im extrememly upset..

[ponyboi09]

My favorite mare is sick. I'm not yet sure with what because our local large animal vet is a couple hundred miles away visiting his newborn grandbaby, and dont get me wrong, im not upset with him. I just dont really know what to do. I contacted the local small animal vet that works at the same clinic, and he fixed me some antibiotics up that should pull her through until the large animal vet returns.

I have heard the symptoms of strangles, so i seperated her as soon as i found her sick. She has a running nose, cough, and very swollen glands under her jaw in her neck. I hope hope hope it isnt strangles. She was shaking a little but not much when i found her, i mainly noticed the snot. I have her in our trailer, up next to the house so i can keep an eye on her. I covered all the openings, except a few on the gate area, with a tarp. I also have her in her blanket, and have a heat lamp on in the trailer.

The tricky park is, she feels rather well. She is eating and drinking, and very alert.

Is there anything else i should do? im just, scared for her... i dont know, i really just dont know....

Will

...i pre-appologize for any spelling or grammer errors...

 

[MiLo Minis]

Well it sure sounds like strangles except for the eating and drinking well part - they usually go off their feed and feel crappy until the abscesses break. The thing with strangles is that if you give them antibiotics you can drive the bacteria inward and cause brat strangles. Once you start them on antibiotics you want to be sure to continue with them until the temperature returns to normal and stays there for several days. Make sure you let your vet know when he returns that you did give antibiotics. Distemper is rarely fatal and rarely causes complications so don't worry too much.

 

[ponyboi09]

Thanks for your comforting words. It really is bothering me, i hardly ever have a sick horse and when they get sick, it normally does a number on my nerves. What temperature is normal, high, and low? Is there anything else that i should be looking for? I also think she is bred. Will i need to do anything else to assure the health of both her and her developing baby? She is by far not close to foaling, probably due in march of april.

Thanks again, i knew someone would know something on here.

 

[AppyLover2]

I can't offer any advice Will, but wanted you to know I'm sending prayers your way for your little girl.

 

[PaintedPromiseRanch]

:

:

: from AZ for you and your mare too! wish i had advice... but definitely sending good thoughts your way, please keep us posted!!

 

[Charlotte]

That does sound like it could be strangles. If it is you will want to be sure to follow isolation practices so as to not spread it to other horses. Change shoes/clothes before handling other horses or working at their barn. Don't share any equipment with the sick and well horses. Stuff like that.

Like Milo minis said horses usually get over strangles with no after effects.

But I will keep her and you in my prayers for a speedy recovery.

Charlotte

 

[ponyboi09]

is there anything else it could possibly be? i pray that it isnt strangles.

Thanks again yall,

Will

 

[MiLo Minis]

I am not a vet so can't give you any medical advice but what I would do is keep her warm, dry and comfortable. Keep her nose wiped out and you could use some Vicks in her nose. Give her plenty of rest with no exercise but if you have a warm sunny day you could let her get some sun. If you should notice her having trouble breathing which only happens occasionally you should get your vet on the phone immediately. If or when the abscesses burst they will need to be swabbed out and kept very clean with strong iodine on a cotton swab. You will need to break the scab daily and swab deeply until it heals from the inside out. I hate to say it but there is a chance your mare will abort the foal. Do keep an eye out for any other horses developing symptoms as it is quite contagious - it can live for months. Don't allow this mare to have contact with any other horses and wash your hands thoroughly after you have handled her. Good luck with it! It could be just a very bad cold.

 

[Miniv]

A normal horse temp is a degree up or down of 100. When the temp reaches 102 we are looking closely at the horse's attitude, eating, and pooping before getting concerned, as that is a low-grade fever that may or may not mean anything.........and if it's summertime it may not mean ANYTHING.

From your description, it may very well be Strangles and many vets don't recommend giving antibiotics as it can cause complications plus prolong the horse working the virus out on their own.

If your mare is mature, plus basically healthy to start with, it's often best to let Strangles run its course. All you can do is quarrantine and make your girl as comfortable as possible, IMO.

MA

 

[Bess Kelly]

If these vets are in the same office (or even not) can he CALL the horse vet? Just a thought......

 

[ponyboi09]

Well, i tried calling the horse vet first but he had indeed turned off his phone, because he didnt want to be bothered with business while visiting family. I dont really blame him though, i love my vets. As soon as he realizes i have called, im sure he will call me back.

One thing Im beginning to find odd about the whole situation is that my step father did feed everyone this moreing at about 6 or 7 and i found her all snotty at about 2:30....is it normal for it to come on so quickly. We have a realatively small herd of only 8 and im sure he would have noticed. Also, in what ways could she have contracted the bacteria? I havent taken any of the horses off the property in months, and our pastures do not connect to any others. So im fairly sure she didnt get it by coming in contact with another horse. Oh, and should i be able to feel a more rounded ball if it is an infected knode, or will her whole neck be swelled?

Thanks for everyone's help.

Will

Thanks to everyone who will be praying for us, WE GREATLY APPRICIATE IT!!!

 

[chandab]

Well, i tried calling the horse vet first but he had indeed turned off his phone, because he didnt want to be bothered with business while visiting family. I dont really blame him though, i love my vets. As soon as he realizes i have called, im sure he will call me back.

One thing Im beginning to find odd about the whole situation is that my step father did feed everyone this moreing at about 6 or 7 and i found her all snotty at about 2:30....is it normal for it to come on so quickly. We have a realatively small herd of only 8 and im sure he would have noticed. Also, in what ways could she have contracted the bacteria? I havent taken any of the horses off the property in months, and our pastures do not connect to any others. So im fairly sure she didnt get it by coming in contact with another horse. Oh, and should i be able to feel a more rounded ball if it is an infected knode, or will her whole neck be swelled?

Thanks for everyone's help.

Will

Thanks to everyone who will be praying for us, WE GREATLY APPRICIATE IT!!!

Any chance you were around an infected horses off property? Unfortunately, with strangles we can carry on our shoes, etc back to our barn. I brought it home from a parade I took my full-size gelding to, my only horse to get it was my full-size yearling filly (only horse at the whole boarding facility, because I did a good job of quaranteening her) .

When my filly got it I noticed her acting off before I noticed any nasal discharge. BTW, my mare is now 9 years old and has had a filly since, contracting and recovering from strangles.

Oh, and the bacteria that causes strangles can live in the soil for years and cause an outbreak in a suseptible individual when conditions are just right (don't know what "just right" conditions are, but it varies with location, climate, etc).

If it is strangles, just follow your vets instructions and I'm sure your horse will recover just fine.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

There is little point to isolating her now as if it is strangles and you found her snotty then any infection has already been spread.

I would also advise against the antibiotics as this delays the affect of the disease and you really do want it gone through as quickly as possible.

Please give her access to plenty of air- my vet advises turnout when the weather is OK, she does need fresh air though as she needs the oxygen so do not enclose her.

Keep her warm, keep her dry and treat the symptoms.

If she is a mature animal this should not be dangerous but you do, obviously, need Veterinary input ASAP.

Yes, to answer your question- the abscesses could easily have been over looked by your father and the snot is the abscesses "leaking" down the nose so basically you need to be checking the rest of your herd for swollen glands at least twice daily.

I am not suggesting you put the mare back with the rest of the herd (although I would do this with mine!!) and since you have already isolated her you may as well leave her there but please, take off the tarpaulins and things and let her get fresh air.

Strangles can be airborne- a bird can bring it in- it does not need contact with sick animals.

Just keep your cool and treat the symptoms.

Good Luck, keep us posted.

 

[strass]

We had a mare come down with a few Strangles-like symptoms like you are describing a few months ago. She had a baseball size lump pop up under her jaw that caused her pain so she quit eating and drinking and was acting pretty weak.

However, (after over $1000 in vet bills) we found out that what she had is called Pigeon Fever (the old vet at our office knew it by another name). It's got nothing to do with birds. It's just another bacteria that does some of the things that strangles does, often on the chest. Our vet said that this particular problem is one that should be treated with antibiotics. Then, you do the same for the absesses that you would for strangles. The good thing about Pigeon Fever is that it doesn't seem to be quite as contagious or nasty as strangles.

Oh, and I did isolate her as soon as I saw the first signs. (I knew that if it was strangles there was little point.) As is, with Pigeon Fever not being as contagious, the vet recommended isolation and we've not had any one else get sick at all. The mare, herself, is doing just fine now but will be isolated for quite awhile more to be on the safe side.

Here's a link to a description of it.

Pigeon Fever Info.

As always, I'm going to advise you to find a way to get a vet to look at her and follow their instructions. My vet said that the only way to really know if it's just PF is to run blood tests for it. I hope your mare doesn't have strangles. If not, maybe you can suggest to test her for this early on and save some of the money I didn't.

Best of luck.

 

[kaykay]

Strangles does come on quickly. and most of mine ate and drank fine when they had it.

 

[ponyboi09]

Thanks for the information guys! My vet should be home tomorrow, and he knows us very well, ill jut tell him as he is running around on this busy christmas day, to stop by and take a look. haha

She is looking good today, still perky and happy, as normal. How soon will i know, if it is strangles(which i feel now it is), if it has spread to the others in the herd?

"""""We had a mare come down with a few Strangles-like symptoms like you are describing a few months ago. She had a baseball size lump pop up under her jaw that caused her pain so she quit eating and drinking and was acting pretty weak.

However, (after over $1000 in vet bills) we found out that what she had is called Pigeon Fever (the old vet at our office knew it by another name). It's got nothing to do with birds. It's just another bacteria that does some of the things that strangles does, often on the chest. Our vet said that this particular problem is one that should be treated with antibiotics. Then, you do the same for the absesses that you would for strangles. The good thing about Pigeon Fever is that it doesn't seem to be quite as contagious or nasty as strangles.

Oh, and I did isolate her as soon as I saw the first signs. (I knew that if it was strangles there was little point.) As is, with Pigeon Fever not being as contagious, the vet recommended isolation and we've not had any one else get sick at all. The mare, herself, is doing just fine now but will be isolated for quite awhile more to be on the safe side.

Here's a link to a description of it.

Pigeon Fever Info.

As always, I'm going to advise you to find a way to get a vet to look at her and follow their instructions. My vet said that the only way to really know if it's just PF is to run blood tests for it. I hope your mare doesn't have strangles. If not, maybe you can suggest to test her for this early on and save some of the money I didn't.

Best of luck.""""""

Thanks for this iformation also, maybe now i have something to look forward to. haha

I love this forum,

Will

 

[LGahr]

Hey Will....

How are things going today?

Hope all is well!

 

[RAPfrosty]

Aw, this couldn't have happened at a worse time now could it? I'm keeping your mare in my thoughts and prayers, please keep us updated!

 

[ponyboi09]

Everything is good today, cant say that she is better by anymeans, but deffinately not any worse. She is out getting some fresh air at the moment. Its rather cold out, so im leaving a blanket on her, because i dont want her fever to come up.

Ill try and keep everyone posted.

Will

 

[ponyboi09]

...talked to the vet on the phone about an hour or so ago, he said i did good by seperating her, but that if it is strangles the others will most likely have already been exposed. He told me that since i have already started the antibiotics to use them for one more day for some reason. Then its just a waiting game to let it all take its course. He told me to take some epsons salt( spellcheck ) and warm water and hold that on her neck for about five minutes every once and a while, he said that this should help the abseces to come to a head sooner and kick start the whole process. He said i definately dont have to worry about loosing her, because she was in exceptionally good health to begin with. He said, that he thinks she will pull through without aborting also, unless it takes longer than expected to recover and she might abort due to the stress after all that.

Well, she enjoyed her fresh air, and grain. She isnt drinking as much as would like to see her drinking though, but over all im satisfied for now. Thanks again for everyone's prayers and kind words. You all have been a great help. If you know anything else i can do to make this whole process easier on her or easier on my other horses please share. haha Oh, and how soon will i see signs from the other horses if it has spread, or is there no real time zone for this infection?

Thanks everyone

Will