Re: RC: Kidney or bladder problem

[Linda Romander <romander@foothill.net>]

Terry,

That 'Linda' was probably me.

My 13-year-old Arab gelding starting showing blood in the urine whenever
he was exercised.  It was red, not brown. Even trailering him to a ride
was enough to cause blood in the urine.

I took him to Davis, and an ultrasound revealed kidney stones.  These are
apparently common in horses fed a lot of alfalfa over a long period of
time.  At the time, the vets did not recommend surgery, as the kidneys
are deep in the body and death from loss of blood is a high risk.

Instead, he was put on a diet of oat hay with COB, to which was added
some very acidic material (I forget what) that I called battery acid.
The idea was to break down the stone over time.  After a year, there was
no change, so I retired him.  Neither my own vet nor those at Davis
recommended I not ride him, but I only gave him light exercise, never
raced him again.

Good luck with your QH.

Linda

"guest@endurance.net" wrote:

> Terry Emmitt tle01@health.state.ny.us
> Hi... I'm looking for some antedotal information on problems
> with blood in the urine - not tying up (at least I think not).
> My 21 yr old Qh gelding has just been put back into work over a
> two month period, starting with an hour of light riding and
> working up to trot/canter work for 20 minutes of it.  Last week,
> His urine after work was dark brown.  I called the vet and he
> said, work him, then I'll come out and take blood.  At the
> beginning of that ride, the urine was yellow, by the end it
> was dark red.  The blood test showed 'nothing alarming' and
> next I took a urine sample in (a yellow one, I didn't have the
> heart to work him into red).  Well, today my vet advised me that
> there is blood in the yellow sample.  He will be coming to do
> an exam later in the week.  He's not too informative, although
> a very well respected horse vet.  Originally, he suspected tying up
> but there was no indication in the blood.  He mentioned kidney
> or bladder and said I could keep him on turnout but not to ride
> him.
>
> I searched the archives and found a comment from 'Linda' about
> kidney stones.  Do anyone have comments on what it could be?
> Also, what if he does have stones or some sort of tumor? Are
> these problems indicative of the beginning of the end, or is it
> something treatable or manageable?
>
> Thanks for all your help....
> Terry & Buddy
>
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