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Dear Horse Friends,
It is with a heavy heart that I am writing to you about the passing of my good grey gelding Xala. His struggle with an as yet undefined illness is over. Without further ado I will tell you what happened:
4:30 p.m. 3-18--noticed Xala exhibiting rather strange behavior--pawing, running, and then lying down--tilting his head upward--no sweating, no distended nostrils
4:55--called vet and administered Banamine paste
5:15--offered feed which he ate per vet suggestion
7:00 p.m. --onset once again of the symptoms--called vet for house call
7:45 p.m.--vet arrives and Xala shows no symptoms, discomfort, etc--he left an injection of "ace" for me to use if necessary

10:00 p.m.onset once again of symptoms--gave ace
12:--all quiet
5:00 a.m.--very fretful behavior--running, pawing, and he had torn down the pipe gate in the mare barn, threw the wheel barrow out of the barn (that was behind the gate) and moved the large hay rack. He had severe cuts on his legs, huge swolen bruises on his eye lids--contacted vet office
8:00 vet arrived and the decision was made to euthanize Xala
I requested that testing be done on his brain for rabies and EPM--the vet also took samples of the liver and kidneys to check for toxicity.  During the autopsy the vet found a considerable amount of blood in the cecum which could have explained the intermittent pain. All of his vaccinations including rabies and West Nile are current--I drove the samples out to KSU as soon as they were harvested--it was in a sense helpful for me to do this--I felt like I was doing something for Xala--folks, watch your horses--there are just too many things out there we must be vigilant.