalked it up to not enough calories. Put the mare on a better diet but after 3 weeks of good feed she was looking worse. No cough, no discharge. Just depression and weight loss. Called out vet.. temp of 104. Vet made no mention of abnormal lung sounds. Mare was placed on broad spectrum antibiotics. After 6 days no change. If anything she looked worse. Took her to the local equine hospital. Xrays were done and the entire chest cavity was white. Did an ultrasound to determine where the fluid was. Mare has severe pleural effusion. Lungs are approx 80% full of fluid and entire chest cavity is full of fluid with lots of fibrin. Decided to put in a chest tube and drain her chest. When I left the hospital they were still draining her and there was approx 1.5 gallons of drainage. Fluid was dark straw colored but didnt seem to have a foul odor or chunks or anything. We are having the fluid tested but it will take a couple days for results to come back. Vet indicated could be bacterial infection or the dreaded valley fever (fungal infection). Im just wondering if there is any hope of recovery from an infection this far gone. Vet said she was probably only a couple days from death if she had not been treated. He gave me 70% chance of recovery if its non resistant bacteria... and little to no chance if its fungal.
Dr O, Im just wondering what your experience is with this type of illness and if you have any advise or words of wisdom for me.
Thanks!!
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New Member:
Dettlja
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Posted on Tuesday, Aug 2, 2005 - 6:17 pm:
update... visited Spicy today. She seems a bit more comfortable. Vet broke fever with Bute. Turns out he drained over 11 liters of fluid from her chest. Second ultrasound this am shows small amounts of fluid remaining but not enough to warrant draining her again yet. Comments anyone?
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Wednesday, Aug 3, 2005 - 7:49 am:
Wow Jaimee,
First let me say horses can be a bit thin when bought but depression should always be a real red flag.
It is as the veterinarian said: until the cause can be determined the prognosis remains poor to guarded and once cytology and cultures are completed you will know more. I do think the 70% chance, even if a simple infection is found, is a bit optomistic but then again I cannot see the case.
DrO
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New Member:
Dettlja
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Posted on Wednesday, Aug 3, 2005 - 10:10 am:
Thanks for the reply. Some of the histology came back last night. They found Yeast in the fluid. The vet said its bad, really bad. Im going to go back to visit today and talk options. In a last ditch effort to save her I found this...
https://www.oreganol.com/reports/Antifungal%201-7b.pdf
Its a study of the effect of origanum (oregano) oil on yeast infections in mice. Very interesting study. I wonder if its worth trying. Do you have any experience with treating Valley fever or other systematic fungal or yeast infections?
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New Member:
Dettlja
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Posted on Wednesday, Aug 3, 2005 - 4:39 pm:
Sorry to be a pest.. but here is another update  Histology came back on the pleural effusion. "The slides and cytospin preperation contain a mixed suppurative to granulomatous inflammatory infiltrate. Associated with the inflamation are large numbers of yeast organisms which have a pale blue circumferential capsule and are suggestive of Coccidioides." Cytological diagnosis: Coccidioidomycosis (valley fever)
At the vets recommendation we had Spicy's suffering put to an end and humanely euthanized her today. The vet said the fungal infection was so diffused there was no hope of a recover.
Thanks for listening.
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Member:
Suzeb
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Posted on Wednesday, Aug 3, 2005 - 5:51 pm:
I am so sorry Jaimee and you are not being a pest.
I think, given the circumstances, that you did the right thing and there are a lot of us on this board that are listening.
I hope you can take some comfort in knowing that you did everything possible for Spicy to make her comfortable in her last hours. You are to be commended for that.
Peaceful thoughts for you Jaimee
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Member:
Hwood
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Posted on Wednesday, Aug 3, 2005 - 6:23 pm:
Jaimee, I empathize with you. Thankfully, you gave your mare some relief at the end. I have never heard of "valley fever." I will have to do some research about it. Every horse teaches us something new, huh? How discouraging for you. Why were the previous owners selling Spicy?
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New Member:
Dettlja
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Posted on Wednesday, Aug 3, 2005 - 6:34 pm:
If you search "Coccidioidomycosis" you will find info about what she had. Its really only found in AZ and CA. I believe her previous owners were having financial difficulties and had to sell her. Divorce or something like that. I bought her at a catalog/production sale for reining and working cow horses. She appeared healthy, just underweight. Lesson learned. No more horses from auctions.
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Member:
Warwick
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Posted on Wednesday, Aug 3, 2005 - 6:53 pm:
That's very sad to hear, Jaimee. Take comfort in knowing Spicy is no longer suffering and you did everything you could under the circumstances.
Sue
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Member:
Shirl
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Posted on Wednesday, Aug 3, 2005 - 10:09 pm:
Jaimee, So sorry for your loss. What a tragedy. She'll remain close to you in spirt,may this comfort you. Shirl
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Thursday, Aug 4, 2005 - 9:08 am:
My condolences Jaimee but at least the right choices are clear and you can be sure this is best.
DrO
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Member:
Traveler
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Posted on Thursday, Aug 4, 2005 - 10:33 am:
Dear Jaimee,
I'm so sorry for your loss. Knowing you did the right thing will help. It's always a tough decision when our brains say we must, our hearts don't want to do it. Hang in there.
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Member:
Chrism
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Posted on Thursday, Aug 4, 2005 - 11:03 am:
My condolences. You did all you could - a horse could not ask for more.
<<hugs>>
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