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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 989
  
| My horse is displaying some really wierd lameness and I remember reading on here about some peoples horses with epm doing just that..
He has an un-found lameness in his right shoulder or foot or both, and he is shifting his weight on his hind end quite a bit, loosing muscle mass in his hind end and cocking his hind legs outside his hip line, instead of inside beside his other hind leg. Which is wierd for him.
Can epm show symtoms like this or is there some 'normal' symptoms?
I am trying to gather about $1k to get a full lameness exam on him, but dont quite have it yet due to other expenses coming up that I was not expecting... go figure.
Thanks in advance. |
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 Texas Taco
Posts: 7499
 
Location: Bandera, TX | My horse was very off in March - we did all the usual nurological test but she passed all of them. Vet said not EPM, but I insited on the test just to rule it out for sure.... test came back with a high postive for EPM....
EPM is such an odd disease and it does whatever it wants to basically. If your vet is not familiar with the new test and treatments through Pathogenes Labs please ask him to look into it. www.pathogenes.com The test is very specific and pretty much eliminates the false positives. They also recommend treatment and it is much cheaper than the old Marquis. |
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 Lady Di
Posts: 21556
Location: Oklahoma | GoMistyGo - 2014-07-15 11:10 AM
My horse was very off in March - we did all the usual nurological test but she passed all of them.  Vet said not EPM, but I insited on the test just to rule it out for sure.... test came back with a high postive for EPM....Â
EPM is such an odd disease and it does whatever it wants to basically. If your vet is not familiar with the new test and treatments through Pathogenes Labs please ask him to look into it. www.pathogenes.com  The test is very specific and pretty much eliminates the false positives. They also recommend treatment and it is much cheaper than the old Marquis.Â
Ditto to this. The largest common denominator that my vet has found with EPM is the loosing muscle mass part. I would definitely have him tested just to rule it out before you go the expense of a full lameness exam. JMO My vet also does the test from Pathogenes, and it runs around $70. The medicine to treat it is $250....much cheaper than most EPM treatments and it works. |
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Lady Di
Posts: 21556
Location: Oklahoma | FlyingJT - 2014-07-15 11:17 AM
If you don't have the money to get the exam I would go ahead and spend the money on the treatment. It won't hurt him if its not EPM and you'll see improvement if it is. Diclazuril, IV, for 5 days ran me about $250. I only say that because the faster you get treatment, if it is EPM, the better the odds. Have you called the vet and explained the symptoms that you are seeing....
It costs $600 here for the IV diclazuril....wonder why it was so much cheaper where you are?? |
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Texas Taco
Posts: 7499
Location: Bandera, TX | dianeguinn - 2014-07-15 11:20 AM
GoMistyGo - 2014-07-15 11:10 AM
My horse was very off in March - we did all the usual nurological test but she passed all of them.  Vet said not EPM, but I insited on the test just to rule it out for sure.... test came back with a high postive for EPM....Â
EPM is such an odd disease and it does whatever it wants to basically. If your vet is not familiar with the new test and treatments through Pathogenes Labs please ask him to look into it. www.pathogenes.com  The test is very specific and pretty much eliminates the false positives. They also recommend treatment and it is much cheaper than the old Marquis.Â
Ditto to this. The largest common denominator that my vet has found with EPM is the loosing muscle mass part. I would definitely have him tested just to rule it out before you go the expense of a full lameness exam. JMO My vet also does the test from Pathogenes, and it runs around $70. The medicine to treat it is $250....much cheaper than most EPM treatments and it works.
The Pathogene's meds have a list price of $200 - my fancy vet tagged on an additional $100 to order it for me. My friend vet got it for me at cost for another horse.... Just FYI.... |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 584
Location: MS | My mare was just diagnosed and treated for EPM back in April of this year. She did not display normal signs and the only reason we actually had her looked at was because she was not shedding off and was just very passive acting. There was no stumbling, loss of muscle mass, she was still trying to work (she was in training at a trainers), etc. and she too passed all the normal neuro tests. We honestly thought it was ulcers and she could be a little sore. After blood tests for everything, etc, and those coming back good, my vet just had a gut feeling that it may be EPM so we decided to go ahead and test as a last resort and she came back 90% positive. Thankfully I had asked my vet would it hurt to go ahead and start the Marquis just incase while we waited for the results to come back and he said no, so I did and I am very glad I did. We got very lucky and caught it really early and we did the round of Marquis. After the first week, she did not even look like the same horse! She was slick, shiny and n olonger passive. By the final week, she was back to the firey horse she was before. She's been retested twice and so far, we are EPM FREE!! If you even suspect this, I would not hesitate and have your horse tested even if nohting more than to rule EPM out. I have learned that it's symptoms can sometimrd not be very obvious and be something out of the ordinary. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 989
| Thank you for the replies....
I think I am going to head up for the lameness exam, and get him tested all at the same time for epm as well... then with one vet visit I can cover my basis. After reading the other post from rbeau... I am wondering if it could be a bursitis as well... which is one thing my vet mentioned as a possibility...
I grabbed one of my friends pack horses off an 80 acre mountain last night as I had an 'itch' to run... he is green patterned and I have rode him 4 times lol... we won the 1d !! little jackpot.. slower times, but I had a blast... Now, I really have my itch back and want MY horse....
time to put up the money and get on with figuring it out
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 IMA No Hair Style Gal
Posts: 2594
| I was suprised to find out my horse had EPM when I had a holistic vet evaluate him.
He did so through acupuncture. I don't know that much about it BUT there are a few EPM acupuncture points on their back legs. When I would brush my horse there he would practically fall over or want to cowkick.
So another option would be to read up on these EPM acupuncture points and test them to see if your horse reacts to them until you get in for your lameness exam.
And as far as testing them goes...you just brush the area where the point is or run a pencil over it gently. If the horse reacts then it suggests EPM or whatever else depending on the point.
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 I am Woman hear me Roar
Posts: 3395
Location: Choctaw, Oklahoma | Sounds like EPM to me!!
I have seen a few horses around this area get diagnosed with it with and without the blood test and after treatment the horses have never looked better or moved better. Some even treat without a positive blood test and their horses have bounced back to soundness.
Good luck! |
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  Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | sometimes if horses hocks are sore they dont use the proper muscles and lose muscle mass back there.. over time.. and shift as well alot.. id have a complete lameness exam on him.. |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | I know these are old threads, but bumping up for someone asking about EPM. |
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Folks on-line