Terry
Junior Member
Central Illinois, USA
Posts: 1,466 
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Post by Terry on Apr 8, 2016 3:28:11 GMT
Sis has been acting really tired lately, and some times she just can't seem to stay awake, which is really unlike her. I had my vet out to do spring shots and teeth a little over a week ago and I discussed it with her while she was here. She decided to draw blood and run some tests. She did some basic tests at her office, plus she sent some blood out to be tested for Lyme Disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Tonight I found out that the test results are back and all of Sis's basic tests came out fine, she tested negative for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, but she tested positive for Lyme Disease. Has anyone ever dealt with this with their horses? How did it go?
My vet is ordering Sis's medicine tomorrow, and it's supposed to take about a week for the medicine to arrive. It's oral medication that I will have to give to Sis daily for the next 2 months, but fortunately my vet is ordering it in a pelleted form so all I will have to do is feed it to her instead of trying to give it to her by oral syringe once or twice a day for that long. Hopefully it will have a good taste to it so she won't turn up her nose at it. Apparently it's basically the same medicine that I had to give her by IV when she had Potomac Horse Fever.
Poor Sis, she seems to get sick with all the crazy stuff! She's a tough girl, though. She made it through the Potomac Horse Fever with flying colors, and hopefully she'll do the same with the Lyme Disease, but I could sure use all the prayers and healing thoughts you guys can send her way in the meantime.
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Post by horselover4life on Apr 8, 2016 10:08:10 GMT
HL has dealt with it many times....
Sadly, it is a very common "disease" in humans, dogs, cats and our horses in NYS, LI and I believe much of the northeast.
I lost a dog to it before it was really ever heard about.
Do indeed take it very seriously....
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Post by carshon on Apr 8, 2016 14:29:09 GMT
Terry we are all pulling for Sis - it is a blessing that you know your horse so well that you can spot the tiredness and other signs. Not all horse owners are this in tune with their horses.
Prayers coming your way!
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Terry
Junior Member
Central Illinois, USA
Posts: 1,466
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Post by Terry on Apr 8, 2016 15:18:14 GMT
Thank you, Carshon. HL4L, I'm scared, and I'm definitely taking this seriously, but I'm trying to keep my fear in check while I try to educate myself on this disease.
One thing that my vet says to me all the time is that Sis and I are so in tune with each other, and Sis "tells" me whenever something is wrong, and I always listen to her! For example, except for the very first time that Sis had to have a couple teeth pulled, I have always known before my vet even gets started, that Sis has at least 1 loose tooth that she's going to end up needing to have pulled (this last time was no exception - my poor Sis had to have another tooth pulled, bringing her total up to 6 teeth that have had to be pulled in the 5 1/2 years I've owned her). She and I just have a bond that is like nothing I've ever had with any other horse I've owned. This little mare is my world, and I pray that she pulls through this!
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Post by horselady on Apr 8, 2016 19:17:53 GMT
First i also commend you on knowing your horses and taking the proactive steps to see what is wrong.
second.. i have had to deal with lyme and if caught in time it is not life threatening. AGAIN if caught in time. the horses usually die from not being able to walk from pain caused by arthiritis that is a symptom .. aches. pains, and swelling in the joints. even becoming jittery when being brushed. and going into the internal organs causing colic.
all that being said. you need to ask what levels did the test come out. or basically the number from the titer test. the titer test is a blood test over and above the snap test ( some equine vets do that first than send the blood to a lab for better results. ) and costs more than snap test.
that the dog vets do in the office in a small test machine like a diabetic test unit.
as for the medication the only antibiotic i am aware of is doxcycycline. and that is in pill form and i usually have a dosage of 30 a day for 30 days and i uses roughly 1000 pills for the month.. and i have the horse retested every 6 months to make sure it is not recurring.
i tell everyone if the vet is at your facility. no matter where you live. have that titer test done and save yourself a lot of anguish .. lyme is going across the united states and horses should be tested.
good luck and she will be ok... you caught it in time.
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Terry
Junior Member
Central Illinois, USA
Posts: 1,466
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Post by Terry on Apr 8, 2016 20:30:34 GMT
Thanks, horselady. We sent Sis's blood out for the "big" test. Unfortunately I was not expecting this result, so I was feeling a little overwhelmed as my vet was giving me the information last night, and I didn't understand or absorb as much of the information she gave me as I would have liked. I know she said the blood test we had done was basically 3 pronged. The first two results were on a lower scale, but the 3rd result was very high.
I'll know more about the meds once I get them. All I know is that my vet said it's basically the same medication that we gave Sis by IV when she had Potomac Horse Fever, but this time it will be in a pelleted form that I will feed to her for 60 days. She said she's worried that a 30 day dose won't be enough to completely get rid of it, so she wants to hit it long and hard to be safe. She sounded positive as she was telling me all of this last night, so I'm trying to remain positive myself, but I'll admit, it's hard. The unknown is just so scary, especially when my horse's health and life is at stake!
I've been trying to read up on Lyme Disease in horses today to try to educate myself. In doing so I realized that Sis had given me another sign, but I didn't realize it. She never showed me any lameness or swollen joints but, in addition to being lethargic and not being able to stay awake, she was grumpy and sensitive to touch (she has been flinching occasionally and moving away from me repeatedly while I've been trying to groom her and get her shed out, and she's just been a little grumpy in general, but I thought she was just in a mood and being a stinker - I know better now). :-(
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Post by horselady on Apr 8, 2016 23:34:18 GMT
I wanted to add careful on over feeding her. cause she might loose weight during this lyme outbreak.. just give her the hay and her grain am and pm and do not try to over feed cause she looks thinner. she might not loose any weight but you never know. if you try to overfeed her before she is on a downward cycle she could founder and we no not want that . in fact keep her area around the water tub muddy and keep her walking around for food. even if that means piles of hay in different areas of her pen. pasture is great. plenty of room for her to walk around.
i also would like to know what kind of antibiotic she is going to be on. just for my education.
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Terry
Junior Member
Central Illinois, USA
Posts: 1,466
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Post by Terry on Apr 9, 2016 14:27:36 GMT
Thanks for the info, horselady. I hadn't seen or heard anything about possible weight loss, so I'll definitely keep an eye on that, but I will make sure not to up her feed because of it.
My girls are not out to pasture yet this year, they are still in the dry lot, so grass isn't an issue right now, but they still have plenty of room to move around. Once we are ready to start putting them out to pasture, I always gradually wean them out to it to prevent founder, so I'll do the same this year, although I've probably got about a month yet before I need to start worrying about that.
I won't know exactly what medicine the vet is going to put Sis on until I get it, but once I know I'll be sure to post the info in here so you'll know.
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Terry
Junior Member
Central Illinois, USA
Posts: 1,466
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Post by Terry on Apr 14, 2016 19:16:10 GMT
I had to call my vet's office yesterday to schedule an appointment for my dog, and I decided to ask if, by any chance, Sis's medicine had arrived yet (it would be early, but I was hoping!). Unfortunately I was told that, not only was it not in yet, but the pharmacy that is compounding it into pellets is backlogged, and it won't be ready until around April 18th, so my vet's office is hoping to have it for me by the middle of next week.  Here I was hoping it might come in early, only to find out it will now arrive many days later than estimated. I could just cry. Sis just looks so tired all the time. Each day when I go out to see her she will frequently just rest her head against my chest. It's heartbreaking to know that she doesn't feel good, but that there is nothing more I can do right now other than to wait and pray.
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Post by horselady on Apr 14, 2016 19:47:02 GMT
Well that is 4 days away and your vet was there oh at least 10 days ago. , the stuff does not have to be powder form get doxycycline asap. and get her started. just make noise and get it in pill form no matter what it is. and than they could send the powder.. too much red tape and not enough speed. the horse needs her meds. now not in 4 days and not two weeks after the vet was there.
if you want powder use a spice grinder or magic bullet and grind your own.
is the dog vet the same as the horse vet?? and you are having lyme test on the dogs also??
end of vent and i will step off my soap box
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Post by horselover4life on Apr 14, 2016 21:01:06 GMT
Terry....please have your vet get you a script or call in a prescription to a local pharmacy.
That is a common drug in many dosage sizes....
There is no reason Sis needs to wait any longer.
You many have to "feed" her more pills for a few day but at least treatment would start and start to knock down the virus....
I have doxy in my house from when I was sick....it is a readily available drug in "human" form...
Here..some other names for the same drug...available through any pet pharmacy too.
Doxirobe (oral gel veterinary form)
Vibramycin , Monodex (human form)
Generic products are available
You only need a prescription called in, it is simple, it is fast and it might not cost you as much as "special compounding" and taking more time....
Terry....GET AFTER YOUR VET for Sis's sake!!
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Post by horselady on Apr 19, 2016 11:27:21 GMT
Any update on getting antibiotics for sis...??and how is she feeling?? How is the dog that you took to see vet .?
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Post by horselady on Apr 24, 2016 11:30:27 GMT
Hope you got the antibiotics by now and she is on her way to recovery.
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Terry
Junior Member
Central Illinois, USA
Posts: 1,466
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Post by Terry on Apr 24, 2016 17:12:12 GMT
We are now 17 days after the date that I was given Sis's diagnosis, and her meds still have not arrived.  I have been in frequent contact with the vet's office about this, and the vet's office is as upset about it as I am, but they really don't have any more control over the pharmacy than I do. This past Monday they received someone else's medicine that was ordered at the same time Sis's medicine was, but by Friday Sis's medicine still had not arrived. The vet's office called and chewed out the pharmacy for these delays, and the pharmacy has agreed to overnight Sis's medicine as soon as it is ready (which had better be soon!!!). In the meantime Sis is no better, but no worse either.
I would appreciate any and all prayers and healing thoughts each of you can send Sis's way.
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Post by horselady on Apr 24, 2016 20:30:54 GMT
I am sure you are really angy,,, but overnight from what date to what day??
get a script tomorrow and take it to the drugstore and those pills NOW 3 plus weeks waiting is eternity.. for you. for her.. pills. and grind them up doxycycline. that is it. nothing special or different than the ones i have used for 14 years since the beginning of knowing about lymne.
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mistersmom
Junior Member
Abita Springs, LA
Posts: 3,749
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Post by mistersmom on Apr 25, 2016 13:46:41 GMT
Oh goodness, what an ordeal. Praying for you and Sis.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2016 17:40:45 GMT
Wow! I would be just hopping mad. There really isn't any excuse for those meds to be taking that long! What is the pharmacy saying? Are they stock or something?
Poor Sis, and poor you! I'm glad to hear she isn't getting any worse though. Hoping that you get your meds soon and she starts doing better!
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Terry
Junior Member
Central Illinois, USA
Posts: 1,466
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Post by Terry on Apr 26, 2016 16:24:22 GMT
Hallelujah! I got a call from my vet's office on my way to work this morning... the meds are finally in!!  Apparently the vet's office called the pharmacy again yesterday and really chewed them a new one. The meds were then magically overnighted and arrived at my vet's office early this morning. I'll be running to pick them up over my lunch hour.
There's more to this story now, but I'm at work right now so I'll have to fill you all in tonight after I get home.
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mistersmom
Junior Member
Abita Springs, LA
Posts: 3,749
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Post by mistersmom on Apr 26, 2016 17:26:01 GMT
So glad to hear the meds are finally in. Hope everything else is ok.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Apr 26, 2016 17:51:31 GMT
Glad to hear that the meds are FINALLY on the way! That last bit was a bit ominous though. Hope everything is ok otherwise.
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Here I was hoping it might come in early, only to find out it will now arrive many days later than estimated. I could just cry. Sis just looks so tired all the time. Each day when I go out to see her she will frequently just rest her head against my chest. It's heartbreaking to know that she doesn't feel good, but that there is nothing more I can do right now other than to wait and pray.
I have been in frequent contact with the vet's office about this, and the vet's office is as upset about it as I am, but they really don't have any more control over the pharmacy than I do. This past Monday they received someone else's medicine that was ordered at the same time Sis's medicine was, but by Friday Sis's medicine still had not arrived. The vet's office called and chewed out the pharmacy for these delays, and the pharmacy has agreed to overnight Sis's medicine as soon as it is ready (which had better be soon!!!). In the meantime Sis is no better, but no worse either.
Apparently the vet's office called the pharmacy again yesterday and really chewed them a new one. The meds were then magically overnighted and arrived at my vet's office early this morning. I'll be running to pick them up over my lunch hour.