Anyone any info on kidney infections??

Big panic yesterday with Jacko as he wasn't himself and wouldn't get up off the ground for me, I had to get a neighbour to help me in the end ........ we walked him around a bit and noticed he was leaking drops of urine. Needless to say I loaded him into the box and off to the vet we went. Luckily I managed to get a sample from him and when she checked it she said that his Ph levels were high so she ran blood tests which came back with a low protein result. She said it's the very start of a kidney infection and so he has to have antibiotics for the next few days and can't do any training / work, etc for 10 days ............. my poor sick baby

He is eating today which is good as yesterday he didn't have much interest which is extremely abnormal for him and was really worrying for me

Any of you have any experience with kidney infections or can shed any further light on the subject for me??


Thanks

Sheena

Poor boy thank goodnesss you spotted the trouble and acted so quickly.

I don't know much about kidney infections in horses I'm afraid - I imagine you are Googling like mad! I've had one myself and it was very painful and unpleasant but the antibiotics did sort it and gave relief quite quickly. Hopefully its the same for him which is why he's eating again.

Word of warning - make sure he gets the entire course of antibiotics so it doesn't come back worse but then I'm sure you will and be attending to his every need...! Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery xxx

Thehorse.com is a very valuable website. It sheds light on a lot of equine topics scientifically.

Try these articles

the horse kidney articles

Indeed my eyes are gone 'googley' from 'googling'

Its not actually that easy to find specific articles as a lot of the search results are coming from sites that are selling/advertising their various conventional & alternative cures/remedies, etc and so some of them differ in their explanations, guidelines, diagnosis' .......

I am watching him like a hawk which has advantages and disadvantages in that because I am constantly looking at him I am afraid I am missing any possible disimprovements or panic if I see something that I wouldn't be used to seeing him do but could actually be something he does that I just haven't seen him do or have taken notice of before

This is the first time my boy has been sick in the two years since I bought him so I am in a right muddle and to make matters totally worse in the past few days 2 mares, 2 month old fillys and a stallion have been stolen from friends of mine so I've that going around and around in my head too ....... everything here is under lockdown but locks can be broken. I've put my two boxers on a higher protein diet to make them that bit more active so as they can raise the alarm if they hear or see anything strange. I went out doing my last checks before going to bed at 1am this morning and I heard a shotgun being fired from not too far away which really un-nerved Echo & Luke (I actually thought this was good as it put them on alert for danger), I've no idea who let the shot off or why. There have been a few 'non-local' vans sighted driving slowly around the area over the past week and one of them was parked behind trees yesterday on the road in front of me which my boxers alerted me to but when I went out to investigate it drove off quickly .........

I don't know how much more worrying I can survive or how long I can keep up with the current pressures, some people can be so evil and soul destroying. I don't know what I'd do if someone got one of my boys


Sheena

Thats a scary thing, people stealing horses. The worst thats happened around here is people stealing tack, hasn't happened in a long time.
Lock every gate and door!

Good God thats so worrying Everything crossed for you. Talk to your local police - they should have an equine crime officer - they will be able to tell you any up to date info and can come round and give you security advice.

Here's hoping they catch the ******* quickly and your friends are reunited with their horses.

bohohorse wrote:Talk to your local police - they should have an equine crime officer - they will be able to tell you any up to date info and can come round and give you security advice.

The guards here don't have equine crime officers, not even an animal crime officer ........ the animal kingdom are not that high on the agenda in Ireland unfortunately

There are no updates on the poor horses or foals as of yet, the owner dropped photos and descriptions up to me this afternoon so I will be emailing the photos off to all the rescues, etc around the country and I will also make up posters for them to put around the place with all the details of when, where, what, etc.

They are very worried as the stallion is recovering from a leg injury and are afraid if they put him driving that the leg will be destroyed forever and their other main concern is that they'll split up the 2 fillies putting one with each mare which would obviously be a huge mistake as they are feeding from the same mare as one of them was an orphan but hopefully neither of these things will happen and all of them are being looked after.

Keep everything crossed that they all get returned safe and sound asap


Sheena

Cor wat a nightmare!

No knowledge on kidney infections, sorry.

I'd be climbing the walls too! All the best to Jacko. Chin up

Just said I'd give a quick report to let you all know that poor Jacko is still 'poor Jacko', I wasn't happy with his recovery so I called the vet out to see him (the ramp on my box is cracked), he decided to change the antibiotic because of the fact that I had seen him dripping urine the day before and also due to a slight swelling in his lower rear left leg.

In the past few days he has started scrapping the ground and licking the soil which to me is a major indication that he is lacking in a mineral, the vet said to put him on a tonic which I have to get tomorrow but I just wondered if there was anything in particular that any of you would recommend.

In relation to the stolen horses they are still on the missing list despite days and days and miles and miles of searching............ the owners are devastated and shattered


Sheena

Sheena, get in touch with Roger Hatch and Trinity Herbs www.justbespoke.com and give him the whole story. He will make mixes up according to the particular problem and history.

Pat Coleby in Natural Horse Care recommends that vets give a vitamin B12 injection with antibiotics which is supposed to lessen the side effects and promotes the good effects - might be worth asking what he thinks.

Also you could feed a tablespoon of seaweed which is a great way of getting vitamins and minerals in a balanced way. Dried nettles too, my horse craves them especially when he's not feeling up to par but it usually takes a few days for them to dry enough for sting to die and the horse to want to eat them. Vitamin C helps to promote healing too and is often touted as a natural antibiotic - dried rosehips is a good source. Or you can get vit C powder from natural health food stores (but I prefer to try to use natural sources where possible).

These are all just things that might help to boost his system and speed his healing. Poor Jacko - hugs from all of us (((())))

I would like to point out (and put my knowledge to use) about vitamin c and vitamin E. Vitamin E's main role is as a biological antioxidant. It incorporates itself into cell membranes where it protects unsaturated lipids (fats) and other membrane components against oxidative damage.
Vitamin e supplementation could probably help your boy right now in more ways then one. Every 30 days after hay and grasses are cut the vitamin e level drops by 50% By the time the winter comes theres usually very little or no vitamin e in hay.
Vitamin c influences vitamin E with tocopheroxyl and tocopherol recycling.