Anyone had a horse with Strangles?

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vicm2509

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Would anyone care to share their experiences?

Like how long were they having eating and breathing difficulties, how long did they have a temp? At what point did they perk up? Did you have any complications? Any remedial tips you can share? Did yours have an abcess and how long after developing did it burst? Are they better stabled or at grass? Anything really that you can advise or remember will help.

I know the facts but I am so stressed I could do with someone who has been in this situation before to offer a little advice and reasurance.

Anyone?
 
Yes, been there got the t-shirt!
A yard decision was made to stable those with strangles on the back yard and turn out to furthest field anything that tested negative.
No one other than positive owners were allowed on the yard.
Just keep chin up! It does clear up but it does feel like you are running through toffee most times!
 
We have been given a special field away from the others to turn out in. I am putting him out in the day atm as he will hardly eat anything but he does eat more grass than anything else. He wont eat feed and may eat about a slice of hay at night if that (he usually eats half a bale). This has been going on for a week now, his abcess is huge, his nose started with discharge on sunday. All I can do is syringe bute into him after which he eats a little better.

I feel so bad as there is nothing I can do. We get a bucket and put some Olbas Oil and really not water in and hold it under his nose which seems to offer him some short term relief.

Poor Baron
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A handful of mine had a strain of strep. They all live out so I was concerned that it would spread through the entire herds - it didn't. I put electric up and kept the few who had it outside but without being able to have physical contact with the rest of the horses.

They were quiet and down for a week before the abscesses appeared. They had raised temperatures for a few days. Once the abscesses burst (however not all had bursting abscesses) the horses appeared much better.

I used Povidone everywhere; on the wounds aswell as on fences, buckets ... anything that those horses had touched basically.

I kept people away from the yard. I had disinfectant mats and was careful about changing clothes when dealing with the other horses.

I did not use Penicillin G, as know that it can cause complications if given at the wrong time. My lot all recovered pretty quickly; I guess it was a maximum of a month that they were out of sorts.

Only had one complication; one jaw abscess would not burst no matter how many times I applied warm cloths to it. I ended up having the vet come in and lance it. Once this was done, the horse cleared up quickly. This was the only time the vet visited; it was important for me not to have him here as I didn't want the spread of the condition resting on my shoulders. He was happy to stay away and give me any advice over the phone.

Afterwards, once everyone was clear of secretions, I kept the place quarantined for another 60 days. It didn't spread and all was well.

There is a lot of hype with strangles and you have to be careful not to get sucked in. Yes there are some unfortunate cases, but the majority clear up without any complications. Afterwards, the horses have a 75% chance of having immunity to strangles, often life-long immunity.
 
Mine has currently. I put a post in Veterinary and got some really helpful replies, so it might be worth looking it up.

Mine came down with it on March 1st, initially just showing serious snot, with a temp of 104. He had a course of antibiotics, but after coming off them the temperature (w/o the snot) returned. The temperature continued to return on a further 4 occassions when he came off medication (a combination of trimeds, bute, penicillin, Cephaguard & potassium Iodide.) He had his gutteral pouches scoped early on which were clear; and at alater point we had his chest scanned, which revealed an abcess in his lung. He is now on a long term course of Baytril until June & if it returns again, he will have to go to liphook...

Feel free to drop me a PM, I feel like I have explored all the avenues of strangles!

ETS: I was recommended to turnout as if there heads are down it allows better drainage & less dust. But only if its mild & dry, and pref in a small field as my horse brought its temp back up on two occasions by galloping round the field all day!

& I agree with Tia that the majority of strangles cases are very straightforward! Mine is just one of the unfortunate few!
 
I have had a few that have had it.

One started showing signs a few days after buying her, she went on the horsebox and lived at my dads house (no where near other horses he lives in the middle of Birmingham) for about a month. She was stabled in the horsebox and grazed in hand on the grass at the end of the road. Thank god non of the others showed any signs and all where fine, we still have her and she's now about 16.

A pony we bred got it and it turned into 'Bastard Strangles'. He had absesses everywhere one would go and another one would appear, on his sheath, face etc. It was touch and go with him, he was about 2 at the time. I remember the vet (who was dealing with him) saying that she was glad that she waited till the morning to come out, if she had seen him the night before she would have treated him differently as he had improved over night. Hope that makes sense!!
Very happy ending he's now one of the top WHP and at hoys every year.
I think what i'm trying to say is don't panic easier said than done
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I agree don't panic! I know it's hard though. Many years ago a lot of the horses on my yard had it. There is such a range of symptoms from horse to horse it is difficult to say. My own horse just look a bit down and was a bit off his food for about a week. He never had an abcess and was fine after about 2 weeks with no treatment at all. Another pony had a huge abcess and would not eat at all. He was very uncomfortable and my YO pushed him to the back of the stable by the nose and kept pushing. He forced him to tuck his chin in and the abcess burst. Loads of gunk, but he was much happier afterwards. We squeezed out the puss twice a day and then put vaseline on the hole to stop it healing. None of the horses were treated with any drugs and all made a full recovery in about 1 month. I know it seems bleak at the mo, but most horses are fine. If the abcess gets really big though and hasn't burst he will be more comfortable and will probably get over it quicker if you have it lanced.
 
Do not turn out unless that field is going to be left for a VERY long time, the bacteria can live in the fencing, water buckets etc for years. Isolation is the only way to contain it. Feed all hay/haylege in the stable on the floor to encourage drainage of anything in this wind system.

Bute is the key for him to eat get it in him so brings temp down & eases pain when eating.

Are you hot toweling the abcesses? This helps bring them to the surface and then your vet will cut the skin cleanly to allow the c**p out. You will need to be in close contact with your vet for this as timing is key, you need to get it before it bursts to prevent damage to skin & so your vet can see whats in there & too soon could mean the all the infection hasnt come to the abcess yet therefore leading to a prolonged case.
 
Thank you for all the replies, they have all be helpful.

The field he can go in is not usually used for turnout, but it usually a hay field. So it wont be used for a long time. In the stable it is very hard to get him to eat anything unless it is raised. He has a haybar and on the occasion he does it then he will only eat the stuff from the top. Water buckets are wall hung anyway. His abcess which is between his cheek bones, started the size of a golf ball and now it looks like two lumps in the same place both a little bigger than a golf ball. He is very very down and has been since last monday.

He seems quite a lot worse than any of the others on the yard were. He pops his head over the door every now and then and perks up for the occasional 10 mins but apart from that he just stands at the back of his stable with his head hung low
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On Friday night the YO said I could leave him out all night which I did, and that was when the abcess went huge, which is a good thing I guess??

Yes I have been poulticing it as often as possible with a nappy and hot water which I attach to the headcoller with balestring. I have just been to buy a heat pack which you place in hot water to heat up so that should make things a bit easier and it should stay hot for longer.

We have had it on the yard for a few months now, all infected horses were coming back with clear swabs and no new cases for about 6 weeks. Now he has got it. I dont get the swab back until Tuesday so it is not confirmed but he is showing all the classical signs.

I am using Virkon S as a disinfectant along with Jeys Fluid.
 
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