Epm????

So we had a vet come out today to look at my horse Rebel. He has slowly been losing weight and limping on his left front. They blocked his hoof and then the joint above that, and nothing really happened. Then they blindfolded him, and when he walked he would strut his legs out way infront of him. He has all of theses symptoms:
loss of coordination
muscle atrophy
difficultly swallowing
sore back
stumbling
weakness

The vet pulled blood and is going to send it to Indiana to test for EPM, and she also sent another tube of blood to test for other things. Does anyone know about this disease or, perferably, have eny experience with it?
-Thanks, MangoRoX87

Yes, I know quite a lot about EPM.

Here are some links for you to review.
I would recommend that you check out these links:
http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=14177
http://www.thehorse.com/viewarticle.aspx?id=14649
http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=10416


If you have specific questions, please ask them. It would take me way too long to just type out everything about EPM.

Thank you very much! Do you maybe know what the best treatment is for it? I have read up alot on Marquis..what do you think of that treatment?

Marquis is a great option because it is just as effective as the other treatment options but doesn't have the same risk of serious side effects that you have with Navigator and treats the problem much more quickly than the Rebalance (pyrimethamine/sulfadiazine). You MUST be very sure that you are not underdosing so if you can't put your horse on a set of scales it's often recommended that you use 1.5-2 times the labelled dose. (This is safe.)

However, be sure you get a good diagnosis otherwise you could be treating for the wrong problem and leaving the real issue to continue to worsen.
Rather than Indiana, request that he send blood off to UCDavis for the IFAT test as it will give you a better indication of the likelihood that your horse does have active disease.

Also, since the issues seem to be more front-end you should consider that the issue is something other than EPM. If your horse has been trailered prior to the problems starting or has had any accidents then head/neck x-rays might be a good option.

You should also consider selenium deficiency if you are in an area of the country where the soil is selenium deficient. A simple blood test can determine if this is the problem.

Thank you very much! This is very informative. I will ask my mom about having the blood sent off to there instead of Indiana. When the blood comes back, the vet is coming to come out and discuss whats wrong and what we can do. In the meantime, how can I make him more confortable? And if it comes down to being EPM, is it cheaper to get Marquis from my vet or directly from Bayer?

In the meantime, you could talk to your vet about maybe trying a 3 day Bute trial. This would help to determine if it's a simple pain issue or actually a neurological deficit. If 3 days of Bute helps, it's not neurological.

If Bute is not helping, then you should talk to your vet about putting him on banamine to go ahead and deal with whatever central nervous system inflammation is occuring. This will help to limit the permanent damage done to the CNS because part of the thing that causes damage is swelling inside a bony structure that kills nervous tissues due to the chronic pressure on it.

You can't by Marquis straight from Bayer so you will either have to get it from your vet or get him to write you a script so you can order online if you can find it cheaper. I believe you can still get it online for about $750.

Ok. I had him on bute for 3 days when his limping was really bad, and it didn't do anything for him. I could probably see about banamine.
Do I have to pay the whole price for Marquis all at once? The cheapest I have found is $759. I would think there is a way to pay it off.

Ive never herd of a manufacturer giving you payment options. I think you'd need to talk to a vet about that, or find a credit card with lower interest rates.

Cindy, just curious as to why you suggest UCDavis instead of Indiana?

I see Ryle mentioned Selenium. I'm not sure where you are located, but if you're in the northeast US, your horse is most likely low in Selenium. My horse was "loosely" diagnosed with EPM last year. No concrete or severe symptoms. Not so much as a blood test. I was a new horse owner and didn't know any better. We did the Marquis. While he was recovering from his loss of muscle and incoordination, I had him on SE-Mag from Smartpak. It's a vitamin E, Selenium and Magnesium supplement. I cannot tell you how much muscle that horse put on just walking around in the two months I was giving it to him. I stopped because I was afraid of overdosing him on Selenium, but it was very obvious to me that the combo of Vitamin E and Selenium assisted the healing process.

Map of Selenium Status in US

here is a map of selenium deficient areas. Remember that even if you don't live in one of these areas, your hay may come from one so you should have it checked if you truck it in. Posted mostly for those who might be reading the post and curious about Se deficient areas.