URGENT! Grass sickness advice please

Trixie

Trixie

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Aug 22, 2004
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A horse I know of has chronic grass sickness. It was diagnosed 14 days ago, symptoms began about 18 days ago.

Treatment to date
1. Rugging to stop chilling from the sweating
2. High calorie feeds including stud cubes and crushed oats
3. Mollassed water
4. Plenty of apples and carrots
5. Loads of attention to keep horse's spirits up
6. One dose of bute a day for colic, 2 on a bad day

Horse is still pooping although droppings a bit hard and small.

Ribs still not visible although a lot of weight has been lost and the weight loss seems to have stabilised.

The nasal passages have improved a bit, but horse is still sounding stuffy. My worry is that the muscle twitching has got worse. Has anyone any experience with a mild sedative such as valium for this?

Has anyone any experience with clearing of the nasal passages by a vet?

Can anyone think of anything else we can do? Please, we're desperate!
 
Youve done all i can think of. Im sorry to hear that!

Im not sure if this is true or not, but id be careful as i was told horses in the same pasture can also get it?
Sorry if im wrong! Hopefully i am!!
 
it sounds like you've done pretty much all you can. I believe Edinburgh vet school are very experienced in nursing chronic grass sickness cases and I would be tempted to send the horse there to give it the absolute best chance. Their intensive care will give him round the clock support that he really needs right now.

And yes, it does happen in clusters often in the same field.
 
Have you looked on the Equine Grass Sickness Fund website? Not sure of the address but a google search should find it for you. A pony on my yard was diagnosed with chronic GS in mid-May & his owner contacted the EGS Fund & found them very helpful & supportive.

You might also like to look on www.montyroberts.co.uk because in the Horse Help section is a thread called Surviving Grass Sickness.
 
Feeds, basically anything the horse will eat. Try things like sugar beet and alfalfa as well.

Apart from that it sounds like you've done everything already.

If the weight loss has stabilised and you can't even see the ribs yet you're doing well. With chronic grass sickness there is a critical time of about 5 weeks, if you can get the horse throught that it's chances get much better.

Having seen a huge powerful draught horse waster away in front of my eyes despite all the care we could give him was distressing. I wish you the best of luck.
 
how about the freeze dried apple and carrot to tempt him to eat? Also mint to stimulate his appetite. Ask the vet if it would be ok for you to do something like putting his head over a bucket of warm water, with menthol or something in, to sort out the stuffiness, apart from that, good luck hun, I wish you all the best and I hope he recovers.
 
Thanks, and another question

Thanks folks for your kind words and advice, will try everything.

Has anyone come across the pain relief without bute? Someone has pointed out that bute is quite harsh on the stomach and since this horse probably already has oesophageal ulcers, I wondered if a different pain relief medication might help.
 
Don't know about grass sickness but do know something about very ill horses. When Mysti was ill she wanted me. Other horses were nice, pref her pair bond over the wall or next door, but she really wanted mummy. 'Cause she felt that when Mummy was there things would be ok. That Mummy always made things better (in her experience so far!), and she would relax and obviously perk up when I was there, panic (literally) when I was about to leave.

Mental state is a big part of getting over any illness, whatever it is. The more time the horse's owner can spend there, even just reading a book with her/his horse, the more time in each day it'll feel reassured and be more tempted to try and eat, to keep fighting. Especially as time wears on and the horse feels it's been ill forever. When I was a child I was regularly very ill with bronchitis. My mother used to come to sleep in my room on the floor, and knowing she was there made it easier to bear, and all less frightening. I could relax, and sleep. Our horses place that same trust in us, for the same reason - we usually can help make whatever it is better, be it a cut, or something scary.
 
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