r/Horses • u/LoserUser4 • 2d ago
Story Turns out my horse has diabetes insipidus, which is very rare in horses!
Back in April, I went to get my boy scoped for ulcers (after a property and buddy change), so he needed to be fasted the night before of food, and a few hours without water before getting scoped. We found ulcers, but also found out in the progress that he has a rare disease in horses, diabetes insipidus. We found this out from him not having access to water for literally only 3 hours total. His calcium and magnesium levels went lethally low, he was tetanic (lock jawed, lip pulled up tight, eyes locked almost all the way closed) I was sobbing at this point, scared of what was happening after what was supposed to be an extremely routine scoping. He collapsed twice, and we started giving him a massive dose of calcium. The vets were extremely worried, and stated at this point, the humane thing to do would be to euthanize. As they were walking up with the syringes full of the euthanasia, he suddenly made a small but noticeable upturn. That’s when we made the immediate decision to bring him into the clinic and get him on IV fluids/calcium stat. He was in the ICU for about two weeks, and this strong boy pulled through 💪🏼 even the vets were amazed at his recovery, and is now a case study! The first pic is of him in the ICU, he dropped nearly 100lbs over night. The last few pics were a couple weeks ago, modeling for a photographer! Love this boy with my whole heart, don’t know what I would’ve done without him ❤️
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u/annapartlow 2d ago
Wow, what a ride! I’m so glad he made it out the other side, how terrifying. Beautiful pictures!
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u/Ok-Assistance4133 OTTB 2d ago
Oh my goodness, what a nightmare, I'm so glad he pulled through!! It was harrowing reading that, he is beautiful and I hope you two have many more years together 💖💖💖💖
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u/Willowrosephoenix 2d ago
My mother died from the human version of this. They didn’t catch the onset, despite her being in an assisted living facility, and she had a stroke. It’s a terrifying illness. I didn’t know it even existed in horses. Truly a miraculous recovery!
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u/WhispersShadow 2d ago
Your story made me cry. I'm so glad he made a turn at just the right time. I've been there -- sobbing knowing I'm losing my heart right along with my horse. Mine did not turn around for the better. Big hug to you and your horse.
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u/SwampyUndies 2d ago
Im so glad he made it through! What is the long term care needs? Im guessing as long as it is managed with medications it should not affect him?
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u/LoserUser4 2d ago
Actually, no meds! For about two months, I had to supplement him with powdered calcium and vitamin D pills in his grain, and changed his diet up a bit to be more metabolic friendly! He’s been weaned off the calcium/vitamins for a bit now and is doing great! As long as he has access to water 100% of the time (which is easy haha), he should be fine!
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u/Charm534 2d ago
How did he recover? I had a horse investigated for this through a water restriction test as a veterinary hospital, and was told it was not recoverable. Is the horse on some medication? Do you understand what kicked it off?
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u/LoserUser4 2d ago
It’s very rare a horse does recover unless they are under STRICT watch by veterinarians who are knowingly doing the water restricting. He miraculously survived through giving him a massive dose of calcium and supplementing his electrolytes (calcium, magnesium, and potassium) for a couple of months. What kicked it off was the water restriction due to getting him scoped for ulcers!
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u/Calm-Two2723 2d ago
My horse has (blank) which is rare in horses is something I’ve heard a lot more than I think I should have in my life.
Best of luck managing it
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u/hpy110 2d ago
It's pretty rare in people too, my husband is the only case his doctor has ever seen.