History

For months, Louie has been having these episodes where his back legs would have spasms and he would tilt his head as if he had a headache. We knew that something was obviously wrong, but we’re struggling with a diagnosis. He had lameness tests and x-rays, but nothing was pointing to the cause. Finally, while he was on stall rest for the laceration on his side, we took a blood sample.

Diagnosis

The blood work came back positive for equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM). In common terms, he is suffering from spinal cord damage and/or brain inflammation caused by a single-celled organism called protozoa that infects a horse in the form of a parasite. There are two protozoa that cause EPM, Sarcocystis neurona and Neurospora hughesi. The latter is rarer and is what Louie has.

Treatment

There are three prescription drugs that are FDA approved for treatment:

• Marquis
• PROTAZIL
• ReBalance

We decided, after speaking with Dr. Lauren from Henderson Equine Clinic, to use Marquis. We will need to give the paste for 28 days. One of the drawbacks of the treatment is that it could potentially make his symptoms worse for the first three days. Knowing that we are going to continue with his Equioxx to help support him.

Outcome

While successful treatment can eliminate the parasite, we, unfortunately, do not know the damaging effects that the parasite has left on Louie’s nervous system. We are hopeful that we have caught it early enough, but are also aware that Louie could be affected again even after treatment.

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