Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

 Geez...I'm sorry to hear this. Having had my best mare go
through this I know the roller coaster ride of emotions you
are and will be going through IF it is EPM.
 Did your vet mention that the only way to be sure he has
EPM is the spinal tap and even that is not %100. If the
test comes back positive and he shows the clasic symptoms
then there is a good chance he has EPM. Another symptom is
tilting the head; my mare did this ocassionally and I
thought it was just a funny quirk of hers. You also may
want to have a vet/chiro look at him...some times what
looks like EPM is just a  pinched nerve due to alignment
issues. That was where I took my mare first to rule out any
chiro issues. My vet/chiro examined my mare and said he was
90% sure she had EPM. Then when her spinal tap agreed we
put her on the Marquiez (sp?) which was $800 for the 28 day
treatment. I can't imagine what treatment you vet is
talking about that is $1400. At the time the Marquiez was
considered the expensive treatment but this was 3 years ago
and things may have changed since then. Also sometimes you
have do the Marquiez treatment again depending on how far
the EPM has progressed so that would run you $1600 but I'm
told these cases are few. Once he is clear of the EPM with
the right diet you will be able to do everything you can do
with him before the EPM. The only time this isn't true is
if there is permanate damage from the EPM.
 So just to let you know it isn't a death sentence like it
was years ago. There are alot of EPM recovered horses
competeing out there. There is also an EPM group on yahoo.

Wishing you the best,
Penny
--- Laurie Durgin <ladurgin@xxxxxxx> wrote:
>    I wrote the storey and accidently deleted it.
> Vet came today to draw coggins. Since hurting my hand ,
> my son had been 
> caring for horses, and with all the storms I had only
> been down to barn 
> once.Was trying to  protect my hand , knew I'd start
> working if I went down.
>    After we turned Rascal and Honey out, the other horse
> came up to "see the 
> company", and we watched Rascal trot down the slope.He
> stumbled sort of, I 
> was only half paying attention, but my vet was watching
> and said,"watch him 
> and see if he stumbles like that again;if he does call
> me"I said I thought 
> he'd just tripped  a bit.He said maybe. Then Rascal came
> back, and the vet 
> said"wonder if we can get him to trot"I said "sure, he
> free lunges if I had 
> the round pen still up." We'd just been talking about the
> voice commands he 
> knew,I said "Rascal trot and flicked the lead rope at him
> while the two 2 yr 
> olds and Champ and Honey crowded around.He trotted
> outsome and circled back, 
> it looked like his whole hip and leg"missed or slipped".I
> cried "he's lame, 
> that horse has never been lame, except when he got kicked
> as a yearling."The 
> vet said 'let me turn him on a tight circle and took the
> lead rope and put 
> it around his neck and led him,I was being  blocked by
> the colts who came up 
> for rubs   so I didn't get to see it all> I'd felt him up
> and down his leg, 
> no heat,tenderness or swelling after he'd trotted out and
> had said "is it in 
> his hip?". He said," he's not lame, it's
> neurological.He's got EPM.I said," 
> are you sure, what about West Nile?" He said, "he's not
> sick, he's not 
> hurting, he just doesn't know where his feet are."I said
> the D word(I t ry 
> not to cuss) and started crying. But I bit it back.
> I asked about treatment and diagnosis. he said on a
> ?serum/blood  test 95% 
> or so of horses would test positive. He said he's the
> right breed, the right 
> age,typical symptoms.Ahe said something about the spinal
> tap, which I don't 
> remember, but he was pretty sure.
> Treatment ,the convient expensive way, 28 days at
> 1400$Cheaper less convient 
> way, 90 days at about 7-800$I asked about
> effectiveness.He said they both 
> work,and I'll need a spinal tap at the end, 350$.
> I  have to go with the cheaper, I only do some
> sewing,occasional horse 
> sitting, and church nursery work for 'horse money" as I
> am a stay at home, 
> homeschooling mom.And with 4 emergency room visits and 2
> surgeries, we are 
> up to our necks in dr. payments.Plus major vehicle
> repairs(like engine and 
> trans. in my older pickup.this winter.
>    He said it's not as bad as the articles paint it, he's
> treated lots of 
> horses with it and they almost all recover to do what
> ever thay want.He said 
> they usually are falling down before he sees them. I told
> him he was fine 2 
> tue. ago when I rode and had my hand crushed and stitches
> in. And I'd seen 
> them all running and playing a couple days ago , and
> hadn't noticed 
> anything.The "almost all" is the hard part. There goes
> our debut at the 
> Oconee 30. Well Honey has needed more time, so maybe now
> I can get her  some 
> real training in. And I could trailride Champ (18,
> daughter just brought him 
> home to semi-retire here for a yr . or so as a trail
> horse till I got Honey 
> going, then we'd decide his future when she detached some
> emotionally, 1st 
> horse)And my 'surprise 2 yr old' could be taught to
> ground drive and to the 
> mechanical parts or a saddle , maybe some despooking(cept
> he isn't spooky, 
> guess that half arab part didn't get passed on.)So I will
> have some horses 
> to play with. But all rides off till at least fall, maybe
> winter now, and I 
> am not sure yet about ; if he seems to recover fully how
> long before I can 
> ride him and how long it will take after being off ,3x
> times this year 
> adding up to about 6 months  total.
>    He is getting Daraprin 25 mg.1 a day at 78.21$ for 79
> or them.And Ditrim 
> 960 mg. 10  tablets every 12 hours for 90 days.I paid
> 102.$ for 500.(Well I 
> paid  for it partly, i'd paid for the coggins and a
> rabies for 87$, then 
> when I went to pick up the meds.I paid another 100$, what
> I had in my "horse 
> account"
>     And Dang, I'd just sent in my AERC membership like 4
> days ago, and 
> bought some camping gear last week for the Ride, now I
> wish I had that money 
> for the vet.Can you tell I'm depressed? I said if I
> didn't make this ride I 
> was a Jonah. Maybe I shouldn't have said that outloud.
>    If anyone knows if I can get the drugs cheaper
> somewhere, or knows any 
> more details about their experience  let me know. I will
> look up what I can 
> find on the net.
>   I melted his pills in warm water and mixed with
> shredded apple in his 
> beetpulp and applecider vinager and bit of grain.Good boy
> he ate it all, 
> usually that works , he is not a picky eater.Then I
> watched him walk to the 
> trough,which is behind some drug up gravel mess from barn
> flooding. Then I 
> saw it; he wasn't his surefooted self,he stepped  funny,
> like "wheres the 
> ground".
> I asked about vaccinating the others , he said I could
> try, the jurys still 
> out on it,not proven yet. But I think I will order some
> this week.
>    Well maybe I can volunteer at the GERA rides this
> season, at least learn 
> something ad be helpful.
> Laurie/Rascal"whats epm mom, and why can't I walk right?"
_________________________________________________________________
> Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN
> 8. 
> http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
>  Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net,
> http://www.endurance.net.
>  Information, Policy, Disclaimer:
> http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
>  Subscribe/Unsubscribe
> http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp
>
>  Ride Long and Ride Safe!!
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
>

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.
http://search.yahoo.com

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp

Ride Long and Ride Safe!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=