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Formerly Horse
Posts: 4552
  
Location: TEXAS | I've had my mare 10 years and she just started having narcolepsy symptoms. Anyone have a narcoleptic horse or a story about similar symptoms. She had a vet appt and vet saw nothing to explain her symptoms. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 330
| What are her symptoms?
True narcolepsy will cause a horse to just fall asleep no matter what you're doing, including riding.
If she is falling asleep, seemingly like narcolepsy when she is alone dozing in her field, or standing tied for long periods of time (like on the cross ties or to the trailer), etc. and she's not falling asleep while doing activities, then you're likely looking at sleep deprivation, which can seem like narcolepsy.
My mare refuses to lay down, is super "on alert" and just doesn't feel comfortable laying down and sleeping. She also has hock arthritis. I have tried stalling her at night, thinking that she would feel safe in her stall and lay down, but she HATES being in, so that doesn't help.
Anyhow, if a horse is constantly uncomfortable or does not lay down to sleep, they can get sleep deprived. What happens then is when they are in a quiet place or standing in one spot for a period of time, they can "fall asleep" and literally fall asleep standing up, knees buckling, swaying, etc. My mare does this out in the field. I have her on video.
If your horse is doing this I would investigate a pain issue somewhere, as constant discomfort can prevent them from getting enough REM sleep, which is vital to preventing sleep deprivation (in humans too!)
So, I would investigate pain; and also consider if your mare lays down to sleep; if not, see if she feels more comfortable laying down somewhere else. Like if she is turned out 24/7, try stalling her at night, maybe she would feel safer laying down to sleep in her stall versus outside. Likewise, if she is stalled a lot, try 24/7 turnout, maybe she doesn't like to lay down in her stall.
But I would start with investigation into pain somewhere. |
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Formerly Horse
Posts: 4552
Location: TEXAS | She more fits sleep deprivation but I have no idea why. She has minimal hock issues and that's treated. It just seems so sudden. She does have a melanoma in her throat latch and I wonder if it's pressing on a cranial nerve as it grows. |
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Meanest Teacher!!!
Posts: 8552
 
Location: sunny california | check for preditors. she could be staying up all night out of fear |
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 Expert
Posts: 4121
Location: SE Louisiana | I don't know if there is anything like this in the horse world, but I have Polycythemia. In short, my body produces too much blood. The last time I went in to be checked, they had to draw out 5 units to get me down to the 8 I was supposed to have. The symptom I recognize is I'm tired all the time. My body was working so hard to process all that blood it was wearing me out. I could sleep 16 hours a day with no problem and I could fall asleep on my feet. |
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Expert
Posts: 3514
| The melanoma may be causing of the symptoms. I remember reading on the Silver Lining website that they had luck shrinking rumors in horses with herbs. Call and speak to them.
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 920
| I had a horse I swore was mild narcoleptic. He would be fine till about 8=9 then get real tired it seemed. if he dozed off while we were waiting around he would fall to his knees. He would do it during the day some also but seemed to happen more at night. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 929
| BarrelStarr - 2014-06-23 6:44 AM
She more fits sleep deprivation but I have no idea why. She has minimal hock issues and that's treated. It just seems so sudden. She does have a melanoma in her throat latch and I wonder if it's pressing on a cranial nerve as it grows.
it might be. I have a horse that has the same symptoms (will doze off, then the head will come down, knees and hind end will buckle and he will fall, sometimes will wake himself before hitting the ground and sometimes not.) He is black and apparently has parotid salivary tumors, but they are quite large. He also has choke, which may or may not be associated with the rest.
Good luck to you...not sure how to fix it if it is from the tumors, as I have seen the surgery for it and would never put one of my horses through it. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1969
Location: Texas | Shesararetreasure has it. Will even fall asleep when I'm on her. Here's a YouTube video.
http://youtu.be/Whm22WDNhos |
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Formerly Horse
Posts: 4552
Location: TEXAS | Are you gals running these horses? |
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 Get a Clue
Posts: 1228
Location: A Higher Elevation | I had a mare that I thought was narcoleptic. She would fall asleep, and her knees/ankles would start to buckle... SHe'd also fall asleep at the water tank. Luckily, waking up before drowning herself! But, chiropractic treatments seemed to help. I was just using her as a broodmare, so she wasn't being ridden. I'd get her adjusted 2 or 3 times a year and it really seemed to help.
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Expert
Posts: 3147
| My retired pleasure mare had an arthritic knee that was too painful for her to bend it to lie down. Her head would drop, then she'd start leaning backwards til she would almost fall, then catch herself and stand back up. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 920
| I ran mine. Long as he was moving and kept alert he seemed fine. He had several other ticks as well. Would bob his head up and down tied to the trailer but never pawed or threw a fit. He had some personality
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Expert
Posts: 1969
Location: Texas | Check out YouTube.com/ThorneRanch for lots of videos of Shesararetreasure. Earnings over 200k, 4 time TX Circuit Finals qualifier.... |
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