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Post by tbrescue on Apr 25, 2008 18:08:21 GMT -5
My poor rescued TB has just tested positive for Lyme disease. This is on the heels of his abscess, so he has not been ridden in 3 weeks and 4 weeks ago we moved to a new barn, so there's unfortunately been a whole month of various symptoms and behaviors that were attributed to the move, different hay, etc that really were indicators of Lyme that went un-noticed til we tested. He's going on a 30 day doxycycline treatment. I'm just looking for info about treating and managing the disease. Sadly my vet at the new barn is not very good at communication, so all I've gotten out of her so far is the Doxy. Should I be riding him? he seems to tire easily and was having a bit of trouble out on the trail the other day figuring out what to do with his feet (granted there was quite a bit of rocks and branches to pick through) and he was very sweaty when we got back from our walk in the woods as compared to my friend's horse who has been out of work for the same amount of time because he had stitches in his knee the day before Romeo went lame.
I want to keep him moving if possible, but I don't want to hurt him or aggravate the disease. He is on all day turnout, sadly no grass but he gets plenty of hay and I take him to hand graze whenever I am there.
I just feel so bad for him, it's been a long hard road since we rescued him and he just can't seem to catch a break. Thanks in advance for any info you'd like to share.
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Post by jenarby on Apr 25, 2008 21:12:21 GMT -5
I've never had a horse with Lyme but have seen a ton of dogs with it when I worked at a vet hospital. What I saw was problems controloling the rear end and joint pain. Some were so bad they couldn't control their hind ends. I think if it were me I would not ride until he's been cleared by a vet.
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Post by Deb on Apr 26, 2008 7:27:11 GMT -5
I'm sorry to be of no help with info on Lyme Disease. I just want to wish you the best and hope all goes well for you.
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Post by hfhopper on Apr 26, 2008 11:52:11 GMT -5
My friend has gone through a 3 year battle treating Lyme in her OTTB. During that time she treated him with the doxy and also with collodial silver (per Dr. Judith Shoemaker who is excellent with this disease). She went through a period where she didn't ride him because he was SO uncoordinated/unsure of where his feet were, etc. He was just dangerous to be on for fear of falling unexpectedly. When she brought him back to work she had to basically start all over again with short work sessions on good, even footing until he built himself back up physically. He is now back to work 100% and doing very well. If you feel that he is unsure of himself when you're on him, then I would say don't ride. Or walk only on well groomed footing on lots of straight lines. Lymes is a strange disease and affects each horse differently. Just stay safe and give your guy plenty of room and time for moving.
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Post by CC on Apr 28, 2008 7:58:42 GMT -5
Lyme affects them all in a different manner. I did ride my gelding as my vet wanted to keep his muscles working. BUT, I just did whatever the horse felt capable of. For quite a while, it was just walking as I could not even get him to trot.
You'll find many treatment options (length of treatment and doxy doses seem to differ widely!)also. BUT, only 4 weeks of doxy seems short. Basil was on 8,000 mg of doxy (80 100mg tablets/day) for 6 weeks. He felt better after about a week but then we had good days and bad days. After finishing, he still did not feel himself and his hocks were really bothering him. So, after x-rays (which were not so horrible but did warrant hock injections) he had upper and lower joints injected for each hock. Again, he did seem better but still not 100%. By early Dec., his Lyme symptoms were back (which were mainly tripping and interfering and not wanting to go forward).
So we started doxy for another 4 weeks. He also had a visit from a good chiro/acc. vet at the same time. After only 5 days on doxy, I had my horse back (with some extra energy thrown in for good measure LOL!). I started him back foxhunting on boxing day and we have been going ever since!
He does get IV Legend and adequan IM once a month plus an oral HA paste (I use HydraRX) every other day (except for a week after a Legend injection). Lyme can definitely increase arthritis symptoms.
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Post by tbrescue on Apr 29, 2008 7:44:28 GMT -5
Thanks for all the info. I feel lucky that he's not too bad, he's not showing much in the way of being super uncomfortable and he is really willing to go gallop around with his pasturemate  He is not happy on loose rocks or gravel, but he's really happy in our sand ring! My vet seemed to think he was footsore...but this was also on the heels of his abscess We did xray the same day the blood was drawn and have not seen any signs of arthritis at this point. I am very optimistic that he'll recover fully and be his happy self again soon-the biggest symptom I've seen is major moodiness-one minute he's all happy and the next he's super grumpy which could be pain related, but he is not moving like he's in pain. I just feel so bad for him, he's been through so much in the past 8 months |
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Post by CC on Apr 29, 2008 8:21:11 GMT -5
Good that his symptoms aren't too bad. Basil didn't even want to run after his fieldmates. His symptoms were masked by a pasture collision (that we now know probably occured because he lost his balance while running like a goof and hit his poor pasturemate). BUT, we suspected he flipped because he was very muscle sore. Once I started riding him again (after almost 6 weeks) he was just NOT right. So after an exam by the vet he said it sounds like Lyme and the snaptest he did that day was positive as was the titre done at Cornell.
Oh, and Basil was also ouchy on gravel which is very atypical for him. Once he felt better, that disappeared.
Good luck with your guy!
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