EMACIATED MARE

[DunPainted]

On January 3rd, I discovered a mare we sold to a local family six months ago was literally starving to death. Immediately, I hitched up the trailer, and returned "Salty" to our farm.

Two days later, the vet arrived and measured her weight to be 134 pounds (she was approx 250 pounds when she left). On a scale of 1 thru 10, the vet gave her a "body condition score" of 2. The poor girl had the worse case of lice the vet has ever seen in all her years of practice, mastitis and "crackles" in her lungs (not from fluid - which would indicate pnemonia).

Blood was drawn --- the results indicated severe anemia and something the vet has NEVER seen --- a FIBRINOGEN COUNT OF 1100 (normal level is 300)

On January 20th -- after 15 days of receiving SMZ's -- more blood was drawn. FIBRINOGEN is now at 1200

PLEASE NOTE:

Salty has gained weight, as she's been receiving 4 to 5 small meals of warm beet pulp/grain per day, as well as all the hay she can consume.

The vets (inclusive of an internal medicine specialist) performed a full battery of XRAYS & ULTRASOUND of her lungs and abdomen -- everything was clear/healthy.

IF ANYONE HAS AN EXPERIENCE TO SHARE, with regard to an extremely high fibrinogen count, will you be kind enough to either PM me or share with our group?

Many thanks for your help.

Cindy

 

[Miniv]

This was a new one for me, so did a Google Search. You may want to as well. Here's a link that was fairly easy to understand......

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003650.htm

Because of the association to the liver, my concern for your mare would also be Hyperlipemia (Fatty Liver Disease). And for that, feeding her the way you described sounds like an excellent idea.

Wish I could be of more help.

 

[wcr]

It doesn't surprise me she has some abnormal blood tests as the body has gone into survival mode. She has probably used up all her fat stores and is now breaking down muscle and organs to survive. Think of all the stories you hear about anorexics and they just use up their body which frequently leads to death from system failure. Very similar situation.

Thank God she has you to care for her. Good Luck

 

[Becky]

I can't answer your question specifically, but this is the best article and method I've found for refeeding starved horses. Nutrition for Rehabilitating the Starved Horse

This research was done by UC Davis and it shows that alfalfa is the best thing to use for feeding starved horses. It keeps their electrolytes balanced and keeps them from crashing.

Good luck with your mare and she is so lucky that you found her when you did!

 

[DunPainted]

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[Charlotte]

Cindy, thank goodness you found out about this before it was too late! I'm going to be watching this thread closely as we presently have a mare that is having a lot of difficulty manitaining/gaining weight. She lost a lot while in hospital with her sick foal while we were at World and even after weaning her foal she just isn't gaining..... and not eating very well.

So I'm afraid I'm not any help to you.

Charlotte

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

I don't know enough to offer a great deal of advice her but if she has stopped eating (or nearly so) I would NOT delay the vet. If she does have hyperlipemia waiting can be deadly to her. If it were me I'd have her blood glucose, and lipids tested and perhaps discuss starting her on insulin to help her process sugars better. Again I admit to very little real knowledge on what is happening with your mare but I lost a mare to hyperlipemia this spring and I will always regret not 'panicking' sooner. Now I would rule it out before taking a wait and see approach.

I hope your lovely girl recovers quickly and good for you for stepping in on her behalf. Poor little girl.

 

[Hosscrazy]

I would also be incredibly concerned about hyperlipemia at this point...I lost a horse to, among other things, hyperlipidemia. It set in so fast and was not reversable.

Liz R.