Nila needs our prayers...AGAIN!!

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Kim Rule

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Hey everybody...

I just got off the phone with Nila. She has another horse down with colic-like symptoms. He appears to have the same symptoms as Copper had. She asked the vet about West Nile, but he gave her a funny look. I said she better insist on having him tested.

JD is Nila's gelding. If she has a favorite, he's it! He is a lovely boy, really sweet. Kris and I were there this past Sunday, and JD was just fine...Nila is understandably frightened and bewildererd at what is causing this...as are the vets! JD was in the same pasture as Copper. They were vaccinated for West Nile 6 weeks ago.

So, let's send out prayers, good wishes, positive, healing energy, or whatever you do to help JD and Nila...and the rest of her family...through this really rough time.

Nila said she'll post when she can...meanwhile, I'll keep you updated as I get news.

Kim R.
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[SIZE=14pt]we are definitely there for her ![/SIZE]

Lyn
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Oh Nila...I am definately sending prayers your way! You have endured so much pain this year, I am hoping that your boy pulls though for you.
 
Oh Nila I'm so sorry for all the trouble your having.........Please know my thoughts and positive energy are being sent your way.

Go over the pasture with a fine tooth comb and more than one person if possible. Maybe there is a strange weed, or is snakebite a possibility???
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Tell Nila if you talk to her that there was a rash of clostridium bacteria infections this last year ....our vet had treated/put down alot of cattle...and enough horses to wonder what was going on......the bacteria of which there are many also are the same as the one that causes tetnus ....typical symptoms are colic like...bloat...off feed...quickly going downhill from there...to staggering ...uncoordination......frequently it has set in and is not reversable by the time you discover the animal is sick.......it (the class of germs) affects sheep/cattle/goats/horses/humans/etc......

will keep her in my thoughts.........we lost a llama to one of these two years ago.....
 
Oh no, I'm so sorry to hear Nila is having more problems.

Please, do insist on West Nile testing. We've just gotten through an ordeal with a filly here. Secret appeared to have impaction colic, but it just didn't seem right--it didn't 'feel' like just colic to me, and the vet didn't think her symptoms were typical. As we got her abdominal pain under control & things started to get moving again, her central nervous system involvement became more & more obvious. We won't have the test results for a few days yet, but the 2nd vet I talked to yesterday said it will almost certainly come back positive. Secret is recovering, but we're watching her closely for any sign of a relapse. ( I should add, Secret was vaccinated, and should have had immunity for about 6 weeks at the time she came down sick.)

I didn't realize this, but EEE and WEE will both cause the inability to pass manure and urine--not usually in the early stages--in humans, WNV can cause nausea, and in some people, horrible stomach pains...not surprising, I guess, if WNV causes colic symptoms in some horses.

Good luck, Nila, and my prayers are with you tonight!
 
Prayers being said right now for your boy Nila, so sorry he's feeling bad
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Oh No!!!! What horrible news! I am so sorry Nila!!! My hopes and prayers being sent your way that JD recovers from whatever has hit him quickly. That is just so scarey!!!
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Listeria can produce some WNV like symptoms as well. If I recall they had found a correlation between feeding round bales and the outbreaks.
 
I will do my best to explain, but I am in tears right now. Kim is right... I am VERY scared at what is happening at this time and am sitting here in total shock. JD who is our first mini foal, and was born on my mom's birthday and is the one that I have posted pictures of on ths forum for conformation is the one who is in serious trouble right now. He has exactly the same symptoms as Copper did and I estimate that we have caught him at about the same stage that Copper was at when we first noticed him. I have never seen two colic cases present identically, so this is quite unique.

We came home from work tonight and Mom noticed him laying down by the gate. She took note of it and went up to the house to clothes. In the mean time I showed up. JD had gotten up and went into the shed and layed down there. When I opened the gate he just stayed put and that is most definately NOT him. He is almost always the first to run up to us. I walked over to him which is about an acre away and he just layed there. He wouldn't get up until I litterally pushed his rear end to get him up. I went into the house and told my Mom and she said she was hoping that she wasn't seeing what I had just confirmed. We went back out with cell phone in hand and JD was cast in the stall. Went up to the house to get ropes and call the vet. On the way back down to the shed I called Kim and told her the news as she was over to the place on Sunday.

Vet got to the property and gave sedative/pain meds. His vitals are all normal and he has good gut sounds. But this vet insisted that it is just colic. I insisted that it isn't as this is not a coincidence... Anyway, I asked about WNV and some other things and he thought for sure that it isn't contagious and just coincidence. Anyway, we got him loaded into the trailer and down to the clinic. On the way there, the vet said he called the person who specializes in internal issues like this. The vet said that a necorpsy was done on Copper. (I am so very greatful that I released him to them so they could learn from him!!! It may help to save JD) Anyway, the results of the necropsy was a bad impaction in the large colin. (I hope I spelled it right.) So nothing contagious.

Now here is where things are going to be really really tough. The vets feel that JD is impacted as well. They have started agressively treating him for that and he is on IV's to overhydrate him. He is on pain meds and has a muzzle to keep him from eating. All his bloodwork is in normal ranges, and he is not dehydrated. THis is all very positive in that aspect as that means we have once again caught it very early.

So they tubed him, and put him in a stall.... The hard part is that it is the exact same stall that Copper was in. Lucky number 7... I am an emotional wreck and I am besides myself.

The cause could very well be the hay that we grew on our own fields this year. This is the same field that we fed hay from last year, but this year our first cutting was very course as it rained so long that we couldn't get the hay down before it was over mature. The vet feels that the minis may not be drinking enough and since the hay is so course that the minis are having issues. So starting tomorrow we will be adding salt to their grain to help increase thirst and will be mixing in other hay to help with the courseness issue until they are used to the change in hay and I can get them off of it all together.

Could they be eating something not good for them? possibly. But as Kim knows they are in a dry lot with absolutely nothing in there and it has been that way for 3 years now. Previously the who place was used to grow nothing but alfalfa grass hay mix. We have not fertalized or sprayed for anything. I do turn them out on a field to eat grass for part of the day, but they haven't been out there since early Sunday morning. I brought them in after Kim left. So I don't think it is toxins from that field.

Anyway, I will post as I learn more, but in the mean time I am devistated. I am at a loss as to how to stop this and I can't afford any more mentally or financially. My savings were wiped out not even a year ago from the foaling issues and the loss of 2 foals and just as I thought we were going to start to recover some this has happened. But right now my biggest concern is getting this guy better and then I will see what I can do.

Thanks for all the ideas everyone. Will definately check them out. Also, none of the horses have been off the place, and no new horses on either and we are feeding from small bales about 75 pounds or so. So I am hoping that rules out some of the things that could be causing this. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as I know that right now that is what is keeping mom, my aunt and I going.
 
Prayers coming for JD and you to Nila. Make sure they check him for EPM too.

I had two impactions this year from course hay. I hope JD can get things moving so the both of you can feel better.

Robin
 
Oh, myheart is so sad for you. Prayers coming for you all. Love you hon.
 
nila

im so sorry!!! i know how stressed you must be. Im sending prayers that he pulls thru

kay
 
Nila, i am so sorry to hear about all this heartbreak! Yes, coarse hay can cause alot of colic problems. We have mostly alfalfa hay here where we are and try to feed the finest and grassiest hay we get to the minis and give the coarser stuff to the big horses. last winter we had several colic cases and this is all we could figure out. only the girls, not the boys. it is always so heartbreaking to see the signs of colic! i know what you are going through! we have, luckily, knock on wood, had no colic cases now for at least 6 months since feeding the grassier finer hay (we try hard to find it for the minis). we also added the beet pult to their grain. good luck and best of wishes--my thoughts are with you at this troubling time! jennifer
 
Nila if it were me and with our weather changing so quickly from hot to cool and then hot again especially with mornings being so cool now

I personally would add beet pulp to get lots more water in them I think it will be much more effective for you then salt. as you can easily get lots of water in them that way.

Of ocurse the hosptial is not a big fan of beet pulp and seems to be one of the only vets in the area that is against it so I dont know what you will want to do but I know it has helped my horses alot especially since they arent used to winter and cold weather
 

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