Can you help diagnose this poisoned/brain damaged horse?

There was definitly poison in his blood, his physical ailments sudjest neurological and physical injury, test results conflict, diagnosis unknown... dozens of odd symptoms all caught on video but still no clear!

Zippy is actually not my horse, he belongs to someone I knew and I used to help dake care of him daily. She told me the vet ran out of ideas after EPM medication failed and test results were neg. She was just treating him with pain killers daily for months. That seemed aweful to me so sorted thru all his medical records and I put together this video to see if someone out there might be able to recognise the symptoms' cause.

4/08 I recieved an email from the horse owner whom I am no longer in regular contact with and she told me her horse is better thanks to other EPM meds, she can ride him fine, but he can no longer jump like he used to. He tested neg. for EPM and had already gone thru a variety of EPM meds when I made this video so I don't know what to make of that. The vet said repeatedly it was definitly not EPM. I haven't seen the horse moving well or ever ridden since that tragic Halloween. Her horse hasn't ever been a jumped in his life other then the two times I hopped him over a 1 footer. So I don't know what this horse's true situation is these days.

I think reguardless of what his current health situation is, this is still an interesting case of an undiagnosed brain and body injury and the footage hopefully will be useful to someone else out there.

3/2010
Most recent update is that the horse is doing well and ridable for mellow trail rides. Most recent vet thinks EPM, but vet before that still thinks it was bug poison laced Halloween candy and that the thrashing about ill led him to hurt his own spine in his stall. He was basicly treated with every medication possible and low blood cell counts were the biggest problem to battle during recovery. But he is well now. If it weren't for this video being on the web, the various help from different vets and patent humans tending to him I don't think he'd of recovered so well. I strongly recomend people utilize the web in whatever creative means nessesary when all else fails. It certainly helped in this case

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• horse
• equine
• sick
• poisoned
• broken
• hurt
• leg
• EPM
• lyme
• lame
• falling
• playing
• vet
• health
• care
• diagnose

[hlwickens]

hope this helps .

[hlwickens]

There are ways of cutting so that beetles are scared off rather than killed, and certain machines that do not damage the crop when shearing it, thus leaving the beetles intact so that they can leave the feed.

Otherwise, be sure to check your feed for the presence of blister beetle parts, and make sure that the feed you buy is certified to be free of blister beetles.

[hlwickens]

Living and Management

The blister beetle prefers the flowers of the alfalfa, and it congregates in swarms to feed on alfalfa fields, so it is typically the first alfalfa crop of the season that is usually corrupted.

[hlwickens]

Gastrointestinal sedatives might also be administered as an approach to treatment, as well as antibiotics and calcium supplements if the condition has led to hypocalcemia.

[hlwickens]

While there is no exact antidote available, any animal that has been affected by cantharidin will be in need of intensive supportive therapy, including the administration of fluids to flush the poison out of the system, and activated charcoal to neutralize the toxin.

[hlwickens]

Treatment

Treatment for cantharidin poisoning varies on a case to case basis, dependent on the amount of cantharidin found in the system and the type of beetle that was ingested, since levels of toxicity appear to vary with each type of blister beetle.

[hlwickens]

Prompt and effective treatment, within the first three days, is essential for avoiding lasting heart or kidney damage. If you suspect that your horse is ill as the result of blister beetle poisoning, it would be better to have its urine tested immediately rather than wait until the toxin has progressed throughout the body.

[hlwickens]

Laboratory tests to determine kidney damage and damage to the urinary tract are also very useful in making a final determination as well, and if heart dysfunction appears to be present, an electrocardiogram (EKG) recording can be used to examine cardiac electrical conduction (which underlies the heart’s ability to contract/beat).

[hlwickens]

For those who live in an area where blister beetles have been found, and for horses that are known to consume alfalfa -- especially the first crop of the year -- it may be a bit easier for your doctor to diagnose this type of poisoning.

Your doctor will need to perform a urinalysis in order to correctly diagnose the presence of cantharidin. A blood profile to measure the level of toxicity in the body will also be conducted, as well as an analysis of samples from the stomach contents.

[hlwickens]

The history you provide may give your veterinarian clues as to which organs are being affected secondarily.