Please help! Wobbler!!

Thank you! I know the replies aren't going to be all rainbows and unicorns.. :( she has had 2 injections of strong painkillers and is now on Bute she doesn't seen to be in any obvious huge pain and is bright and her usual perky self. Did your horse have an injury that caused the wobbler syndrome to come on and then maybe injure himself to become worse again or do you know? And did he get significantly better after a lot of rest? I have pretty much come to terms she won't be ridden again but for her to have a life as a broodmare here would be better than nothing for sure! Thank you so much for your input really appreciated!!
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My colt was my stud prospect I showed him as a yearling earning halter & lunge line points,had high hopes for him!.In early summer of his 2 yr old year he was spooked crashed over his pen & one other fence. We never saw any obvious outward trauma injury other than a few body scuffs at time, but it was just shortly after that incident he started to display symptoms so do think it was from that event.
My colt did improve initially with all treatments & rest.He was still confined to paddock rest when he got worse & no known other event to have triggered regression.

I hope it is some kind of toxicity that you'll be able to treat & failing any other answers, I'd consider changing her feed & speaking to your vet about how you might 'detox'. Australian 'stringhalt' - as opposed to this condition in other places - is one thing that comes to mind with those kind of symptoms(& often 'high stepping' hind feet, inability to back up). It is (thought to be)caused from eating a lot of flatweed and can(not always but often) be treated by removing the cause immediately & mineral therapy to correct the imbalances(without looking it up, I think suppression of Mg was the biggie). A friend of mine also had 2 horses with sudden, inexplicable symptoms like you describe. It was deemed some kind of fungus or mould in the hay was the cause & they were treated, I don't know what with I'm afraid, but one of them survived & became fine again after a while.

Only have 1st hand experience of one confirmed 'wobbler' and the vet deemed it was from being 'taught' to tie up too early & roughly, that it caused damage to the spinal cord when the horse pulled back. The horse was put down shortly after, when he was 2yo.

A horse I found(it had been found in the bush, ranger called me...) was in a lather of sweat, rather exhausted but apparently OK, but intermittently she suddenly was far from OK & acted 'drunk', especially in the hind end. Owner came to collect her & said she started acting funny 2 days earlier, escaped the night before by jumping out & they'd searched for her all night. Horse collapsed at the door of their float, dead! Autopsy(rich owners!) showed a brain aneurism, cause unknown, but suspected trauma to the head.

That vet has taken a blood sample so that should show if she's eaten anything toxic and I doubt it's a mineral imbalance as she's 6 and has always received minerals and food quality hay and feed! But thank you! Also I am sorry to hear about your horse it's so gutting :(
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Well, good to rule out any toxins. You never know what they pick up in pastures, etc, or a weed in the hay, even good quality if certainly not out of the question. YOu also never know about any food contamination, IMO. Look what happened with dog treats recently causing liver failure.

Yes I've heard very strange and scary stories regarding toxins and definicies! Thanks!
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I have zero experience with wobblers syndrome in horses, but I own a dog with moderate to severe wobblers that we treat with routine therapy and medication. IMO your horse seems to be having something other than wobblers going on, as she just isn't really behaving the way my dog does, but being a different species, I very well could be missing something. I'm also suspecting EPM.

Sending prayers and healing thoughts your way! Its tough not knowing whats wrong with your baby.

What is the suspected cause in your dog Endiku?

I recently lost an Arabian mare with a similar issue except I think she had cerebral atrophy and was not a wobbler. I think that because there were a lot of horses in her pedigree that were CA positive.

I had gone out one morning in December to feed and I saw Boop. She seemed normal until I threw her pile of hay and she seemed to drag her hind left leg behind her. She was a VERY athletic mare who was not lazy like my other Arabian mare who drug her feet in the dirt all the time. SO I knew this slight drag was not normal. Then she kinda stumbled to the left so I took her out of the paddock and tied her to the fence rail and called my friend to come out and help me. I thought Boop was maybe having an abortion because she was about 40-60 days pregnant. And I thought her "stumbling" was her having contractions.

Anyways, I called the vet and got some banamine. I gave it to her and it seemed to help a little. Well, I went to take her back to another stall to be away from everyone else and on the way she nearly crashed into me like 4 times and crashed into the barn about 3 times just walking the 6 feet into the stall.. I knew this was no longer an abortion and something much more severe. So I thought I would give her a day and see if it was something that would pass but as the day went on she got worse and worse. I called my normal emergency vet but she wouldn't be there until the next day because she was out of town so I decided to wait and see if Boop would pull out. Over the course of the night she lost control of her right hind and her front left and now couldn't get up. My vet came out and gave her a shot of steroids the next day and she actually improved! I wanted to put her down because I couldn't afford the vet fees and the steroids but my vet wanted to see if it would help so she did it at a discounted rate. Well, Boop greatly improved over the next 2 days and then on the third day she started having seizures... I don't know if you have ever seen a horse have a seizure but that was the most terrifying thing I have ever witnessed..

Boop now had lost all control except for the front right leg and her head/neck except when she was seizing. She was SO frustrated with her hind legs. She would bite them and pick them up like "Why aren't you working?!". I think what hurt the worst for me is that she didn't understand why she wasn't working and I didn't know and couldn't communicate with her to figure out what to do..

Anyways, I called Chrysann back out and had her put her down.. I couldn't be there because I loved that mare so much. She had a kind soul and was just amazing.. I got her through all the abuse she had endured just to watch her go out like that..

Chrysann said she thinks she broke her C2 in her neck (or one of the upper neck vertebra if I have the number wrong..) I think she had a neurological disease and is why I never had a strong desire to ride that horse and the people who did said she was kinda scary. Not too mention many horses in her pedigree have been CA positive along with other many other neurological issues.

I put her down on New Years Day in 2011. =[ It was really horrible.

I hope there is a logical explanation for your horse and I really hope you have the finances to take care of his needs to save him and if not, I hope they are able to run together in horsey heaven.

I wished I would have had the finances to saver her but in all honesty I think she was ready to go.
Xx

Thank you for this and I'm very sorry for your loss! She is absolutely beautiful! My mare was acting strange yesterday tilting her head and rolling her eyes a little and only turning to the right? I was kinda thinking she had a headache?
I know that what I think is the most sad part of this situation is the fact that the mare doesn't know what's going on! You can see it in her face and eyes.. And she is a very intelligent horse she's trying to show and tell me that she's hurting :( thank you x
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