Devistation

This week we were pretty swamped. CB was out of town until Wednesday night and we were down three techs-one was with her husband who was getting surgery in Philly, one was recovering from post-op complications and the last was in the hospital with MRSA.
Tuesday, I was on call. I had finished up a vaccination visit with several horses and rushed back to the office to see a dog with a cut on its head. Then I rushed back out the direction I came to see a choking horse. Then I rushed back to see two horses that were sick.
These two horses belonged to an Amish gentleman who I had seen about a year ago with his goats. He had one small pony stallion that was down in his stall. The pony had an elevated heart rate and respiratory rate. Every breath was labored though his lungs sounded clear. Temperature was low normal. Some gut sounds and mucous membranes were normal color. He couldn't raise himself and pawed crazily in his stall. The other  horse was a Haflinger gelding. He was down in his stall but could stand and walk normally. When standing, the gelding had some muscle twitches and was very gaunt in his flanks. His respiratory pattern was much better than the down horse's. The gelding's heart rate was normal and temperature was low normal. Gut sounds were good. It was pretty evident that though the gelding wanted to eat, he could not. All the hay kept balling up in his mouth.
The Dutchman informed me that he had lost his buggy horse Monday morning. The horse was a little off after being driven to church but they didn't think much of it-maybe a mild colic. By Monday morning, he was down like the pony and dead after breakfast.
A fourth horse-a small pony mare-didn't show any signs of an issue at all.

I was thinking toxin-some trees had been blown down into the pasture-but didn't know where to start. I was also thinking listeria since he had mentioned that it was possible that all the horses had gotten into some hayledge that he had for the goats. Listeria can cause neurological signs and inability to swallow in cattle. It also comes from improperly cured silage.

I called DE to get advice and he suggested supportive care-NG tubes of oil and water, banamine to bind toxins, broad spectrum antibiotics. He also suggested calling the local equine referral hospital to see if they had any better advice.

I decided that I still wasn't sure what to do and that I still wasn't sure what the cause was so I called the local equine referral hospital. I filled them in and instantly the clinician that answered the phone gave me the answer-BOTULISM. Apparently, I had classic cases on my hands.

While a diagnosis is good news normally, in this instance, it was not. In this instance, it was a death sentence for these horses. I explained everything I had learned: botulism spores form in improperly cured hayledge and silage. There is no diagnositic test. Its all based on clinical signs. There is no treatment short of antitoxin. Even with antitoxin and supportive care (fluids), there are no promises that health can be restored. Essentially, I was screwed.
The pony down in the stall was a lost cause and would need to be euthanized (which I did) and that short of a miracle and several thousand dollars getting antitoxin into the Haflinger that he too was likely a goner. For the lone pony that wasn't showing signs, she probably would make it but also should probably get antitoxins just in case.
It wasn't feasible for this farmer and honestly, short of my pony, Nell, wouldn't be feasible for me either.
I hoped that the gelding wouldn't get progressively worse but in the morning I received the phone call that I was dreading. The Haflinger was down and needed euthanized. He left this world with the quiet dignity that is becoming of his breed.

What really sucks about this situation is that this Amish family lost so much. Nothing I can do can fix that. They were a nice family with nice horses and a sucky situation. Botulism is bad news.