Photic Head-shaking

[ArchDandy]

Confirmed that my mare has this condition. She did not have it before being bred. Have read that there was a study that showed many of these horses had high levels of the Rhino vacc. in their bloodstream. My mare has received doses every other month as per Vet reccomendation. It is the last variable I can think of. She has had her 5th, 7th, and 9th month vacc and I'm considering ceasing the vaccinations because she is getting worse. Will I do any harm to the foal by discontinuing?

[Laurierace]

There are many types of headshaking with photonic being one of them. That means they shake when they are exposed to bright light but not otherwise. There is thought to being a link to any type of vaccine and headshaking, not just rhino. That isn't usually the photonic type however. Its more the type that is triggered by dust and pollen so they tend to be worse in the warm months. I had a headshake that was helped by capstar but they make you vow never to vaccinate again while on the program.
When you breed a mare you have to do what's best for the foal. That is going to include giving her the pre-foaling shots. You can skip the flu/rhino this go around since she was fully vaccinate with the three shots but that most likely won't make a difference.
There is a yahoo message board for equine headshaking that has an extremely knowledgeable group of people posting on the subject. I don't have a link but you should be able to google it and see if they have any ideas for you.

[ArchDandy]

Thanks! I'll check it out today.

[TrueColours]

Is she wearing a fly mask? Many have been helped by wearing the mask 24/7 to cut down on the glare and the wind on their faces. We had one that really reacted badly to any wind and sun combined and the full nose fly mask helped immensely with him as well

Good luck!

[ArchDandy]

We tried a fly mask but it did nothing, she continued to shake her head any time she is in any light. The only thing that stops her shaking when its daytime is a total blindfold.

[wilf]

There are several triggers for this kind of photo sensitization ,I had a mare that that started out of the blue when she was fed alfalfa hay. I kept her inside with a mask on and an old piece of mask taped over her nose area which cut it down and I turned her out at night. When she went up north I fed the local Timothy hay and it stopped.

[ArchDandy]

Well unfortunately the farm shes going to be foaled out at mandates the 5-way including the rhino for mares boarded there. It is likely she will get even worse- I just hope the expensive mask with "sunglasses" in it will ease her pain whenever she goes back to work. It isn't her feed/nor is it where she is boarded as she had no symptoms for over a year on the same diet at the same location. It was after she was bred and started the rhino every other month that this started.

[wilf]

Thanks Arch, that's an interesting case and I am constantly amazed by the "triggers" that start some equine problems off. Of course the worst for me is what starts the awful onset of laminitis ,but that's another story.

[jellac]

Arch - Can she perhaps be put on a program at the breeding/boarding farm where she's going where she's boxed during the day and let out on pasture at night? That was the most workable solution for the few photonic headshakers at the farm where I boarded. Worked quite well to ameliorate those mares' issue while giving them time on grass, moving about all of which I think is good to the good until pronounced in foal or foaled out, ready to be bred, etc.

I had not read/heard of the vaccination angle before and will have to read up on that - thanks for this new information to everyone above.

[ArchDandy]

Heading to the farm saturday to have a look around. Ideally she would be outside all the time like she is now. I am wondering how receptive most farms are to continuing the mare's home schedule, I normally do the daily care like mucking/grooming and I trim her hooves too. I would like to continue her supplements and keep trimming her. I'll purchase a Guardian mask for her to wear during the day.

http://www.horsemask.com/products.html

[Susan09]

Thanks! I'll check it out today.

There are several horses in our area that experienced the head shaking after Flu & Rhino vaccines. All were greatly helped by allergy testing&allergy shots. The testing is a simple blood test. You would have to talk to your vet about whether allergy shots are safe to use in pregnant mares.

You mentioned the farm is using the 5 way vaccine. I'm assuming they are not using it repeatedly for the rhino protocol. I know a lot of farms use the 4&5 way vaccines, but I would recommend talking to your vet about this especially since head shaking has a correlation with over vaccinating.

We had a 3 yr colt founder off a 5 way vaccination and a filly develop severe hives. It's a little more inconvenient, but now we make certain to use individual vaccines two weeks apart. Please talk to your vet about the allergy testing, because horses like people with allergies, are at higher risk for adverse reactions.

If the horse's immune system is being challenged by allergy, a virus or bacteria, the vaccine cannot work properly. IOW, your mare and foal may not be protected if the vaccine does not get the full response from the immune system. Perhaps your vet can monitor the titer or make additional recommendations.

[ArchDandy]

For a few days we were symptom free- I managed to assist by only working with her when the sun was setting to when it was dark out. 1 day after prefoaling vaccinations and she is totally unmanageable. It has to be totally black out if I even want to lead her comfortably. She has blisters and swelling on her muzzle from rubbing it all day long. She is much worse and now strikes and violently throws her head while being lead, tries to strangle herself on the walker, and won't take her nose off the wall in the round pen. The only exercise she can get is getting walked, and she bashes me around with her head and I keep getting struck by her legs I want my sweet, gentle mare back!!! If I can get away with it, this is the last time she sees a vaccine needle.

[Susan09]

.I am so sorry to hear how miserable your mare is. I had a 3 yr colt in the same situation. We're in the midwest, so his didn't begin until June and lasted until the end of October. He missed race training the entire summer and early fall. We tried all the treatments you can't use in pregnant mares, corticosteroids, cushings's meds, antihistamines, DMSO nasal wash, guttural pouch flushing, even a long term sedative. We even had him scoped multiple times, head xray, and a specialist to look in his ears. None of it worked. The following year on the first of June, it started again. Then we found out about the allergy testing, attempted to eliminate as many as possible in his environment, still no change. We skeptically did the allergy shots. In less than two weeks, it was all gone.

If you start googling headshaking and vaccinations, there is some data that advises vaccinating earlier in the spring and later when it is colder.

Is your mare going to be bred back? If so, I don't know what you could do for a pregnant mare except pulling a titer before vaccinating. Hopefully if the titer documentation was high enough, the farm MIGHT not require revaccination. Otherwise, you might need to find a farm which maintains a closed herd type of situation, or which has no other foaling mares at all. It would have to be a place where horses are not coming and going. Even then, you would have to check with your vet. One question for your vet, since the mare's immune system is already overstimulated, what affect will that have on conferring immunity for the foal? I would have to question the efficacy of the vaccine for the mare as well; will it provide her protection, or will it not reach the desired level as occurs when a sick horseAaaqvaccinated?

Am I correct in assuming this was your mare's last prefoaling vaccination? Did she get a single dose of rhino or was this a combination of products? Was the rhino a modified live or killed vaccine, it does make a difference?

I really sympathize with you. I can't imagine your mare having to go through this with a foal at her side. I would keep a close eye on her with the foal that she doesn't accidently hurt it.

[ArchDandy]

Not being bred back, and we descided to keep her at the local riding stable she has been at. Were on foal watch to do the job ourselves- which is perfect because now we can handle her at night and not get beat up doing it. I don't think the foal will be a problem because whenever she puts her nose on something- the shaking stops. So I can picture her following her foal around with her nose on it This farm has no vacc. requirements but most horses there use the same vet and he comes out twice a year and does almost everybody. Not too many horses coming and going and she is in an isolated part of the barn away from the stall-barns. I'll ask my vet to draw blood from her and do a titer. Same with the foal- Mare is due in >two weeks so I'll ask him when he comes to check the foal. Thanks for the concern, I'm just so upset because she was not like this when I bought her 3 years ago, and I feel its something that I'm doing that causes this. Since she's not going anywhere anytime soon, I'll test the theory that the vaccines are the issue and depending on the titer- stop vaccinating her. The prefoaling was 5-way and two other things I can't remember- I don't think Rhino was apart of it- but she got Rhino at 5,7, and 9 months and twice the year before being bred.

[Shammy Davis]

http://www.jadwin.net/horse/head-right.htm