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  Discussion on Need help and advice
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Member:
Lasparks

Posted on Tuesday, Sep 5, 2006 - 10:37 am:

Some of you may have read about my escapades trying to "rescue" my mare and her foal from the neglect at her boarding barn. A few days after being transported back to her original barn, the mare's original owner reported that she was acting badly - in a manner that was not safe. When my husband and I went out there, she was extremely irritable. When we got her out of her stall, she was stiff in her hind legs and stocking up. We were out there for a vet appointment for our colt, so we had him examine the mare too. Upon examination, we discovered she had extreme lower back soreness, which was likely causing her sudden behavioral change. The vet prescribed bute to try and get her over the pain and inflammation. She was not safe enough for us to do much more checking without sedation (kicking, etc), so I didn't get to check her feet out or anything else. We made an appointment with Michigan State to have them both evaluated - the mare for her new symptoms and the colt for the periosteal stripping surgery.

Remember that she was very underweight when we took her there. She has been on increasing grain feed, better pasture and alfalfa hay, with good results (weight is starting to come back and colt's body condition looks great). The mare's original owner stated that this is how the mare started out before with EPM. The mare was treated several years ago for it with Marquis, with positive results and no relapses. The tests/titers were not done at that time, and the treatment was prescribed and given because the mare's symptoms matched another horse in the area who responded well to the treatment (not sure if his titers or tests were done, either). Since the vet we had out there to examine her was not sure it was EPM, the mare's original owner has contacted another vet who agrees we should start treatment for it immediately. The new vet feels that her poor treatment at the other barn resulting in her starved condition, plus the stress of foaling caused her to relapse.

Has anyone treated a nursing mare for EPM? I have looked through as much information I can find on the drugs used, and cannot find anywhere where it says it has been tested safe for a lactating mare. On this site, it does state that Marquis has not been tested on pregnant or lactating mares, but I'm not sure how old that information is. The site for Navigator does not specifically state that it isn't OK for a nursing mare, but it does say it is not for use in a horse younger than 1 year old. My colt is 7 weeks old and not ready to be weaned...
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Sep 6, 2006 - 7:40 am:

I am afraid none of these drugs have been tested in pregnant mares so their use is experimental. On the other hand I cannot find any adverse reports with their use other than those outlined in the article. Of all the drugs there is the most experience with the sulfa regimen where there are known pregnancy issues, see Treatments and Medications for Horses » Antibiotics and Antimicrobials » Trimethoprim -Sulfa for more on this.
DrO
Member:
Lasparks

Posted on Wednesday, Sep 6, 2006 - 9:31 pm:

Thanks Dr O. One of the possibilities a vet I spoke with today brought up is Lyme disease. I've read through the discussions here and think her symptoms match (back pain, shifting from limb to limb, generalized stiffness and attitude change with irritability). Could a horse with Lyme disease that was treated for EPM have the same positive results after treatment? I found out she did have a test for EPM 6 years ago that was "suspect". Not sure exactly what that means, but they went ahead and treated her for it at the time. She was symptom free for 6 years. The only other thing I can think of is that before we purchased her a year ago is she was "squealy" when she was touched. She got over that a month or so after we moved her the first time so we figured it was just a behavioral problem. Now I'm not sure?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Sep 8, 2006 - 6:53 am:

I have not seen any studies on how effective the antiprotozoal drugs are on Lymes but neither have I seen any scientific work to suggest that these type symptoms might be do to Lymes. In fact the science at this time strongly suggest that disease symptoms due to Lymes is rare if it happens at all.
DrO
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