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[RC] [RC] "Stump the vet , update"II - Patti




 Well, my mare still is stocked up and  some endema in front of her
udder.--- Now horse #2 the younger gelding is starting to stock up. This
tells me something is either contagious or they are both having the same
reaction to something enviormental--
  Went over to talk to my neighbor to ask if her horses had any symptoms
and to warn her to watch for some. She has a ride this weekend, so she was
going to go check her horses. She also gave me the name of a better vet if I
need one.
Some years ago, my geldng stocked up in a similar pattern. Checking around, we found
about 6 horses in the area with similar swelling to a lesser degree (my gelding stocked up
so badly the skin split on his pasterns, he was down for several days and both hind tendons
were severely bowed).
All the horses had what appeared to be mild hives on their lower sides (but not underneath on their bellies).
The only significant finding on blood work (three unrelated premises were checked) was elevated CPK enzyme levels.
What we found in common (the premises were several miles apart) were pack rats (they are
endemic in So. Arizona and eat our cars, too).
One of the vets at the U of A felt it might be a reaction to "cone nose bugs" or "kissing bugs"
which are attracted to pack rats and often cause anaphylactic shock in humans,
and are also carriers of Human American Trypanosomiasis, or Chagas disease
but we didn't test for this specifically as they thought it was more likely an "anaphylactic type" reaction to  the
bites.
Nasty bugs - first they anesthetize you, then they drink your blood, then they defecate on the bite.
We treated with Lasix and antibiotics; my guy never recovered (although the others did OK).
 
Just one of the many, many things (as Susan G said) that could possibly cause edema. Hope the new vet
can help you sort it out.
 
Patti K
Vail AZ