Symptoms. Horses with wobblers syndrome will
trip often and be stiff and uncoordinated when they move
. They may appear to lurch as they canter, have difficulty halting smoothly and collide the hind with the front feet. Walking up and down hills may be difficult.
Does equine wobblers get worse with age?
Affected horses
grow rapidly and are large for their age
. Onset of the clinical signs can be gradual or come on all at once. Hind limb deficits are typically one grade worse than fore limbs. Circling, raising the head, and walking over obstacles or inclines make the condition worse.
Can horses with wobblers be ridden?
Today, thanks to new and continuing research,
many wobblers can be managed and some can even go on to become safe riding horses
. A horse with wobbler syndrome (also called cervical vertebral stenotic myelopathy) suffers from narrowing of the spinal canal that pinches/compresses his spinal cord as he grows.
How fast does wobblers disease progress in horses?
The onset of clinical signs is typically
between six months to three years
, although mature horses may also become affected.
What are the symptoms of wobblers?
- Weakness and incoordinated gait (known as ataxia), usually first seen in the pelvic limbs.
- Lameness/stiffness in the thoracic limbs.
- Neck pain and/or stiffness.
- Partial or complete paralysis.
Are horses with wobblers in pain?
A normal horse will not react but a “Wobbler” will withdraw by depressing the spine in a squatting position. This is not a sign of pain but a sign of weakness as a result of nerve damage. Horses with
painful spines do not usually squat
because squatting would result in more pain.
Is there a cure for wobblers disease?
It’s most common in Great Danes and Dobermans, with 4-5% of those breeds being affected.
There is no cure for Wobblers
, and depending on how advanced the symptoms become, sometimes treatment isn’t effective.
Are wobblers painful?
Wobbler syndrome is a disease of the neck (the cervical spine) that is seen in large and giant breeds of dog. These dogs experience compression of the spinal cord and the spinal nerve roots, resulting in
nervous system deficits and/or neck pain
.
Can a horse recover from EPM without treatment?
If left undiagnosed and untreated, EPM can cause devastating and lasting neurological deficits. The success rate for treated horses is high. Many will improve and a
smaller percentage will recover completely
, but 10-20% of cases may relapse within two years.
How do you know if your horse has neurological problems?
Lack of coordination, weakness or paralysis of the hind limbs
, muscle twitching, impaired vision, head pressing, aimless wandering, convulsions, circling and coma are some of the severe neurologic effects. Horses typically have non-neurologic signs, too, such loss of appetite and a depressed attitude.
What causes a horse to wobble?
The causes are numerous and include trauma,
spinal cord tumor
, back pain, metabolic disease, vertebral abscess, toxic exposure, parasite migration, nutritional imbalances, degenerative joint disease, malnutrition, or infectious disease.
What are signs of EPM in horses?
- Ataxia (incoordination), spasticity (stiff, stilted movements), abnormal gait or lameness.
- Incoordination and weakness which worsens when going up or down slopes or when head is elevated.
Why does my horse keep stumbling?
Often, horses who stumble or trip need
slight alterations to their trimming or shoeing
– they might have toes that are too long, the angles in the hooves could be too shallow or too steep, one foot might be shaped differently to the other, or there could even be instances where a disease of the hoof causes stumbling.
What does wobblers syndrome look like?
Wobbler syndrome is the common term to describe
a gait
seen in dogs with spinal cord compression in the neck, where they often take short or “floating” steps with the front limbs and have a swaying or “wobbly” gait in the hind limbs.
How do you prevent wobblers syndrome?
For the most part, Wobbler Syndrome can’t be prevented because it is genetic in nature. However, sometimes the condition arises when puppies grow too fast, so
monitoring your dog’s diet to prevent rapid growth
can help you avoid, or reduce the severity of, Wobbler Syndrome.
Is there a test for wobblers?
To specifically diagnose the disease we need to do
some imaging tests
. We typically do X-rays first to see if we can identify any obvious bony lesion or diagnose other diseases that can mimic wobbler syndrome. To confirm the disease more advanced imaging tests are required.
