Rabies in horses? (stupid 20 characters)?

Question

What is rabies like in horses?

Last year around this time I had traded a barrel gelding for a 2 year old roping prospect. We had him for one month. He was the sweetest horse ever and was first to great you at the gate.
Then one day he didn't come in. I went to catch him and he reared up at me and tried putting his front feet into my face and ran over me. After 2-3 hours of trying to catch him because he was being so violent, was jumping fences and hurting himself (we had him caught in a round pen but he ran into it and made it a very narrow triangle and smashed 2 panels) and he went to attacking us again and other horses. We finally were able to rope him clip a rope to his halter and tie him to a heavy duty welded fence.(he was super tired by then) We left him alone and went to walk way around in front of him so we could make some calls and find out what was wrong with him. When that happened he tried jumping a 6 foot fence in front of him to attack us again and got his front feet over awkwardly and got caught in his groin/flank area. We were going to try and get in to cut the rope to keep him from killing himself be he was kicking, biting, and flailing too much for us to get close. Eventually he choked himself out and we cut the rope but by the time he quit kicking he was dead. We didn't have a test done on him. We just figured we had been cheated out of a good horse for a crazy horse because a friend of ours said that happened to him once and he had found that the man had sold him a horse doped with a time release pellet thing that lasted a month so we though that is what happened and didn't look further into it.
But recently we've heard that it could have been rabies. Does this sound right?

Answer 1

I work in a veterinary laboratory that tests for rabies. Rabies is a virus that attacks the central nervous system in mammals. Aggression can be a sign of rabies, but other symptoms can present either in addition to, or instead of aggression. The symptoms are different in a case to case basis. Some animals will develop a head tilt and vocalize. Some animals will suffer from full or partial-body paralysis. Some animals will just just act lethargic and "not themselves". Some will have seizures. Normal sleeping patterns are often disrupted. (If you see nocturnal wildlife active during the day, do not approach the animal!) Some animals might even act overly friendly. There is one common thread among all symptoms, is that there is a sudden onset of behavioral changes and neurological abnormalities (whatever those abnormalities might be).



So yes, it is possible that this horse had rabies. Rabies is not found in horses as often as it is in other animals as most owners keep their horses vaccinated, but if this horse was not vaccinated or if you do not know whether the horse was vaccinated or not, it is a definite possibility. If you or anyone involved was exposed, you should contact your state department of health. Exposure is defined as saliva of the infected animal coming in contact with a mucus membrane (mouth, nose, eyes) or in contact with broken skin. If anyone was bitten or injured by this animal, or handled the animal closely, they should seek medical attention. If this happened a year ago and none of the people involved have shown symptoms of rabies, then you guys should be alright. The virus does not usually take that long to present symptoms, but it has been known to take months to reach the CNS and cause symptoms and like I said, every case is different, so I strongly recommend getting in touch with a doctor or department of health official to get their professional advice!



Here is a good reference for you if you would like to learn more about rabies: http://www.padls.org/notes/rabies.html

Answer 2

It does indeed sound like rabies could have caused this- it does affect horses, and it does produce the same dementia which occurs in other animals which get it. You really should have had your vet do an autopsy on this horse, and especially a test of his brain and spinal tissue. If he did in fact have rabies, it would have been self evident immediately, because rabies produces changes in the structure of the brain which are very visible. Without an autopsy, however, you'll never know for sure.

Based on the way you worded your question, I think that rabies is the most likely explanation for what happened- any time any animal behaves in a way that is out of character to the point of being unnatural, rabies should be suspected. In this case, this horse was really behaving in a demented, unnatural way. I can explain why it took so long for the dementia to show itself, too- rabies is a disease with a long incubation period, and an even longer progression once the symptoms start. It takes anywhere from 10 days to 2 weeks for an affected animal to die after the symptoms appear, and during that time, the horse, dog, cat, or other animal will be aggressive and show signs of neurological impairment. We had a feral cat that was hanging around our place about a year or so ago, and he too showed signs of being rabid. At one point, we trapped him in the barn with the idea of turining him over to Animal Control to be euthanized, but he escaped- and we never saw him again. I can only assume that he wandered out into the woods somewhere and then died there- but no one will ever know for sure. Like the horse, he was behaving very strangely- and he couldn't eat or drink anything. Rabies is called 'hydrophobia" for a reason- in its advanced stages, infected animals are unable to swallow, and thus cannot eat or drink.



The only real defense against a situation like this one is making sure all animals are kept vaccinated against the disease on a regular basis. I'm sorry you lost your horse.

Answer 3

I'd possible it was rabies-- I would get the carcass tested because there are special procedures that need to be followed for dealing with the body if it caries rabies.

Oh wait- I just read that it was a year ago. I'd just move on. Rabies isn't likely in most areas and since it was a new horse doping is definitely a possibility-- that's actually a lot more common...

Answer 4

1) What is your horses name? Nappy (short for Napoleon) and Keeper (UVM-GMan 2) Own, Lease, or Lesson? lease. I may buy next year though if I can pay for it or get a really good scholarship... 3) What breed? Nappys a TB and Keepers a Morgan 4) Color? Nappy- dark bay Keeper- chestnut 5) What is your favorite thing to do while riding? gallop up hills. Or lateral work 6) What event do you do? Dressage 7) English, Western, or Australian riding? english 8) Walk or Trot? trot 9) Trot or Lope? canter. 10) Walk or Lope? canter 11) Any pictures of your horses? just on facebook and you can't see them

Answer 5

not sure if this is true but a while ago i was watching animal planet and it said if an animal had rabies there was pressure on their mouth causing them to bite things. did he try to bite you? was he foaming at the mouth if yes then i think he had rabies, but im not entirely sure if horses can get rabies so ask the vet look it uup onlineread books and find as many sources as you can for rabies in horses. then look at the behavior they would have and think about what he was doing. did it meet the criteria.