Blood in 16 yr old geldings urine

[Dakotasgurl]

Yea only now the vets saying it's a tie up or something like that and she's coming out now.

 

[skippacheval]

Old age at 16. My retired show horses are still giving lessons at 30 years and love it. Only little beginners however. Blood in the urine or blood color can occure from tying up(azoturia) which if severe would cause kidney failure. With out a vet exam I don't think I would jump to the kidney faliure conclusion. Was the vet you talked to an equine vet? Sometimes if there were blister beetles in the alfalfa it can also cause a bloody color in the urine(although with blister beetles there would also be signs of colic.

 

[Dakotasgurl]

We had the vet come out last night at 10:00 and she checked him out and said it was a disease nick named "monday morning disease" because it often occurs when owners haven't rode the horse in a while and go on a long trail ride or something like it. I rode him at walk and trot ONLY and only for an hour.
T he next day 2 hours and yesterday, before I noticed the blood, 3. I am just glad it was caught before it got severe and he already has less blood. She also said he had cushings disease. He is getting much better already and I am very happy.

 

[LauraM]

Dakotasgurl,

You asked me on another thread to respond on here, so I'll try to help with some information. Hope you find it useful.

I have a Cushings horse and can give you some help on managing this in your horse, however, from your posts above, I'm guessing you don't know much about tying-up, so I will give a bit of information regarding this, first.

The condition has several names, including the older one of "Monday Morning Sickness." But the latest research has shown that this syndrome is actually several different conditions with similar symptoms. As a result there has been quite a lot of confusion about this in the past as to the cause and the effective treatment. By various research (including muscle biopsies) it's now known that there are two underlying causes for this condition, and how it's treated depends on the cause..

One cause is "Equine Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy, or EPSM. In this situation (more common to Warmbloods and WB crosses), the horse has a metabolic defect that causes it to store excess glucose in the muscle cells as an abnormal form of glycogen. The excess amount and abnormal form of the glycogen causes the muscle cell to cease to function and the muscle becomes paralyzed. The attacks usually follow a period of inactivity and occur early on in the exercise period. This is the form traditionally known as Monday Morning Disease. Following an attack, myoglobin and other by-products of resulting from the muscle breakdown appear in the urine, causing a dark color and an odd smell. Therefore it's important to know that it's not the unfitness of the horse, or the exercise, really, that causes it. It's a metabolic abnormality and would occur regardless of how hard a horse was worked.

If a blood sample is taken, it will show high levels of certain muscle enzymes (CPK, SKH, and AST) since these will stay in the blood for quite some time after an attack, even when the horse is rested, though a definitive test is a muscle biopsy.

The treatment is to supply energy to the horse in the form of fat, NOT grains, which are high in sugars. Also, keeping a horse out in a pasture rather than stall rest is recommended since gentle, continuous exercise is beneficial.

The second cause of this syndrome is "Recurrent Exertional Rhabdomyolosis" or, RER. RER can by acute, sporadic or chronic, depending on how often the attacks occur. This situation (more common to TBs, STB, Arabs and QHs) also occurs during exercise, but unlike EPSM, it happens to fit horses and waits till AFTER the horse is warmed up or has been working for a while. While the same muscle enzymes are present in the blood, they will show lower levels than the EPSM horse and thus the myoglobin is less likely to appear in the urine. RER is caused by an abnormality in the way the muscle cells regulate intercellular calcium (the way muscles contract is to release calcium ions). It has nothing to do with how MUCH calcium a horse has,.....it has to do with how the cells USE the calcium. Stress and excitement can aggravate the symptoms. A muscle biopsy is a definitive test for this, also.

The treatment for this is again reducing carbohydrates (sugars) as much as possible, as with EPSM, however, one must should also add extra magnesium (release of magnesium ions relaxes the muscles and works in conjunction of the release of calcium ions for the contractions of muscles) to aid in the relaxing of the muscle contractions as the horse moves and works along with B vitamins to alleviate stress and anxiety (which causes tenseness). Minimizing stress and anxiety by desensitizing them to exciting stimuli is also helpful.

One last thing that can cause it is not a metabolic syndrome, but is worth mentioning, is Over-exertion Rhabdomyolosis. Horses that are over-worked for their level of fitness to the point of exhaustion can tie-up, too. This form causes extreme muscle damage and there are tears in the junction between the myofilaments of the muscle cells. In these cases, the recovery can be quite long, though most respond to rest and a gradual return to work.

Now, as to the Cushings,.....my fingers are tired and I need to eat dinner, so I'll be back a bit later to give you what I can about Cushings.

 

[Dakotasgurl]

Thank you so much for alll that veeerrrrrrrryyy useful information. The vet gave us several things, bute paste, a powder, and 1 shot(I'll have to go to the barn and look up the names). Dakota has gotten sooooo much better even after less then 24 hours of the treatment.

 

[LauraM]

I'm assuming that with the Cushings, your horse's tying-up was caused by EPSM, not RER. But you should ask your vet about it.

You need to begin eliminating all simple carbs as much as possible from your horse's diet, anyway, because of the Cushings. If you give a list of what he's being fed now, we can take a look at what might need to be adjusted.

The cereal grains (oats, corn, barley) are very very high in simple carbs (sugars) and he should no longer be fed anything with those in it. If he needs weight or needs help maintaining his weight, he should be fed fat sources, like rice bran, whole flax seed, BOSS (Black Oil Sunflower Seeds) beet pulp, etc. These things are much more efficient for weight gain, anyway, than grains are. Grains increase energy (usually giving the horse MUCH more energy than the average owner wants, lol), and are the main cause of "hot" behavior in horses (think of kids with a "sugar high"). Fats do not cause "hot" behavior but do a much better job of keeping weight on a horse.

Grains = more energy

Fats = more weight.

The single most critical thing in dealing with a Cushings horse is the diet.

1) Get rid of as much simple carbs as possible.

2) Increase quality protein (Cushings decreases a horse's absorption and ability to metabolize protein) by using a ration balancer in place of grains.

3) Increase the magnesium in the diet until he is getting a total of 20 grams of actual magnesium per day. Magnesium increases the cells' ability to metabolize sugars. There are several sources of magnesium available for horses; let me know if you need a few.

Here are some informational articles you might find helpful:

All About Magnesium

Equine Cushings and Cushings-Like Syndrome

Fats: More than an Energy Supply

Diet Recommendations for Equine Cushings and Cushings-Like-Syndrome, AKA Insulin Resistance

Let me know if you have any questions about these articles. Dr. Worth, the author, is a friend of mine and if I cannot clarify something, I can call her and ask her.