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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 937
  
| Two different horses have died at my bfs house now and we are no closer to any answers so I'm reaching out to you guys to see if anyone has any suggestions.
Both horses were out on pasture and fed the same feed from the local mill and drank the same water source. Both were young and healthy not older horses. They both developed a cow-patty like manure the first day followed by a swift runny diarrhea the next day and became dehydrated. One passed away in the night right after he began having diarrhea before we could ever get him to the vet. The mare was taken to the vet and put on IV fluids and given a dose of oxytetracycline. The vet believed that they had either Potomac Horse Fever or Salmonella. From the bloodwork and fecal both came back negative as well as c. difficile.
Any suggestions or ideas as to what this could be?
I believe they are sending off the feed to be tested just in case, but not sure what steps to take next? |
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 Midget Lover
  
Location: Kentucky | Oh wow, I am so sorry to hear that. How terrible.
I thought of this article because they are on the same feed: http://www.manitobacooperator.ca/2012/10/17/monensin-and-horses-a-deadly-combination/ |
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 Bulls Eye
Posts: 6443
Location: Oklahoma | First thought is contaminated feed like Murphy posted. A local mill could run medicated cattle feed as well as horse feed. Go on Facebook and look at the page, "Is your horse feed safe" there are so many articles, etc. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 937
| I believe they are taking the feed in to be tested this week as I had a concern over that as well after seeing all of Rachenllys posts about monesin and ionophore free feed.
My horse is on a different feed than the two that passed away and hasn't been sick at all. One other older horse that is on the same feed had one bout of diarrhea but it turned back normal within a few hours and the vet didn't think it was the same thing as the other two horses.
I will definitely urge them to get the feed tested asap. |
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 Owner of a ratting catting machine
Posts: 2258
| Could be viral. I have a colt that last year came down with diarrhea, was extremely lethargic, had a fever. He ended up spending two weeks at the equine hospital on a drip. Never quit eating, just laid down a lot, had diarrhea, etc. The other four horses just had a loose stool for like a day, the mare seemed a bit tired, no other symptoms. The neighbor half a mile away lost three horses to diarrhea within the week. Ran the DNA test trying to narrow down the diagnosis, nothing came back other than there were viral particles present. I decided maybe the birds or bugs brought it in, as mine were completely secluded from other horses. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1304
| Could they have gotten into something poisonous? At one time when I was little we had a bunch of dairy cattle and literally three or four of them just dropped dead. Because they were out in the pasture and not closely monitored, I'm not sure that we saw any symptoms to be concerned about. But a vet came in, cut one open, and found a poisonous berry or plant in their stomach and determined that was the cause. It might be something to look into if they were just introduced to new pasture!
Edited to fix my grammar,lol.
Edited by blccwgl55 2015-06-23 8:25 AM
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 937
| Bump for more suggestions
If it was viral wouldn't it have gotten all of the horses? All four horses were turned out together at various points and only two got sick and passed away.
Also to add the mare passed away at the vets office. He believed she had beat the infection but laminitis occurred and she was put down it was so severe. |
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 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| So sorry to hear this, hope you find the answer. |
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 Jr. Detective
Location: Beggs, OK | Check out Full Bucket. SG swears by their products. http://www.fullbuckethealth.com/horse-supplements.html |
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Miss Not Exciting
Posts: 3279
Location: Ft Worth TX | Sounds a lot like Potomac horse fever. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 937
| The fecal and bloodwork both came back negative for Potomac Horse Fever and Salmonella. |
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Industrial Srength Barrel Racer
Posts: 7268
| Please keep us posted. I am so very sorry for her loss! |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1182
Location: Do I hear Banjos? | With PHF and Salmonella negative...It sounds like acute toxicity to something. Feed issue would be high on my list of possibilities from what you described. |
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Folks on-line