Lots of snot... swabs back and some help needed

B

BlondeAmbition

Well-Known Member
Joined
6 November 2006
Messages
62
Visit site
My gelding has had a snotty nose and has now developed a cough. I initially got the vet out two weeks ago due to the snot, they checked all his vitals and everything, including temperature, lungs etc etc were all completely normal.

Last weekend the snot had really become quite bad, so I got the vet out on the Saturday and they took some swabs from up his nose. But again, all vitals were completely normal and he is eating everything that is put in front of him, including a very large haynet, a very large feed and is the type of horse who goes off feed very easily.

So, this morning we had some results from the cultures. The vet phoned me and said there is some nasty bacteria up there of the same family as the strangles bacteria
frown.gif
frown.gif
frown.gif
Obviously, my brain went into panic mode as this is quite a large livery yard! The vet went on to say that he still does not think it is strangles because the temperature has never once been above normal even at the beginning of the snot and he has not lost his appetite at all (if anything this has increased recently).

However, I have been looking on the internet and everytime I put something in about the bacteria of strangles and try to find its 'family' link, I cannot find anything but strangles diagnosis, symptoms and treatment information.

The cultures are being done again tomorrow morning to double check they are not the stangles virus, but this morning they are not showing signs of being this, just that the bacteria is in the same family.

Please can someone shed some light on this for me as I am very worried as you can imagine.

The other thing to add is that the snot is now pretty non-existant. I have not seen any this morning on his nose, nor on the floor, whereas the past few weeks I have seen a lot of it coming down his nose and on the floor, especially outside of his stable.
 
The last time I had dealings with "strangles" a fair few years ago, I was given the same response in that it wasn't strangles but a variation of the strep bacterium. I still treated it as if it was strangles though and disinfected and quarantined for 60 days after final horse cleared of all symptoms. The variation was led back to a horse who was a hidden carrier of whatever form of strep. That would be my advice to you, treat as if strangles and don't become blase about it not being a full-on attack, because even with the variations, other horses can still be infected.

Good luck!
 
My mare had something similar approx 10 years ago - a respiratory infection from the strangles family, but not strangles. She had to be kept in (warm and dry) for 2 weeks, but wasn't quarantined (vet didn't think it necessary), although her contact with other horses was limited. My other horses didn't get it, and she recovered within a week.

It would probably be wise to follow strangles precautions, at least until you know it definitely isn't. I only handled my ill horse, with my Dad looking after my others, and I was banned from the college yard.

I'm sure your chap will be fine
smile.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
The last time I had dealings with "strangles" a fair few years ago, I was given the same response in that it wasn't strangles but a variation of the strep bacterium. I still treated it as if it was strangles though and disinfected and quarantined for 60 days after final horse cleared of all symptoms. The variation was led back to a horse who was a hidden carrier of whatever form of strep. That would be my advice to you, treat as if strangles and don't become blase about it not being a full-on attack, because even with the variations, other horses can still be infected.

Good luck!

[/ QUOTE ]

I haven't had him in quarantine for the past two weeks because it was never suggested to me by the vet and when I asked whether he could still go out in the paddock etc. the answer was yes!

I have, however, been very careful and not been near any other horses on the livery yard. The only issue I have really ocme across is that we do not have walls between the horses, just metal bars (it is an american barn) therefore they can touch each other
frown.gif


I have three other horses at the moment too, and I have been careful doing them all but when you are on DIY this is not as easy as it seems, especially when I work the hours I do too... I have been a little lapse between my own I have to admit because I was never told that I had to keep him quarantined.
 
[ QUOTE ]
My mare had something similar approx 10 years ago - a respiratory infection from the strangles family, but not strangles. She had to be kept in (warm and dry) for 2 weeks, but wasn't quarantined (vet didn't think it necessary), although her contact with other horses was limited. My other horses didn't get it, and she recovered within a week.

It would probably be wise to follow strangles precautions, at least until you know it definitely isn't. I only handled my ill horse, with my Dad looking after my others, and I was banned from the college yard.

I'm sure your chap will be fine
smile.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

His contact with other horses has been non existant, I have done that from day one, other than my others which are stabled either side of him and have bars. I tried putting something between them, but it had been pulled down when I got there the following morning
frown.gif


There has been no mention of keeping him in nor quarantine, which I am a bit worried about as I have not been doing this. I have also been lightly exercising him (rather than turning him out as this was a precaution I chose to take) in walk and trot as he was starting to get very stressed out in his stable and this seems to just be keeping him sane.

When I spoke to the vet this morning and he gave me the results, nothing of quarantine etc was mentioned even though he knows the situation on the yard where I am at the moment. He just said that he is clearly fighting this himself as there is no longer any snot, therefore it seems unlikely he will require antibiotics should the results remain as they are today.
 
Ive seen this cousin of strangles twice in the past year and neither horse was required to be quarantined (although both owners DID do this until the swabs came back).

I would take any reasonable precaution to protect a horse from passing on ANY infection to another and dont be compacent however the mention of strangles can lead some owners to go into a frenzy so if this ISNT strangles and is confirmed as such by the vet i would play it down as much as you can for the sake of other horse owners.
 
If your vet hasn't mentioned quarantine, then I really wouldn't worry too much. Just take sensible precautions (sounds like you are doing so anyway), and monitor your other two for the first signs of infection. I think it's likely they would have come down with it by now if they were going to though.

My vet only said to keep mine in to keep her warm and dry, it wasn't a quarantine/isolation thing.

Follow your vets advice, and give him a call if you're worried
smile.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
Ive seen this cousin of strangles twice in the past year and neither horse was required to be quarantined (although both owners DID do this until the swabs came back).

I would take any reasonable precaution to protect a horse from passing on ANY infection to another and dont be compacent however the mention of strangles can lead some owners to go into a frenzy so if this ISNT strangles and is confirmed as such by the vet i would play it down as much as you can for the sake of other horse owners.

[/ QUOTE ]

I feel a need to explain to other liveries as I would want it explained to me if the roles were reversed so they can take extra precautions themselves.

It is so difficult because as soon as you mention the 'S' word people go into a panic, it is only natural!

However, I still remain confident that it is not strangles because he has never once had even a slight temperature increase since becoming snotty and has certainly not gone off his feed which I would have expected in the two week period that this has been going on for. The vet only took the swab two weeks after the initial call out (I had repeatedly spoken to them regarding this after they came out the day I noticed it) and they did not seem at all concerned even at that stage.

I guess some people would not even have called the vets because the horse was in all other ways bright and healthy... they would have put it down to a nasty cold and let it run its course, which I guess is sort of what I have done anyway with the vet's advice.
 
[ QUOTE ]
If your vet hasn't mentioned quarantine, then I really wouldn't worry too much. Just take sensible precautions (sounds like you are doing so anyway), and monitor your other two for the first signs of infection. I think it's likely they would have come down with it by now if they were going to though.

My vet only said to keep mine in to keep her warm and dry, it wasn't a quarantine/isolation thing.

Follow your vets advice, and give him a call if you're worried
smile.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks rana... I have to say you have made a very panicky person slightly less so!

The vet has definitely not mentioned quarantine (you start doubting yourself don't you in these sort of situations) but they even said I could work him lightly in the arena (just not get sweaty because of the chill factor) and keep him moving about which is what I have been doing. As I say, he has certainly improved these last few days and is no longer snotty in his nose and the coughing is reducing quite a lot every day.
 
On reading your further posts I can only assume that the variant strain your horse has, is different to the strain some of my horses had. 5 of my horses contracted this strain, passed on from a new horse who turned out to be a silent carrier. None of my horses had temperatures however they did have the snotty nose and cough.

Hope it is over and done with soon.
smile.gif
 
Tia, I think there are quite a few strains which are in this family... from looking on the internet I have noticed that some other infections that occur within the horse are also part of this family, and not all of them appear to be linked to the respiratory system either which I found quite interesting.

I don't know whether the two are linked, but there is also a bacteria of the same name which affects humans too... the internet is a wonderful thing for information isn't it (but also capable of completely petrifying people too!!!)

With my boy I am just trying to follow what the vet who is treating him has suggested... The main issue I have is that I have never once been told to quarantine him, although I am going to phone the vet tomorrow and ask him whether this should be the case. The full results from the swab will be back tomorrow too, so they will know exactly what it is we are dealing with (90% sure now) after another day of culturing it
blush.gif


To be honest, I have a really good idea where this has come from... I am not sure whether to speak to the owner in question (they are no longer on the yard although I do have a contact number) as their horse could indeed be a carrier.
 
Our yard has only just reopened after months of isolation due to a new livery coming in with strangles (horse bought from a dealer that is often discussed on here). Her horse had passed a 5 stage vetting prior to purchase where vet noted swellings! This was the only horse on the yard that actually showed signs of strangles- snotty, high temperature etc. The whole yard was advised to have the blood test done (the only sure way of knowing if it was strangles or not) the results showed that 4 horses had come into contact with the stangles virus & were isolated.
The whole yard closed (no shows, no hacking, light work etc)
Several vets I have spoken to all agree, horses do not always show signs of having strangles (our yard had a very mild form of the virus).
But do not rely on a swab alone, you will only no for certain after a blood test.
Good Luck!!
 
I wouldn't worry too much. Sounds like Strep equi zooepidemicus which is the most common cause of bacterial respiratory disease, but is present in the respiratory tracts of most horses and normally sits there doing no harm. It is closely related to Strep equi equi which causes strangles but they are very different and strep equi zoo does not cause strangles.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top