Today Chance had swelling of his back right fetlock.  He had a fever around 104 and didn’t eat his feed.  His eyes were dull and he was lethargic.  He wasn’t limping but was walking slower than normal (he usually runs to the paddock or back to the barn).  I decided, due to the Lymphingitis flare up on his back right leg, I would give him a shot of 5 mls (or 5 cc) of Banamine and wrap his leg.  Once the medication set in, I would bring him in to give him a bath (it was 80 degrees today).  So, that is what I did.  By the time he was back at the barn he was covered in sweat.  I cold hosed him and drenched the wrap in cool water and let him roam around the barn.

Thankfully, the vet was able to meet me at her veterinary practice so that I could pick up Baytril and more Banamine.  Since Chance just had Lyme Disease (and had finished his medication less than a week ago), we are not 100% if this is a Lyme reaction or something else.  The plan is to administer 25 cc of Baytril either orally, in his feed, or via IV for 6 days and Banamine 10 mls (or a 1000 lbs) twice a day for 3 days. The vet suggested that I do 5 cc of Banamine if his fever remains between 101-103 degrees and 10 cc if his fever is 103 degrees or above.   During this time I will begin Prevacox- one 1/4 of a tablet once a day.  After 3 days, I will discontinue the Banamine and continue the Prevacox.  If his fevers are not down in two days, I will continue the Baytril but start the doxycycline as it maybe a Lyme disease symptom.

While researching Lyme Disease, I found that many people do two+ months of doxycycline instead of 30 days to ensure the disease has been erraticated completely.  However, since Chance had shown such improvement after 30 days, I decided to not do another month.  Maybe I should have…

However, Chance had similar symptoms when we found a small laceration in the DDFT tendon of his back left hind- swelling, Lymphingitis, fever, lethargy, no appetite, etc.  If he does have an issue with his tendon I will most likely do another round of Stem Cell treatments which proved to be helpful last time.  Thankfully I stored his stem cells in a Stem Cell Bank (via Vet-Stem) and can easily have them shipped.