Anaemia

Anaemia is when there is blood loss or the horse is unable to manufacture red blood cells. Anaemia is often a misdiagnosed problem in horses. There are three ways that anemia can occur in your horse. They can become anemic if there is blood loss, inadequate or destruction of the red blood cells.

A horse may have a wide variety of symptoms and causes, including decreased appetite, lethargy, or a trauma causing acute blood loss. Your horse's heart rate may be elevated, their urine could be discoloured or reddish or the mucous membranes appear white or very pale.

It is easier to diagnose anaemia resulting from blood loss. There will be signs of shock and there may also be profuse bleeding through the nose. The most common form of anaemia in horses is inadequate production of red blood cells. This form of anemia may be common, but it is a challenge to identify it. Horses may show signs of lethargy, poor appetite and no tolerance for evenlow-grade exercise.

There are several things that can cause anemia, including infections ranging from renal disease to pneumonia. Some types of cancer can lead to anemia and different viruses like Equine Infectious Anemia can cause anemia. If your horse has iron, copper, vitamin B or protein deficiencies it can lead to your horse not being able to produce red blood cells.

If your horse had anemia caused by an increase in red blood cell destruction they may show signs including fever and mucous membranes that are yellow. Their urine will be a dark reddish brown. There are many causes for this type of anemia including parasites and red maple leaf toxicity.

To find out if a horse is anemic a test has to be run on a sample of their blood. An equine vet will test for packed cell volume (PCV). If a horse's PCV level gets too low they may need a blood transfusion. If your horse shows any of the symptoms above you should contact your vet immediately.