Posted 2010-05-03 9:58 PM (#119681) Subject: Anyone here have any experience or info on EPM
Veteran
Posts: 153 Location: Grant City, Missouri
I have a newly lame horse that I am taking for Xrays tomorrow. In doing some research on the net tonight I've discovered that my 37 yr old appie may have EPM. I am worried that the newly lame horse might be in the beginning stages. Just wondering if anyone has any new experience with it. Prognosis doesn't sound too good.
Posted 2010-05-04 8:47 AM (#119694 - in reply to #119681) Subject: RE: Anyone here have any experience or info on EPM
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 434 Location: Brooksville, Fl
I had a horse with EPM once. That was about 11 years ago and, to my knowledge, he is still alive and well. I had him tested after he kept tripping over nothing and crashed to his knees a couple of times. The drugs they have out now are much better than what we had at the time and as long as it hasn't progressed too far, it can be successfully treated. I don't remember the statistics, but here in Florida a fair majority of horses carry it in their bloodstreams. It's only when it crosses the blood/brain barrier that it attacks the nervous system and causes problems. The effects of EPM can present in many different ways so the best way to find out is to have your vet test the horse. My horse underwent 2 or 3 spinal taps to confirm the infection and then to check the titers after treatment. The vet can also perfom a neurologic exam that is non-invasive. The blood test does not gurantee your horse has EPM but has the potential to be affected by it. A friend of mine had a horse with odd symptoms and I suggested that she have the vet check him for EPM. He had blood titers and so they went ahead and treated him anyway. He improved significantly and is still doing just fine. Her vet felt that doing the invasive test wasn't worth it. When my horse was diagnosed it was early on and treatments are a bit different now. I sure hope your horses don't have EPM but it's not necessarily a death sentance if caught early. Good luck!
Posted 2010-05-04 11:29 AM (#119705 - in reply to #119681) Subject: RE: Anyone here have any experience or info on EPM
Veteran
Posts: 153 Location: Grant City, Missouri
I'm pretty sure the old guy must have it. Unfortunately, I now live in a remote area with few good horse vets. When I called the vet I use originally a couple months ago, he had no diagnosis, but commented that it looked like he had some muscle deterioration.....DUH! He is not an old vet, but not a newbie either. Maybe the excuse for him is that he is mainly a cattle guy and also treats small animals. I mainly called him because the horse began walking sideways and dragging one leg. We treated him with bute and he seemed to improve but then not long thereafter he had a set back. We would see him spinning in circles and he definitely had problems coming up the incline to the barn. He braces himself against the stall when he eats. He has also gone somewhat blind, has difficulty finding his food in the stall. However, never saw in what I read about having periods of improvement. He is currently doing better getting around and have actually seen him trotting up to the barn at feed time. Oh how I wish I'd realized that that was what it was. I am in a dilemna as to whether to take him along today; I probably will. It may be that the other horse doesn't have it, but it made me aware of the Sr.'s problem. I just wasn't sure from what I read on the net how treatable it is currently plus I don't know if this new vet I'm taking him to knows what to do. Thanks for your input.
Posted 2010-05-04 12:38 PM (#119710 - in reply to #119705) Subject: RE: Anyone here have any experience or info on EPM
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 434 Location: Brooksville, Fl
Perhaps a good place to start would be a blood test. If it's negative, then it's obviously something else. Have you had your old guy's vision examined? Perhaps the blindness has something to do with it and he's beginning to adjust. Perhaps his vision is sort of coming and going? I hope you are able to figure it out!
Posted 2010-05-04 9:36 PM (#119728 - in reply to #119681) Subject: RE: Anyone here have any experience or info on EPM
Veteran
Posts: 153 Location: Grant City, Missouri
Well, happy to say I found a good vet, but sad to say my younger horse is grass foundered! I have had horses for over 30 years and have never had this problem. We have had a cool wet Spring and the vet says he is seeing 3-4 cases a week. He was 99.9% sure that my Sr. horse does not have EPM and he had had a case of it just last week. He says that he is bad arthritic and just suffering from his age. He put both of the them on bute and antibiotics for the younger horse who is now up in a stall til July 1st. That sure messes up the summer. But he does say that he thinks we caught it in time. Thanks for your concern.
Posted 2010-05-05 8:41 AM (#119741 - in reply to #119728) Subject: RE: Anyone here have any experience or info on EPM
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 434 Location: Brooksville, Fl
Glad to hear you got to the root of the problem and glad it's not EPM. Not that laminitis is better but since you caught it early, it should be fine. My mare had a very mild case of it when she was around 6 or 7 and she is 34 now with no issues.
Posted 2010-05-08 12:13 PM (#119909 - in reply to #119681) Subject: RE: Anyone here have any experience or info on EPM
Veteran
Posts: 231 Location: Illinois
I had the misfortune of having to deal with EPM...and my Vet told me the only way to diagnose EPM 100% is a spinal tap.. ( expensive & somewhat dangerous in itself) IF blood were draw on all the horses in the country better than 80% would come back positive, as most carry the nasty liitle protoza... and are fine with no ill effects of sign of any problem... My gelding was 11...we went through the Marquis treatment ( 29 days straight) and hasn't had a lame day since...and at that time it was quite pricey for the treaments... today I believe there is more than one choice for treatment and the price has dropped a bit... Keep in mind that they can have relapses ...knock on wood..my gelding has not..he is 17 and doing OK...
keep in mind also...about midway through the treatment..(I was warned) they will get worse before they get better..he had a couple days where he was miserable and very ill...but slowly bounced back...and I bleieve alot of it depends on how quickly you get him diagonsed and the treatment started...I do know of a few cases that it took more than 1 round of treatments.( 1 round = 29 days ) and some never fully recover...GOOD LUCK
Posted 2010-05-09 9:26 AM (#119929 - in reply to #119681) Subject: RE: Anyone here have any experience or info on EPM
Elite Veteran
Posts: 690 Location: missouri
A spinal tap is about the only way to be sure... but sometimes there are "false positives". We have a gelding who was treated for EPM about ten years ago. With compound pharmacy (Frank's in Ocala, Fla), we treated him for about 9 months with meds in a banana pudding that we shot down his throat. He is 99.8% cured and active today. It doesn't always have a happy ending though. Here in Missouri, people just assume they will die of it because they don't often pay a vet for anything... Good Luck to you.
Anyone here have any experience or info on EPM
