Shari Clinch, whose 17-year-old Arabian team-penning mare died last February after a long and gruesome illness, is still looking for answers.
However, the former resident of Deleau, Man., at least now knows what killed Shawnee, the horse she raised and trained from a three-month-old foal that she described as her “best friend.” It was Cushing’s disease.
Shawnee first became ill in December 2005. The mare wasn’t eating, was lethargic and rolling its tongue and had a clear discharge from its nose.
Clinch brought the horse to the Virden Animal Hospital, where the resident horse specialist floated Shawnee’s teeth, did a pregnancy test and ordered a complete blood count test. At first, a food allergy was suspected, Clinch said.
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Noticing that the horse’s coat seemed excessively long and curly, she asked the vet if her horse might be suffering from Cushing’s disease. She said she was told that it was not.
Shawnee’s condition worsened daily and on Feb. 8 Clinch again brought her horse to the vet clinic in Virden. By now it had a swollen head and pus was running from its mouth and nose. The horse was given a variety of antibiotics and seemed to be recovering, but on Feb. 20, Clinch called the vet to euthanize it. Shawnee died naturally on Feb 21.
Clinch said that when the horse was close to death, the vet told her he was too busy to come and put it down.
“Get the neighbour to bring a rifle and shoot it,” Clinch said she was told. She refused, because she was determined to have an autopsy done.
“If I had done that, none of this would have come out.”
Katharina Lohmann, an associate professor in large animal medicine at the University of Saskatchewan, said Cushing’s disease is not uncommon in older horses, especially ones suffering from founder with no obvious cause.
Hirsutism, or the failure to shed winter hair, which leaves the animal covered in a shaggy, wavy coat, is a strong indicator of the disease. In winter, this might not be easily spotted, Lohmann added.
Caused by abnormally high levels of cortisol in the body, Cushing’s disease is usually the result of a benign tumour on the pituitary gland. It may also affect the animal’s immune system, leading to respiratory and skin infections and mouth ulcers that are slow to heal. Excess drinking and urination may also occur.
Lohmann said a two-stage, overnight blood test can diagnose the disease. Regular continuous treatment with pergolide has been shown to extend the lives of Cushing’s horses.
An autopsy conducted at Manitoba Agriculture’s Animal Health Centre in Winnipeg found that the animal’s pituitary gland, which normally weighs about three grams in a healthy horse, was so swollen it weighed 10 grams.
Mark Swendrowski, the veterinarian who wrote the report, noted the presence of hirsutism. Although he was unable to comment on the case, he was able to confirm that it was “basically 100 percent Cushing’s.”
Clinch, who has since moved to Fisher Branch, Man., filed a complaint with the Manitoba Veterinary Medical Association after receiving the autopsy report. She received a letter advising her the case would be forwarded to the association’s peer review committee. It also stated that if she sought a refund of fees paid, she would have to go to provincial small claims court.
Now, almost a year later, she wonders how much longer the process will take.
Maureen Jay of the veterinary medical association said she was unable to comment on pending peer review cases.
While she did confirm that a review of Clinch’s case had been started, Jay could not say when the process might be completed.
Clinch said she is mainly seeking an explanation for what happened, as well as compensation for medical expenses incurred in treating the horse.
She added that she has chosen to pursue the matter with the association because of the way she was treated by the veterinarian. Clinch said that he and others refused her repeated requests for a Cushing’s test. She also accuses them of not taking the time to properly diagnose the condition during the busy spring calving season.
“We spent over $1,000 on medication that ended up killing her,” she said. “We are looking for a settlement because we went through three months of hell. To them, it was an animal that wasn’t a cow and didn’t have a dollar value. But if I wanted, I could have sold that horse for $5,000 because she was broke to death.”
M. Everett More of the Virden Animal Hospital declined comment.
