Premmie foal with Joint Ill

[Tracey]

Hello,

My name is Tracey and I have a small miniature horse stud in Marburg Queensland Australia... My mare Maddie foaled six weeks early Due to her constant coughing from Equine Influenza.. Lacie was doing well then she too got EI .She spent 9 days in the vets and has been home for almost 4 weeks. She is a little fighter She now has joint ill in the hip. Can anyone suggest something to help.. Lacie lives in my lounge and goes outside to have a nibble on the grass and for some sun.

 

[Little Wee Horse Farm]

I am not familiar with EIA or its effects, since it is virtually non-exisitant where we are located. I have not, however, heard of EIA developing into a joint ill situation. But, I do know somewhat of joint ill. We had a foal with it one time.

The survival rates for it are quite low, but with diligence & persistance, you can win. I must say I don't believe it can be in just one joint. It is a systemic infection & affects all joints. The knees, for example, would be warm, almost hot to the touch.

Antibiotics (at first) & anti-inflammatories are usually prescribed. Ours was for a course of 30 days, 3 times a day (for the anti-inflammatories), & complete stall rest. The foal was about 3 days old when he presented with it. It was tough, but the treatment worked.

Have you had a veterinary diagnose it as joint ill? (septicemia).........that would be your starting point. It's very very serious and can be fatal if not treated aggressively. I am not a vet, but would suggest you get a vet's opinion on what this is, along with how to treat it. Good luck to you & your horses. - karen

(p.s. -- if it's just in the hip, have you considered stifle problems? Without a firm diagnosis of joint ill, there's no point in treating for it. Also, to my knowledge, joint ill is caused by unprotected cut becoming infected. Ours resulted from the mare not allowing us anywhere near her foal for the first 12 hours of his life. We couldn't coat the naval & that's a highway for germs to march into a little body.)

 

[MeadowRidge Farm]

I am not familiar with EIA either, but if you do suspect joint ill..get your vet out, it is nothing to play around with, the sooner treatment is started the better of a outcome you will have.

I also had a foal that showed symptoms of joint ill at the age of 4 days old,she started out with favoring one leg, and by the following day she wouldnt put any weight on that leg.My vet was out on day 4 and did tests and confirmed that it was joint ill that same day. She was on antibiotics and anti-inflamatories for 14 days. Besides her oral meds, I had to give her 3 shots a day, and I swear that was harder on me then her, she was so tiny, a preemie and weighed only 11#s .Her treatment was very intense but it worked. I had taken care of her cord, and also dipped her feet, as soon as she was born, so she should of been protected, against any infection entering, her stall was very clean, disinfected, and well bedded, so I really have no idea (nor did my vet) of how this came about. I have never had a foal born with joint ill and have never since. She was the only one in 40 plus years of owning/breeding horses. She did pull out of it and is now a very special "pasture/barn pal" to me.

 

[lotsofspots]

I believe that EIA is Equine Infectious Anemia, which is what is tested for when the annual Coggins test is done. It is not the same as EI, Equine Influenza, which is a respiratory disease. I did have a foal that developed joint ill at two days of age (which is kind of early--it usually presents itself at between 3-5 days, I think). I was there for the birth and immediately dipped the naval stump, so I don't think she got the infection that way. However, I bought the mare already in foal two months prior to her foaling and she was very thin when I got her, so I assume the foal did not get the antibodies from her colostrum because the mare did not have any due to her poor body condition! (Her subsequent foal next year was just fine). The filly developed joint ill in only one joint, her right rear hock. I initially thought it was broken because she would not put any weight on it on her second day, so the vet took x-rays and nothing was broken. I always have the vet out within 12 hours of birth to check for antibodies (IGG test) and the vet called telling me her count was only around 500 (it should be above 800), so the vet came back out immediately to administer synthetic colostrum via nasal tube...that didn't work, as her IGG levels still did not rise, so we had to give her plasma via IV the next day, which did the trick. In the meantime, this is when she developed the joint ill! She did survive, but it took daily joint flushes (needle in one side, needle out the other side and flushed with sterile saline solution) for two weeks, antibiotics for a month and a half. None of her other joints were affected. The joint was swollen and filled with this yellowish, honey-colored fluid (the vet drew some out), but after the flushes, it was clear. The vet did say she could develop arthritis in the joint and could be lame, but at two and a half years old, she is fine! I don't know if joint ill can develop at such a late date, so I would definitely get a vet's opinion (or two) to see if that's what it really is. Good luck!

Edited to add: The filly had to be confined to a stall the whole time so as not to stress the joint--and THAT was hard for me, her dam and HER!

 

[rabbitsfizz]

EI is Equine Influenza, as stated by the original poster.

I am assuming this foal is diagnosed and on radical antibiotics??

If you have her inside with you then try physiotherapy- you need to be very careful with this, you need to have the foal relaxed and you need to count the number of rotations to make sure you do each leg exactly the same- any resistance form the foal, STOP as in order to be efficacious it needs to be exactly the same on each limb.

With the animal relaxed rotate each limb in turn- hind to hind then front to front, for X number of turns- obviously you rotate in keeping with the animals ability- Humans can do almost a full circle with the arms above the head - Do NOT try that with a Horse

Start low and add one turn per session and STICK to that regime, do not be tempted to add one more, it is pointless.

You are mimicing a running movement with each leg in turn.

All you are doing is keeping the animals whole system on the go- as if you had a happy healthy little one- you are attempting, in fact to fool thew system.

This will help everything- the digestion, heart, bowels, muscles, everything, which will help the immune system.

You can do the patterning routine three or four times a day to start and build up over a week or so.

Nothing invasive, gently and slowly is the order of the day.

Run it by your Vet and be guided by what s/he says.

I have had success with this routine with animals of all sorts, including Humans and a kitten with pretty severe joint ill, deemed too small by the Vet for antibiotics- I could not just sit and let her die so I got to work.

She survived- I have to tell you she was a bit "slow" and she was very small, but she was happy!!

 

[ChrystalPaths]

Excellent reply Jane, I do hope your little one has seen a vet and that she improves with your love, care and meds.

 

[wildoak]

I've not had any with EI, but I had a couple of joint ill foals several years ago. Like others said, I was there at birth and dipped the cord, etc so no idea how it came about. Anyway, both foals were treated with antibiotics and one had a joint flushed. Both survived and thrived, and are just fine now.

Something else you can do while treating the specific illness takes off on what rabbitsfizz suggested. Check www.ttouch.com for information on TTouch "therapy" for lack of a better word. Rather amazing results from some very simple touches you can do, including the leg circles. PM me if you are interested in more specifics. I just had a yearling colt who was very ill this weekend and he is recovering nicely, due in part to the ttouch work I believe.

Jan

 

[HGFarm]

I have no experience with EI either, but have with joint ill.

A long go of antibiotics is vital, in addition to stall rest. Also, our vet had us give the foal a real aspirin (MUST be aspirin, not tylenol or something else) and that really reduced the fever AND pain and inflammation in the leg. Due to the antibiotics, I also opted to feed some yogurt, in addition to just making sure the foal is getting plenty of liquids and drinking enough. I substituted mine, again with the vet's orders, with some gatorade.

The hip sounds pretty tough- my colt had it in the hock joint, and was easy for the vet to drain and flush the joint- and then the long bout with antibiotics started. The colt made it fine, healed up with no problems at all.

It must be treated aggressively- if I remember (it's been a while) the antibiotics continued for 3 to 4 weeks, along with the constant monitoring and keeping the fever down the first week or two, etc....

 

[buckonranch]

My only experience with Joint Ills was a very similar situation.. Early delivery . The baby did not have a complete imune tranfer from the mare due to lack of Colostrum.. The infection was in both front knees.. I dont know if there would have been anything I could have done at home for the colt other than anti-biotics.. The veternarian flushed both of his knees two different times before the infection subsided.. The outcome for this is not always positive..In our case the cost over $3000.00 before we were done.. The colt is now three and still no side effects... Usually the occurance is within the first two weeks of life.. Did you say a vet diagnosed the baby with Joint Ills in its hip??

Angie

 

[Tracey]

My only experience with Joint Ills was a very similar situation.. Early delivery . The baby did not have a complete imune tranfer from the mare due to lack of Colostrum.. The infection was in both front knees.. I dont know if there would have been anything I could have done at home for the colt other than anti-biotics.. The veternarian flushed both of his knees two different times before the infection subsided.. The outcome for this is not always positive..In our case the cost over $3000.00 before we were done.. The colt is now three and still no side effects... Usually the occurance is within the first two weeks of life.. Did you say a vet diagnosed the baby with Joint Ills in its hip??

Angie

Hello Yes she has been under a vet supervision since she was diagnosed She has had plasma and heavy antibiotics and is going to have to joint flushed on Friday because she had more tests after 10 days she has shown little improvement. This is the last resort for lacie and it has been a long five weeks for us and her we have already surpassed the $3000 She puts weight on it most of the time and is a fighter .She had colostrum we milked mum and fed her but because mum was so sick with equine inflenza we feel it may not have been up to scratch as in a healthy mare..... Thanks everyone for your input

Tracey

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[ChrystalPaths]

You have my utmost admiration for your devtion to this sweet baby girl and also my prayers and light continue for her.