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Re: [RC] Horse problem/interpreting blood analysis - heidi

At the end of ride season in late Oct. I'd had blood drawn.
Vet said he had low hemoglobin and was (ideopathic) anemic.  Advised Red
Cell supplementation. I was reluctant to supplement additional iron w/o
really knowing more. I'd asked about possibility of ulcer (gelding has
anxiety/behavior issues sometimes), but vet thought not likely due to
his lifestyle and eating habits.


First off, I think you are trying to read WAY too much into a simple blood
panel!  Given the symptoms you are seeing, I'd suggest a much more
thorough workup.  You suggested ulcers, and that's a reasonable starting
point--get him scoped, and then you KNOW whether that is what you are
dealing with or not.  (If it is, treat it aggressively--and if not, you
don't need to waste a bunch of time fiddling with stuff like aloe vera
juice and then seeing if you make a difference in the bloodwork.)

You also may need to do far more extensive bloodwork--chem panels,
specific mineral profiles, etc.  And then do followup diagnostics in any
particular area revealed by those as well.

Anemia can be caused by immune problems, allergies, infections,
nutritional deficiencies, toxicities, etc.  (With regard to iron, both
deficiency and toxicity can cause anemia--and of the two, toxicity is FAR
more common.)  It can also be caused by ulcers, worm loads, malignancies,
and various metabolic diseases.  Just repeating the bloodwork over and
over while randomly trying various "solutions" is not very productive in
getting to the root of the problem.

Heidi


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Just because someone tells you that your horse isn't "fit" for
endurance...doesn't mean it isn't, it just means your horse isn't fit to be
"their" endurance horse! Go for it, you never know what you'll accomplish
with that "saddle horse" or "trail horse" of YOURS!
~ Darlene Anderson - DPD Endurance

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