help with diagnosis

[Maggie Mieske <mmieske@netonecom.net>]

Hi Ridecampers,
It seems you guys have all experienced so much and seen so many things
that the most efficient way for me to get information is to ask you
first.  So here goes:
We ran across an interesting case this weekend while we were out
trimming and shoeing horses.  We have trimmed this particular foal
before and I didn't expect to see him alive on our return appointment.
He is obviously sick...looks "sickly"...distended abdomen, long hair
that won't shed out, dull eye, no energy, stands as if he doesn't feel
good.  We suggested the probiotics before to the husband last time. 
This time the wife was there.  In addition to the other symptoms, he now
experiences heat and swelling in his HIND fetlocks when they feed him
his "pellets".  His pellets are Calf Manna that the vet told them to
feed to him to get him in better shape.  This time, we told the wife to
get another vet, do blood work and get some kind of probiotic into him!!
He pooped while we were there and it looked good.  She has wormed him
about 4 times since they got him and though he passed alot of worms, he
still looks awful.  This problem is more than worms!  However, though we
have heard of this fetlock swelling before we cannot think of the name
for it...doesn't it have something to do with excess protein in the
diet?  We have been banging our heads over it since yesterday and will
probably feel foolish when someone tells us the name of it.  Oh, and by
the way, though they were enlarged, there was no heat or edema in those
hind fetlocks yesterday.  They looked as if they should have been hot. 
It concerns me that they stay that way when there is no heat (she says
there was before).  I guess this foal was also weaned too early.  I
don't have much hope for this baby (he's about 6-7 months right now) if
they don't take drastic measures but we hoped if we could get back with
them and give them something to go on from other's experiences, it might
encourage them to follow through.  Thanks for any help with this! 
Maggie


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