This message is from: "Mary Barsness" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> We'll know more as to why she became ill from the results of the >blood test. Our vet's final thoughts on her condition last night was >that she may have Potomac Horse Fever. He'll be out once again today to >give her another round of tri-cyclamine. > Has anyone ever experienced this in any of their horses before? Last summer my fjord gelding had a documented case of Potomac. By documented I mean that it was verified by antibody levels and a new DNA test that was sent to California. He started out with being depressed and not eating. He initially had a mild fever ( 101). My vet initially treated him as a mild colic. By the next day he was no better. It was now the weekend and my vet suggested I take him to the University. He still did not have a high fever and really wasn't acting all that ill but he would not eat. I took him to the University ( which took me about an hour to get him there). By the time i got him there he was very tocix. His gums were bright red and injected. He was lethargic, but still his temp. was only 101. The University wasn't sure what was wrong. They worked him up for colic and were also suspecting Potomac or some type of toxic ingestion. He received a lot of IV fluids over the night. In the middle of the night he got profuse diahhrea. This gave them the clue to work him up for Potomac. I don't believe his fever ever got over 102. This may have been because he got treatment very early. He stayed at the University for 6 days. They had him on laminitis prevention ( he received aspirin and some drug to dilate the blood vessels in his feet, plus he wore rubber pads on the bottoms of his feet). He recovered totally, without any complications. As a side note he was vaccinated for Potomac. He has been every year. The University explained that the vaccine is not highly effective and that there are different strains of Potomac. They also explained how they now think Potomac is spread by snails ( as an intermediate host) and not by mosquitoes as was previously believed). They said this may aid in the deveopment of a more effective vaccine. I hope your horse does not have Potomac, but if he does develop diarrhea I would urge you to have him hospitalized. I do not believe my horse could have survived without IV therapy. Mary
