Ridecamp: [RC] Anaphylatic shock survial rate? (Bee stings)

Jacqueline Mansfield OneHorseFarms@xxxxxxxxx
I originally posted this on rec.equestrian but I am getting a lousy response rate to my questions so I am posting here in hopes more people can answer.

Message posted to rec.equestrian:
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I would like feedback from other people who have battled with anaphylatic shock in their horses. I know this happens in people as well but I am really looking for stories specifically regarding horses.

Here's why: I had to put down Winza, my 19 year old grey Crabbet Arabian gelding (75 LD miles, Mountain region), July 4th. He developed severe anaphylatic shock that did not respond to treatment (specifics on treatment below). I am wondering if by the time a horse develops anaphylatic shock if it is a hopeless cause, and what other people have experienced.

The details: Monday, June 24th Winza was grazing close to a dried out brush pile when he suddenly explodes into a fit of bucking and racing up the field. My folks (who I keep my horse with) speculate he was stung by a bee(s) or wasp(s). His breathing becomes very labored and he starts to sweat. They call me and I drive over and by this time foam is POURING out his nose. It is pure white, no seeds, no green or grass/hay materials, and just pouring out full
blast.

My neighbor drives to the nearest vet clinic and we inject him with two shots for bee sting (I don't remember what they were, epinephrine and something else) an hour goes by with no change. Vet comes out and gives another series of the bee sting shots (epinephrine and whatever), does complete physical (tubes him
to check for choke, pumps mineral oil into stomach, rectal exam, etc.). Not much change in Winza. Foam is slowing, but he still has labored breathing and looks in agony. Vet recommends IV fluids at the vet clinic.

We take him down to the vet clinic, vet gives him more shots (can't remember all that he got at this point), says lungs sound "wet" so fluid is most likely in the lungs. We hook Winza to the IV and by the time I leave he seems like his old self, he is eating hay, bright and alert.

Bring him home next day, by late afternoon his breathing is a little swift and he has a little foam out the nose (but really minor). We start him on five days of corticosteroids (prednisone) twice a day. Winza is back to his old self for those five days, eating well and looks 100%.

The sixth day (no more prednisone) it takes him all day to eat his grain. The seventh day he barely eats any of it. By the morning of the tenth day his breathing is labored and foam is back, only this time the foam has an orange hue to it. Vet comes out, says lungs sound really full (crackling like a plastic tarp were exact words) and the orange hue is blood mixing with the foam. We put him down.

I am not second-guessing his treatment, I did everything possible within my budget (and will be making payments on the bill for the next year); I am just wondering if by the time a horse gets anaphylatic shock if it is a lost cause. If I would have put him down earlier I would have saved us both a lot of pain and heartache.

Comments? Experiences? I will keep checking the Ridecamp archives for comments (I am not registered on Ridecamp, just posting as guest), if you need to email me direct please use OneHorseFarms@xxxxxxxxx

Thank you,

Jacqueline Mansfield
in loving memory of Brown R Winza, who was my horse AND my dog all rolled into one

p.s. I received a message in rec.equestrian asking if it wasn't a snake bite/spider bite/toxic plant/what did the vet think it was. Here is my response to those questions:
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I live in Western Oregon (lush green valley) and poisonous snakes and spiders would be VERY, VERY, VERY rare in this area. No toxic plants in the pasture AND lots of green grass available (as well as morning/evening hay suppliment because my folks spoiled him) so he wouldn't be forced to eat a toxic plant. We do have the highest number of bees and wasps in the nation (so a friend reported to me yesterday) and I have the violent reaction of bucking that started near a dry brush pile (bees favorite hive area) that makes me think it was a bee sting.

No bite marks or raised bumps ANYWHERE that would indicate the
sting/bite area (I searched him by running my hands all over him
looking for bumps) BUT he did have a burning hot area of skin just
behind his right ear. I iced that area until it returned to normal
skin temperature but never found bite/sting area.

Vet #1 felt it was a severe allergic reaction to a bee sting and that Winza was in anaphylatic shock, a process he described as the body slowly shutting down all functions (no gut sounds at all during exam).

Vet #2 didn't know the cause, saying it could even be tumors--he
really didn't know, but that this was a downward spiral and these
episodes would keep occurring (hence the reasoning to put him down).

I am not too concerned with what caused the anaphylatic shock
(bee/snake/etc.), I am wondering if once a horse reaches that horrible sweating, labored breathing, foam POURING out the nose point if there is little hope for recovery on a long-term basis (aka more than the week we had).


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