Swelling (belly, sheath, and now leg)

[dougx3]

12/24 I noticed my gelding's sheath was swollen along with some large lumps on his belly. Everything else was fine. He was eating and drinking and moving around like any other day. We gave him benedryl with the thought that it was just an allergic reaction to something in the round bale. The benedryl did nothing.

Yesterday, he's still swollen. His multiple belly lumps have pooled to just one big lump in the middle. Sheath is still swollen (no more or less than before). But now his hind right is very slightly stocked up and he's lame at the walk.

He does not have a temperature. I tried to walk him in the arena thinking perhaps this was just a generic stocking up issue but the more he walked the more lame he got. He's eating and drinking fine. He's a bit more cranky to his pasture mates but other than that his attitude is fine.

The vet is coming out tonight but I'm just doing my due diligence in trying to figure out what this could be. I had been reading all the posts on cellulitus and lymphangitis but everything I read says the legs usually swell first. And his was sheath and belly first.

He's never had this before. He does get scratches in the spring and he had rain rot this fall for the first time. He's also got ringbone in the other hind leg. Really, he's the problem child of the bunch.

Here's a photo of him from 12/24 (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2597/4221219622_0bf375cb79.jpg)

[AKB]

Ehrlichia (tick borne), toxic plant ingestion, and bad kidneys are the first things that come to my mind. You definitely need the vet. Let us know what the vet thinks. Several horses in my neighborhood have had ehrichia recently, and have done well with tetracycline/doxycycline.

Jingles.

[dougx3]

I would think bug related except that we're under 2 feet of snow and the first hard freeze was in November. But the round bales are relatively new so some weird weed could be likely.

[AKB]

If there is any doubt about the hay, I would take him off of it and give him hay from another source while you figure this out. The weed Hoary Alyssum can cause swelling, fevers, and laminitis. Check the hay carefully for weeds, and then show them to your vet today and let her take a sampling of any weeds home to look at.

[horseluver13]

This same thing happened to my gelding (30yrs old) last month....turns out it is congestive heart failure. Please get the vet out and at least do some bloodwork.

[foggybok]

In your area, I'd be concerned about hoary alyssum as well.

How old is the horse? On any meds?

here's hoping all is well!

[Bluey]

If he doesn't has a TEMPERATURE, I would really, really be worrying.:eek:
On the other hand, if he did have a FEVER, I would think he had some infection brewing.;)

How old is he and even if it is heart failure, it could be some tick borne disease, Lyme or such.

We had one horse in heart failure and, surprise, it was leptospirosis, something horses are generally more resistent to.

Let us know what is going on, as your case may help someone else with similar symptoms another time.:yes:

[dougx3]

Well the vet thought it was just a dirty sheath. So he cleaned it. But frankly I have my doubts. No fever, in fact the vet thought it was a bit low but since he has a good winter coat and wasn't shivering he wasn't too concerned. Since the slightly stocked up leg didn't show up til yesterday we're thinking perhaps it's unrelated. He was very willing to run around and buck like an idiot in the arena today.

If nothing changes in a couple days since the sheath cleaning I'll be calling another vet. I've used this one twice now and I'm not terribly impressed despite his recommendations.

Since he's willing to run and buck I'll try and at least walk him every day for a while and see if that makes a difference as well.

He pointed out that it was pitting edema and it was symmetrical (on his belly). Of course he didn't explain what that meant as far as diagnosis goes.

[dougx3]

Oh and sorry, he's 16 years old, gelding. No other meds. Pastured with two other horses. Round bale of grass free choice and sweet feed twice a day.

[EqTrainer]

Ventral edema is often overlooked as being an important clue about the state of things.. I'm not sure I'd be buying the sheath thing either. Do you have another vet you can use to get some blood pulled?

One of our fellow Cother's recently lost a horse whose main symptom was ventral edema. Not trying to be scary, just saying..

[dougx3]

Ventral edema is often overlooked as being an important clue about the state of things.. I'm not sure I'd be buying the sheath thing either. Do you have another vet you can use to get some blood pulled?

One of our fellow Cother's recently lost a horse whose main symptom was ventral edema. Not trying to be scary, just saying..

Yeah there's plenty of vets around I could call another. The fact that he doesn't have a fever and is eating, drinking, and acting his usual obnoxious self makes me a little less worried. There seems to be a lot of generic edema in horses that isn't associated with anything in particular.

[AKB]

I'm sure ventral edema can be nothing. However, it scares me. A swollen sheath, swelling on the underside of the belly, stiffness of the hind end, and a lowgrade fever were the symptoms my gelding initially had two years ago. Later, his platelets went down and he developed nose bleeds. We had the megaworkup, but no cause was found. We gave him IV tetracycline and doxycycline in case it was tick related. He developed laminitis, and had to be put down 1 1/2 months after everything began. Three of our four other horses later developed rings on their feet as if they had mild laminitis. The only one who had no symptoms was the horse who was being dieted and was not on the hay cubes everyone else was eating. I believe there was hoary alyssum in the cubes.

I would call another vet.

[goodmorning]

I would absolutely have bloodwork done. No big deal, not terribly expensive, and can reveal some serious (and not-so-serious) problems. I might be a little over-cautious, but edema and no fever? How about heart-rate? I'd be curious as to what the platelet count was and looking into anything that could be an allergen...I have pretty much concluded that horses with undiagnosable edema corresponds to something serious. I just picked my filly up from a long stay at Tufts for what was originally a farm call for unresolved edema...very scary, and in general no fever and edema sets off alarms (aka = something is not functioning correctly, as previously mention this could be a circulatory issue, an immune-mediated issue, or some non-diagnosable headache).

[AKB]

Goodmorning, did your horse eventually receive a diagnosis, and was it something treatable? Two horses in my neighborhood had swelling and were diagnosed with ehrlichia. My guy did not have ehrlichia. It seems to me that ventral edema is hard to diagnose, unless something obvious, like heart failure or kidney failure, is present on the labs.

[dougx3]

Goodmorning, did your horse eventually receive a diagnosis, and was it something treatable? Two horses in my neighborhood had swelling and were diagnosed with ehrlichia. My guy did not have ehrlichia. It seems to me that ventral edema is hard to diagnose, unless something obvious, like heart failure or kidney failure, is present on the labs.

Well sort of a diagnosis. The vet cleaned his sheath thinking that was the issue. I'm going to keep an eye on it for a few days and get him moving around in the indoor arena.

I'm also going to grab a handful of their hay and see if I can find anything out of the ordinary. Though I'm not sure I can recognize hoary alyssum after it's dried. I don't think it could be a tick/bug borne thing like ehrlichia as it's been frozen here for 2 months.

[FlashGordon]

Oh gosh I'd run a blood panel ASAP.

Could be nothing, but I'd bet it is *something* and the panel will give you a better indication.

Money well spent, IMO.

[dougx3]

Quick update, two days of hand walking in the arena and no change on the swelling. Got a second vet to come out tomorrow to do some bloodwork and all that. This second vet sounds a little more my style than the first. Hopefully he'll find nothing but it'll be a relief to have a real answer.

[Watermark Farm]

Definitely get a second vet out and some bloodwork. Ventral edema is always something to take seriously.

Let us know what you find out!

[CdnRider]

2 horses that I saw with ventral edema in my lifetime

1-EIA (swamp fever) horse was euthanized and seeing as my gelding lived onsite the next 6 weeks was horrible. One other horse was asymptomatic and was too euthanized...luckily my horses coggins came back negative both times


2-Strangles. Barn I rode at had outbreak. I do believe this horse had a low grade fever though. He was young about 2-3 years. He never did abscess and he recovered a lot quicker than some of the other horses that came down with it.


Anyways, congestive heart failure and liver failure can also cause ventral edema. Good luck.

[Allagash's mom]

This same thing happened to my gelding (30yrs old) last month....turns out it is congestive heart failure. Please get the vet out and at least do some bloodwork.

ditto, but age 11 and three years ago. However, I also found out that those signs were the major signs for more equine viral issues too :S

[dougx3]

Another update, got a second vet coming out this morning. And boy did I pick the wrong day. High of -2F. I think it's -20F right now. This will be fun.

[AKB]

How is he doing? What did vet number 2 have to say?

[dougx3]

How is he doing? What did vet number 2 have to say?

Vet 2 checked him over, took his temperature, and listened to his heart (hey what a thought), and took some blood on Saturday. Still waiting to hear on the bloodwork.

He didn't think it was heart failure, his heart sounds good and there's no jugular pulse etc etc. The sheath is hot but he has no fever so if the bloodwork doesn't indicate any organ issues he thinks it could just be a localized infection in his sheath. In that case he'll give him some antibiotics and lasix. But he wanted to wait to treat until he got the tests back so he didn't do something contraindicative.

*Much* better vet at least in my opinion. Plus the fact that he answered email on a holiday and came out on a weekend (no emergency charge). He actually went over some ideas of what it could be.

Poor boy is getting pretty mopey though. He's still bright eyed but he stands around a lot and isn't his obnoxious self any more. I guess having your junk swell up makes it hard to move.

[dougx3]

Just heard from the vet. Bloodtests are back and are pretty normal. Organ functions are all good. The only blip was in muscle enzyme level, slightly elevated at 640 (not sure which enzyme level that was though).

Meeting with him tomorrow to get some meds. At this point he's thinking an infection.

[Alice]

Thanks for the update! A co-worker owns a horse with strange ventral and alternate leg swelling. Bloods (not sure how extensive they were) showed nothing abnormal.

[FlashGordon]

Glad BW was relatively normal, I'd be interested to know what the elevated muscle enzymes indicate. Seems to me it would be linked to tying up (azoturia), but I'm sure that is only one of MANY conditions that might relate...

[dougx3]

Glad BW was relatively normal, I'd be interested to know what the elevated muscle enzymes indicate. Seems to me it would be linked to tying up (azoturia), but I'm sure that is only one of MANY conditions that might relate...

From what I've found online the tying-up usually shows up in the several 1000s. I think the normal levels are like 200-500 and Axel is at 640.

He has been out of work for over a month, and not moving much for almost two weeks now so he's got to have a bit of muscle loss which is a cause of elevated enzyme levels.

In any case it didn't sound like anything terribly serious at this point.

[FlashGordon]

From what I've found online the tying-up usually shows up in the several 1000s. I think the normal levels are like 200-500 and Axel is at 640.

He has been out of work for over a month, and not moving much for almost two weeks now so he's got to have a bit of muscle loss which is a cause of elevated enzyme levels.

In any case it didn't sound like anything terribly serious at this point.

Yeah just curious.

My aged TB gelding had ventral edema and swelling in all four legs last winter. He was recovering from severe starvation at the time. Because of his condition we were afraid to shock his liver/kidneys, so went easy but did treat with antibiotics and also wormed him aggressively, but slowly. Seemed to do the trick. It was scary tho!

Hope your boy continues to improve! Definitely keep a watchful eye on him for the next few weeks/months.

[dougx3]

treat with antibiotics and also wormed him aggressively, but slowly. Seemed to do the trick. It was scary tho!

Hope your boy continues to improve! Definitely keep a watchful eye on him for the next few weeks/months.

I'll ask the vet about de-worming tomorrow as well. I'm pretty lazy about it and I was waiting for a hard freeze this fall and then December happened and bam, haven't de-wormed yet.

Though I think this horse went 12 years of his life with no de-worming and no issues at the same time. So I'd be surprised that missing a couple doses in my rotation would cause such an issue.

[foggybok]

I'll ask the vet about de-worming tomorrow as well. I'm pretty lazy about it and I was waiting for a hard freeze this fall and then December happened and bam, haven't de-wormed yet.

Though I think this horse went 12 years of his life with no de-worming and no issues at the same time. So I'd be surprised that missing a couple doses in my rotation would cause such an issue.

How's you boy? Has the swelling gone away?

[dougx3]

How's you boy? Has the swelling gone away?

Not yet. Vet came out yesterday and gave him lasix and gave me a boat load of antibiotics and bute to give him for a while. We'll see how he feels tonight. He's only had one dose of everything so far (and he does not like it).

Though when I drove up to the barn he was flat out on the ground with another horse nudging him like he was dead. Guess he went down to roll and couldn't get back up. His right knee has been sore for two days and I guess it was sore enough to not want to put weight on it to stand up. The other horse finally annoyed him enough to get him to bite the bullet, get up, and chase him off.

[colo_girl]

How is your horse doing?
My 29-year old has similar problem, and vet is handling similar way (anti-inflammatory, lasix, antibiotics). They have done extensive blood work and ultra-sound, but no leads on underlying cause.
He does have Cushings.

[dougx3]

Well as of right now the swelling is still there. The belly swelling has reduced and spred out quite a bit, it's only maybe 1cm deep but his hay belly has sort of taken over and made it look a lot worse than it is. His sheath is still swollen, it never increased size from the first day it swelled, it might be reduced a bit now but nothing significant.

The lasix and antibiotics really changed nothing. And unfortunately arthritis in his knee has had him pretty laid up all winter so I haven't been able to really start working him and see if more exercise would help the swelling. I'm starting to think the swelling is just too much eating + too little exercise. And I'm wondering if the first sheath cleaning didn't actually clean him out well enough. When it warms up more I'll go after him again myself and see if I can find a bean or something.

But since nothing has changed for the worse, we're just making do for now. His knee seems to be getting a bit better on MSM so I'm going to start hand walking him more on the road, he's sound on hard flat ground lame in the arena with deeper footing. Hopefully more exercise will help.

[Ozone]

For the last 7 years my horse has had this.

My symptoms (well.. his) started with swollen sheath - and I mean even more swelled then your pic of your horse Dougx3. With actual riding it went down -everytime too. Hand walking did nothing. Your horse is lame tho correct? Can't necessarily ride him then. Was he off before the sheath swelled?

During the sheath stocking then if he sat for a day (turned out he just eats and wallows around) the 'tubes' on his belly were both stocked which led to a huge bump in the middle of his belly, right above his belly button. Again, with riding he was ok.

I did get some stocking up in one leg only. He never went off though from it. The key was to ride him. I had not 2 but 4 vets check him out. It was a don't worry too much about it situation. He was never on doxy or bute - nothing for it. Still stocks up here and there in the sheath to this day. Horse has always been healthy, sound etc. However, he does have lymes. Few years back ran a titer it was the highest the vet ever saw. Could be that is why he swells in the sheath today but he is not affected by it.

Good luck!!

[dougx3]

Was he off before the sheath swelled

Sheath and belly swelling we first noticed on Dec. 24. His knee started a few weeks after that which we are attributing to arthritis. Getting xrays in a week to be sure but he's had knee issues before.

So sadly working him was out of the question this winter. Though I had one day where we were able to walk down the road, did some massage on his sheath, and cleaned it as best I could with a wet wipe and the sheath swelling seemed to diminish a bit at that point. The belly swelling kind of comes and goes some days it's better some days it's worse.

Unfortunately he's piled on the issues this winter so it's time for the big guns.

Xrays and adequan for the knees
surpass for his ringbone
and then hopefully I can start getting him back to work and getting the swelling down. Oof.

[dougx3]

So Axel went all winter with a swollen belly and sheath. It never swelled more than when I found him in December, no splitting in the skin or anything like that. In April they were taken off round bales and the swelling went away.

He spent all summer getting Adequan and then finally a joint injection in his knee because of the arthritis. Just recently I've been able to ride him at the walk a mile down the road or so. I can lunge him in the arena at the walk (or buck/canter if he decides that's what he wants to do).

Round bales went out a month ago. And lo and behold, his sheath and belly were swollen again last night. Different hay supplier from last winter, same field as he's been eating small squares off all summer.

Seriously the only thing I can figure is something is up with him eating free choice hay. The other horses on these rounds are fine. There's no weeds. It's a mix alfalfa/grass. The only difference would be quantity. We don't have snow yet and he's definitely been running around (he's covered in mud) so it's not due to inactivity.

I have an email into the vet but I'm thinking of trying a powerpac now that we've had a couple decent freezes. And the barn owners are going to stop the round bales for a couple weeks and see if that makes a difference (which sucks cuz my other horse does so awesome on round bales).

Anyone come up with any great ideas over the summer? Insulin resistance? I feel like it's something to do with excessive eating.

[dwblover]

I've known many horses (my OTTB included) who will stock up from lack of activity. Think about it like this, when he eats the squarebales, he probably isn't eating free-choice. So once the hay is gone, he starts walking around, playing with his buddies, etc. Now if your horse is like mine, once the roundbales come out, they pretty much stand there like a statue and fill up. Lack of movement can cause a lack of circulation which can end up being edema.

My OTTB has atrial fibrillation (abnormal heart beat but healthy heart itself). So his is even more pronounced. So he lives outside 24/7 and gets ridden every day. That keeps all swelling away. He went into a stall this summer and had virtually no exercise due to anhidrosis, and bam, swollen sheath and ventral midline until exercise and pasture life resumed. So it's probably not the hay itself, but the fact that he does not move around much if at all when he's got all that hay in front of him.

[princessfluffybritches]

This same thing happened to my gelding (30yrs old) last month....turns out it is congestive heart failure. Please get the vet out and at least do some bloodwork.

I was just thinking the same thing. Could be other organ related illness as well.

[dougx3]

So it's probably not the hay itself, but the fact that he does not move around much if at all when he's got all that hay in front of him.

That's always in the back of my mind. I'm going to try and keep him in work all winter but with his arthritis it's hard to ride him at anything more than a walk though he doesn't seem to mind cantering on the lunge. Last year was the first year he's ever been on free choice hay so when all the bloodwork came back normal that's the best we could figure, lack of movement.

[dougx3]

I was just thinking the same thing. Could be other organ related illness as well.

The vet thought maybe heart failure or something like that so he did have a full blood panel done last year and all organ function was fine.

[dwblover]

Yes, your guy's arthritis definitely would complicate things. My guy's swelling did not go down at all with just walking. He had to trot and canter for a few days during his riding sessions before his swelling disappeared. It may just be something you have to live with during the winter months then. If it isn't bothering him then just try not to look at it, lol! I know I couldn't help staring at my horse's stomach willing the swelling to go away!! Perhaps just have his heart and bloodwork re-done after six months or so, but if all is still well I'd try to just forget about it.

[dougx3]

He had to trot and canter for a few days during his riding sessions before his swelling disappeared. It may just be something you have to live with during the winter months then. If it isn't bothering him then just try not to look at it, lol!

Ug yeah, so hard to ignore. I want to pull him from the round bale for two weeks and see if that does anything as well as try and ride more. But I don't want to do two things at once or we won't be able to diagnose it. Though I suppose I could remove the bale, ride more, then add the bale back in while keeping up the exercise. I'll have to see what the vet says, he seems to err on the side of not working the arthritic horse too much where I'm more on the side of keep him moving so he doesn't lock up.

[Druid Acres]

I go through this every fall with my gelding - his sheath swells and he gets some ventral edema when the weather starts getting cold. Had the vet out, bloodwork done, and everything was in the normal range. The vet said that it's cold-related, and I noticed that one side of my horse's sheath swells more than the other, and I think it's the side that actually touches the ground when he lies down.

It resolves every spring when the weather warms, and I forget about it till the next fall. The things that help are increasing exercise (difficult for me as well, as we're dealing with ringbone too) and blanketing. He still swells if he's got his blanket on, but not as much.

I also think there is some kind of metabolic reason or factor, as my horse is mildly IR. I also wonder if there is some new insect or pathogen around that only affects some individuals. I have doubts that it's forage-related though, as everybody eats the same hay (from a nearby field) and only my horse is affected.

Good luck!

[dougx3]

I go through this every fall with my gelding

This does sound pretty much like what we have going on. I don't blanket but it sounds like it only helps a bit in your case anyway. This horse is black and gets a decent winter coat and is usually quite warm to the touch, he's good at soaking up any sun there is.

He has ringbone on his back left as well as arthritis in is front right knee. His ringbone is just about fully fused so I'm waiting for him to go very very lame while it finishes, but so far he's pretty stable as long as he doesn't kick himself. Sounds like our guys are related ;)

[Druid Acres]

This does sound pretty much like what we have going on. I don't blanket but it sounds like it only helps a bit in your case anyway.

Blanketing does help some, though. Maybe you could try an experiment and blanket for a couple of days and see if there's any change. It might be worth a try.

Interesting that both horses also have arthritis issues. I certainly hope this isn't some kind of latent kidney damage from years of bute.

[dougx3]

Blanketing does help some, though. Maybe you could try an experiment and blanket for a couple of days and see if there's any change. It might be worth a try.

Interesting that both horses also have arthritis issues. I certainly hope this isn't some kind of latent kidney damage from years of bute.

Ahh well I can rule out the bute thing. My guy gets bute very rarely. He's 17 now and has had ringbone for a couple years now and the arthritis has just been this past year. I only bute him for a couple days at a time if he gets really bad otherwise he's on his own (plus supplements, adequan, knee injection, etc that we've tried).

[Allagash's mom]

The vet thought maybe heart failure or something like that so he did have a full blood panel done last year and all organ function was fine.

As an aside, Ally had congestive heart failure and the bloodwork showed NOTHING. All eight times or so that we pulled it, FYI.

We only got a diagnosis once we did a cardiac ultrasound and tapped the fluid around his heart.

been there, done that. sadly.

[dougx3]

As an aside, Ally had congestive heart failure and the bloodwork showed NOTHING. All eight times or so that we pulled it, FYI.

We only got a diagnosis once we did a cardiac ultrasound and tapped the fluid around his heart.

been there, done that. sadly.

Were there any other symptoms? I know he listened to his heart and said there was no jugular pulse, which I guess is another symptom of heart failure. Would he only swell in the winter if it was heart failure or would he be swollen all the time? I doubt that's what it is but I like to be paranoid ;)

[Allagash's mom]

Were there any other symptoms? I know he listened to his heart and said there was no jugular pulse, which I guess is another symptom of heart failure. Would he only swell in the winter if it was heart failure or would he be swollen all the time? I doubt that's what it is but I like to be paranoid ;)

depends at what stage. early stage was only the edema, then fatigue and a jugular pulse/backflow. He started getting sick in October and was dead by the start of January, so no comment on seasonal changes.

[dougx3]

depends at what stage. early stage was only the edema, then fatigue and a jugular pulse/backflow. He started getting sick in October and was dead by the start of January, so no comment on seasonal changes.

Yeesh well that's not good. I'm still pretty sure that's not what it is with this guy but I'll definitely keep an eye on for fatigue (hard to do with a lazy horse to begin with).

[dougx3]

Okay so here's the latest (I'm about to pull all my hair out). We pulled the round bales for two weeks. The swelling did not go away but it didn't get worse, stayed pretty mild for that time. Put them back on round bales cuz it's cold and snowy now and I'd rather have swollen happy warm horses than cold bored unswollen horses. They've been back on the round bales since about the 20th. Axel is way more swollen than before AND Cody's sheath is swollen now too! Wtf!

So to recap:

2009:
Small squares all summer
December -Round bales from hay supplier #1 - swollen Axel

2010:
April - off round bales for the summer, swelling goes down
Small squares all summer from hay supplier #2
Nov - round bales from hay supplier #2 - swollen Axel
remove round bale for 2 weeks - status quo
Nov 20 - round bales back
Dec 1 - Axel swollen up more than Nov, and Cody's sheath is now swollen as well

[Sansena]

Please order a cardiac ultrasound.

[candyappy]

Is it possible to feed square bales or unwind a round bale and feed morning, noon and evening? I know it is a pain ( i do it) maybe there is something in the hay that builds up like a toxin that they can't flush out of their system when they eat it all the time? I know it should show up in blood work, but it is just a thought.

[dougx3]

Is it possible to feed square bales or unwind a round bale and feed morning, noon and evening? I know it is a pain ( i do it) maybe there is something in the hay that builds up like a toxin that they can't flush out of their system when they eat it all the time? I know it should show up in blood work, but it is just a thought.

We pulled him off rounds for a while but the swelling didn't go away at least in that amount of time. I think we're looking at fat lazy horses.

[dougx3]

Please order a cardiac ultrasound.

We did a full blood panel and work up last year with no organ failure or anything else showing up. I would find it very surprising to have two horses come up with heart failure with zero symptoms other than edema in the winter only.

[buck22]

I would think bug related except that we're under 2 feet of snow and the first hard freeze was in November.
haven't read past this, so jingles your horse is ok but wanted to comment on this.

15" of snow just melted 2 days ago, we've had single digit dips for about 6 weeks now, and I *just* found hanging squishy edema the size of a large lemon on my gelding's chest yesterday, and 4 inches above it, a fat, squiggly live tick burrowing into his chest. Had my gelding not been trying to scratch at it I would not have known it was there due to the winter coat.

Yes, ticks in January, :no::no::no: I cannot escape them. Must be the arctic variety. :no:

hope your horse is ok

[iluvponies]

Did you powerpac them? I had an older gelding that would do this and after a powerpac it went away.

[dougx3]

Did you powerpac them? I had an older gelding that would do this and after a powerpac it went away.

You know it has crossed my mind. I did their regular de-worming but I haven't done a powerpac yet. Probably worth a try.

[alterhorse]

I'd ask my vet about protein losing enteropathy as a result of heavy parasitism.

I'd think that a fecal egg count would certainly be in order.

Depending on the results, possibly worming with praziquantel for tapes, and then possibly a powerpac later to cover the rest.

Adding alfalfa to the horses diet might help to insure that the horse is receiving sufficient protein during the winter months.

[iluvponies]

If the worms are in the encysted stage they do not show on the fecal I thought?
If this has been going on for a long period of time and the horse is otherwise fine, I would suspect a heavy worm load.