Hi Friends; I am forwarding this on behalf of my friend . Her foal has suddenly become very ill. The filly is about 3 months old. If anyone has any ideas to share with her please email me directly, or you can email her at moraddin@xxxxxxxx Thank you for any ideas that may help the foal. Beth Glover
>
>Well we took Jazzy our youngest to the best vet in town today and if she has the only thing he can think of we will have to put her down. A week ago when I fed in the morning I found her down inside her stall and I couldn't get her up. Rudy got home and got her up just before the vet arrived. She went down sometime during the night and couldn't get up. We have no idea of the cause at this point. Once up she could walk etc. and once they got her circulation going she was running and kicking and bucking. She had scrapes and abrasions from trying to get out of the stall and seemed to be weak in the back end. She was also dehydrated. I was to feed her a mash to get more fluids in her but the vet felt she would be ok. That night when I was trying to feed her I stopped in the middle to get some fly stuff for her and mom as they were driving us all crazy. Sadie got excited, therefore, Jazzy got excited and she fell. Several phone calls later to the vet and with the help of a neighbor we got her up again. More cuts and scrap
es. Sally our vet said she would come back in the morning. She fell once again but I was able to get her up and then in the morning we had to pull her up. Sally checked her, bandaged up the worst of the cuts, and told us to continue doing what we were doing and to give her a low dosage of bute in case she couldn't get up because she was in too much pain from banging herself up. Sally came out again yesterday and checked her, reapplied bandages, put her on antibiotics so she doesn't get an infection in the knee that is so bad, and said she would talk to Troy our other vet. He's in town and doesn't make house calls except for the big cattle ranches. That's why we have two vets. Last night Jazzy was finally able to get up on her own but it is still difficult for her. Troy took x-ray's and she has perfect conformation and a perfectly beautiful straight spinal column. He could find absolutely no abnormalities and her injuries aren't anything bad enough to keep her from being able to pick herself up. Besides they all came after the fact.
The only thing he can think of is a neurological disease caused by a vitamin E deficiency that destroys nerve cells. Rudy couldn't remember what he called it so I can't look it up. Troy said it's more common in Arabians and if that's what she has, basically we have to put her down. He had to call all over to find a lab that could test for that particular disease but found one and we should know in about a week. This is going to be a very long week. The strange part is she seems to be getting better in that she is regaining her strength and can now get up where she couldn't before. She never ran a fever, she is eating fine and in fact her appetite has increased. She is urinating properly and her stools are fine as well. Her eyes are clear and she knows where her feet are. She is stumbling but I think that is partly due to the fact she doesn't have all her strength and she has so many cuts and abrasions on her legs. At this point we're at wits end. Rudy was so proud of her at the vets. She was an absolutely perfect lady. She even we
nt through the x-rays without having to have a shot or anything. The hard part is the waiting, and if she gets better and then we find out we have to put her down it will be even worse. Then again if that's not what it is then what is wrong with her? Anyway say a little prayer for her. She's not even four months yet and that is way too young to die. I'll let you know what happens.
>
>sgs
