Beau’s bright, interested eyes and shiny coat do not give any indication that he was at death’s door just a few months ago. On June 1, the chocolate-colored Rocky Mountain Horse gelding was a guest for the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine’s (ACVIM) annual edition of “Pet Survivor” during the group’s annual Forum in Louisville, Ky. Two veterinary internists who nursed Beau back to health during his exhaustive 17-day hospital stay were on hand to discuss his case.

Andree Berthiaume, DVM, was visiting her family in Canada during the Christmas holiday and returned to her London, Ky., farm on Dec. 31, 2005. “I came home to a sick horse,” she said. “There was mud in the water tub from where he had been trying to eat mud and drink water. He was ataxic (incoordinated), so I thought it was something neurologic.”

Fairfield Bain, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, ACVP, ACVECC, MBA, was on call at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute in Lexington, Ky., that weekend, and he consulted with Berthiaume by phone on what to do about the case. He recognized that the clinical signs Berthiaume described suggested botulism. Berthiaume had never encountered the disease in years of working with horses in Canada, so Beau was not vaccinated against it. The disease is more commonly seen in Kentucky.

Beau wasn’t down or recumbent (unable to rise), but it was apparent his condition was deteriorating, so Berthiaume took him to Hagyard. “He fell in the trailer and couldn’t get up,” said Berthiaume