OH MY GOD!!! Help

[Jenny]

I have had the worst day! I mean night. One of a clients broodmares has what we think is West nile? Although she has been vaccinated. It all started, thank God when I went down to the barn. I went to water off and I heard all this commotion outside the back of the barn. I see this horse stuck under the cross bracing for the gate. HOLY Sh@#t!! Gets out from that then falls down flailing around, gets back up and falls in a mud puddle. Gets back up falls against the fence breaks a post off at ground level!!! Gets back up goes a little farther falls down and snaps another fence post off. Meanwhile I can't get near her and she follows the fence line down ( because all her buddies by now are besides themselves running, nickering etc.) into the woods goes down in between 2 trees and does not get back up. Luckily I had my cell phone and I call my husband up at the house and the vet. By now she is trying to stand and just keeps falling over. I go to the barn and get 10cc of I.V. Bantamine and manage to get a vein. The vet gets there and has no idea what happened. I mean you are trying to figure out if she has broken a hip, pelvis. injured her spine etc. We give her Dmso jug, cortico steroids, bute and anefen. She is twitching and almost looks like a seizure. She crashes big time and we revive her with adrenaline. I could have given her some of mine. I am totally eside myself by now. We get blankets and prop her up for the night out in the woods in the pitch dark. the vet advises to euthenize her. We say no, give her 15 min to see if the stuff kicks in. She does get up and stand for 1-2 seconds and then goes down again. All this time she is puncturing herself on stick and twigs. It is a ray of hope she could stand. Meanwhile my mother had operated the prayer line from church and I am sure hundreds are praying full force by now. We give her 10 mins she gets up now and stands. With 4 people we manage to get her into the arena. Couldn't put her in the barn, with the risk of her going down in the stall and thrashing around. She is dwon for the count now in the arena. We pile all the straw around and under her, trying to lift each part and shoving it under for comfort. Her hocks are bleeding buy now from the bones smacking together. So straw goes inbetween her legs as well. all this time we are commenting on the fact that just hours ago she looked perfectly fine. The best she has ever. She was a rescue case. I got her she had a 3 week old foal by her side. She is 17hands and she weighed 800lbs , body score of 1. she is fat now and like I said looked the best i had ever seen her just hours before. Isn't there some sort of warning?? So back to the night. I crank the heat up in the viewing lounge and grad my pillow. i go up to the house to get a stiff drink!!! I remember my foaling cameras and go to set them up in the arena. I get out there and she is standing up eating hay!!!! I mean wobbling, but she is interested. I give her a small bucket of water and she falls down again. I set the camera up and go back to the house. She gets up and starts to walk a few steps then stays there standing up for the night. Vet comes out today. Can't believe the recovery she had made. Takes blood to send out tomorrow to get some sort of diagnosis. She is now in her stall standing and nibbling on little hay. We tubed her also with mineral oil, electrolytes etc. Did not want to deal with colic as well. So that is where we stand. West nile? Encephalitis, Epm? She has been vaccinated for all of it. My vet aid that if they amke a recovery in the first 24 hours it looks good if they don;t then not good. so he seems to think she will pull through Weird and a night I will never forget. anyone had this experience at all? If not I hope and pray you never do.

[Karie]

a person at my old barn had a mare that sounded like she was doing the same things yours was.. she couldn't get up... when she did she stumbled and fell over... they took her to Michigan State University.. and they gave her a drug for swelling on the brain.. one dose.. she got up and was fine. They left her there for 2 days to watch her and brough her home nad se was fine... She was still pregnant even...
Sorry don't know what the drug they gave her was and they are someone I am not speaking to so I cant call them for you.

[Intrinsic Worth]

I've seen a mare with West Nile and she didn't fall down. She came in walking sideways. She was treated with DMSO and some neurological drugs to reduce any swelling to the brain until the tests came back to find out what she really had. I would recommend doing the same thing with this horse. Keep treating it as if it were West Nile.

Just watch her fluid intake, tubing with DMSO can make a horse not want to eat or drink (who'd want to with the horrible taste?)

[Jane]

Sounds terrible Jenny. Hope it works out...

[Jean]

Banamine and DMSO for brain swelling. We had a mare suffer a stroke 2 years ago with virtually the same symptons. Vet administered tha above daily for 3 days once we were able to keep her up. She is totally healty now except walks with her head kind of sideways. Took her almost 2-3 monthes to totally recover was wobbly and would fall if she turned too quick but got better. The vet assumed a stroke as all bloodwork was negative for any diseases. The owner took her and bred her and all seems fine. We were scared to have a stallion mount her but apparently all went well

[Jenny]

She is being traeted with antiinflamatories, ie. Bantamine, anaphen, antibiotics such as IV Bactrim etc. She just had the one dose of Dmso the first day. We just tubed her with fliuds and mineral oil. She also had 2 jugs of lactated ringers and a jug of B vitamin complex today. She is recovering so far OK. I just wish she would eat and drink a bit more. I am going out right now to check on her. She was bred and checked in foal at 25 days. We just rectiled her to remove some dry manure and she must absorbed. so she is no longer in foal. Just as well, with everything that has happened, I was worried about the foal. No worriesnow. thanks guys for the support in this most stressful hour. I will keep you posted. buy the way her name is Petionette by Petionvillle. Really nice, HUGE mare. Someone have the APR on her?? I know she made about 60k.

[Jenny]

Good news I just came in from the barn and she had drank 3/4 of a bucket of water ate quite a bit of hay and there was also a nice big poop in her stall as well. thank God . all that praying worked!!!!

[zinn21]

Whatever she has it ain't good. Could be anything nuero muscular related. If it's EPM or West Nile there is a chance she can be treated. If it's Wobblers there is little you can do and the likelihood she will return to a pasture sound level is not good.

[Cathyleabo]

Good luck with her, I hope it all works out.
Have you quarantined her, just in case? My luck it would be contagious.

[madelyn]

It is very possible that she had a neurological trauma, if she banged her head really hard when she was cast under the gate the first time. She might even have a skull fracture. That could result in what you describe.

[Mood Swings]

YIKES! That would have been one helluva stressful evening! I am glad to hear she is doing better and my fingers are crossed that she continues to mend.

Your mare made $53,707. She is a full sister to Rock Tavern winner of $66,263, She is also half to a stakes winner and another winner but I am sure you already know that

[Jenny]

I really do not know anything about her. I did not even know her reg name till a couple of months ago. I was calling her Passionette!! She is not mine but a boarders. She came like I said in a sorry state 1 1/2 years ago with a foal by her side starving. My client had her boarded in Caledon area. New she was about to foal and when he called the farm the number was disconnected. A search party was sent out and they found her foal in tow abandoned by the lady who was supposed to be taking care of her. This guy who owns her is super nice, and pays his board. Like I said she is 17h and weighted about 800lbs. You have never seen anything like it in your life. A walking skeleton!! The baby, the cutes baby ever!! chestnut with 4 white stockings by Tragectory, looked not bad considering, obviously she was giving everything she had to the foal. So over the past while she has been putting on weight, about 400lbs. I never thought she could look this good. It took forever. She doesn't even have a hip bone, and she has really wide hips! Then this happens, like she needed this. The more I look at her I think she has had a stroke. Her right ear is hanging down and her head is tilted off to the side. We sent all th blood work out today and they put a rush on it at the lab so all we can do is wait. She is on bute and antibiotics right now. Because of all the falling she is in a sorry state. Puncture wounds everywhere. I just finished washing her off with Betadine and wrapping everything I could with animal lintex. She has a huge hematoma under her girth area and a big knee( calling it big is an understatement.) So I will keep everyone posted.
Moodswings let me know who the siblings are. I really don't have a clue. I am glad she has some good breeding. I don't know what will happen to her if she has had a stroke. Will it happen again? Can she still be used as a broodmare? I am very concerned.

[Mood Swings]

I'm thinking Madelyn is right about the head trauma. Perhaps Petionette decided to have a roll ... into the gate - oops and then in a panic to free herself caused the head trauma, which in turn caused the neurological signs you had the misfortune of witnessing. It will be interesting to see what if anything the bloodwork turns up. I imagine you'll get that back tomorrow am?

As for your mares pedigree, unfortunately I cannot copy and paste from my APR so here are some tidbits for you

Marvette, 1991, Marfa - Jennie The Vet by Dixieland Band

1996 MADAME DU BARRI , B,f by Formal Dinner
18 starts, 4 wins $188,934
at 2 won Ontario Debutante S

1998 Barclay Square, Ch,c by Conveyer 15 starts, 1 win $75,022

1999 Petionette, 9 starts, 3 wins $53,707

2000 Rock Tavern, 51 starts 9 wins, $66,263

2002 Eastside Story - unraced filly by Miesque' Son

2003 Moonshine Miss, Ch,f by Whiskey Wisdom, 2 starts $6,109

2006 unnamed,c, by Where's The Ring

[Supernova]

Marvette? Is that her name? If so we are breaking her yearling at our farm! He's a HUGE boy by Where's the Ring. Big, black, with no markings.

[Jenny]

We checked her head and there is no trauma there. some of the blood work just came back. I guess the other tests take a couple of days!! the ones for west nile, encephalitis etc.
Anyway her white blood cell count is 19000 which is very high. So the vet said this would be an indication of an infection like an encephalitis. So I personally think it is better than a stroke. I think, this way we can treat her.

Ya Marvette must come from the land of giants. Petionette is 17h maybe even a little taller. Her foal is gorgeous like I said, I am going to advise the owner not to start him just yet. His knees are so open you could stick a fist in there. He is also going to be a big boy. Maybe not as big as 17h but still big. I don't know how much his poor start put him behind. He is a late foal and is about 15.1h as a yearling now. About the same size as my other 2. I would have expected him to be taller considering the monster the mother is!!!

Vet is coming out today again to check up on her.
thank you everyone for your kind support.
My new website is up and running if you haven't had a chance to look at it. stonebriarstables.ca
let me know if you find a typo, how embarrassing!! After you read it a hundred times you can't see them anymore!!