Mystery of my snotty foals!

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Ilovefoals

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Anyone know what might be causing this?

I weaned my 2 babies the middle of november. We had really bad snow so I took the opportunity and stabled them together away from their mummies. Lola was not impressed and kept trying to leap the door so I had to shut them in totally for 2 days til she chilled out. After a week, they both developed snotty noses. Very white and very thick but no coughs and still perfectly perky and mischeivous. Vet came and said temps were normal, no rattles in their chests and felt it could be due to dust from being stabled. He gave them a course of oral antibiotics and they were turned out all day and in at night.

Snot cleared up after a few days of antibiotics but came back again as soon as they were finished. Went to the vet, got more antibiotics but a longer course. Again, it cleared it up and seemed to stay away longer this time. I decided when the weather turned milder to turn them both out 24/7 in case the straw was aggravating them but the snot still returned, even thicker this time and accompanied by a cough. Vet came back, this time detected some upper respiratory rattles but still normal temps and perky behaviour. Jabbed them both with a long acting penecillin which seemed to do the trick. That was xmas week.

Now it's back again!!! Darcy is worst, constantly blowing out snot but they are both still eating and drinking normally and behaving as they should. A different vet came out on thurs and is stumped as to why it keeps coming back. They still have normal temps and again a slight rattle but that's it! He swabbed them both tho it's not likely to be anything contagious. Their mums who they are back out with now are perfectly fine and their have been no horses into my place and the foals have been nowhere to pick anything up. The vet has jabbed them with a combination antibiotic of Penecillin and Streptomycin and has left the vials with me to jab them daily for the next 5 days. I'm just at a total loss as to why this snottyness isn't shifting!!!

Can anyone shed any light?

I'll add that they have yet to have their vaccinations. I was going to get them done the week they started with the snot and the vet has advised against it until they are properly healthy.
 
I have no idea what it is but mine has a snotty nose too.

The horse next door to Dixie had a cough before christmas which then got passed onto Dix and then onto my mare. Owner said she had not heard it cough and so did nothing (shes not at the yard long enough to hear it.) I managed to clear up the coughing which was really nasty.

Yesterday I noticed Dix had a bit of snot in her nose but didnt think much of it until this morning when I saw a pile of big green snot on the floor outside her stable. Suprise suprise the horse next door had snot dripping down his nose. I have told YO it needs sorting or im moving. Im fed up of poor Dix catching things off another horse because its owner cant be bothered to look after it. Dix is 9 months btw.

Hope you figure out what is causing it.
 
Have you answed your own question, is it the straw are you able to change bedding, are you on hay or haylage? I hope you get to the bottom of it soon.
P.S I LOVE your snow banner of your babies.
 
Hobo - they have been out 24/7 for at least 3wks so it's definately not dust. They get haylage in the field which is really good quality and not dusty or mouldy in the slightest. I'm stumped!
 
A friend of mine had a case of this and it turned out after reoccurring so many times to be a concoction of a couple of things.....he had a worm burden they were unaware of as was before times of intelligent worming although he had been wormed regularly but most importantly it turned out whilst the AB's were doing the trick, the courses were not long enough to completely rid every shred of the virus and as a result he had the remnants of it pooling in the bottom of his lungs, thus causing contant reptitions of the virus. Once discovered (he had to be scoped and flushed and given a long course of AB's) he has never looked back of coughed or anything a day in his life. Don't know if this is of any help....
 
I was going to suggest ascarid (roundworm) infestation. After the first stage development in the intestine, they then travel through the gut, in the bloodstream, through the liver and into the lungs, when they get snotted out by the horse and re-ingested for round 2. Horses don't look or act ill, just snotty.

Older horses are normally immune, but foals and yearlings are particularly prone. A dose of Equest would get rid of them, if it were what it is. If there is a large infestation, keep an eye on your youngsters as ascarids get so large that they can block the intestine when they die.
 
Actually guys, that might be it! They had roundworms before. Remember I posted some gross pics? I wonder if they didn't get rid of them all with the last wormer??? I'm gonna head out today for some Equest. Will let you know what happens!
 
yup more than likely ascarid causing the snots, runny eyes and low grade coughing usually accompany the other symptoms.

Ascarids have if I remember a 40 days cycle of larvae to juvenille and a 60/70day cycle to mature reproducing adult.

Worming them with strongid or embotape (pyrantel) will treat juvenile and adult worms but doesn't treat for the migrating larvae, which is why reinfestation occurs pretty quickly. There's mainstream resistance to ivermectin well established here in the UK so not the best wormer of choice, however should still be used as redworm can have resistance to pyrantel. :rolleyes:

Alternatively if possible, a five day course of panacur guard will also do the trick, we tend to syrynge rather than give in feed.

They are a damned nuissance to get rid of as eggs can lay dormant in pasture for up to 10 years :eek: and there is no known method of getting rid of them once present in pasture. The good news is they can't survive in the midden.. so safe to to fertilse the feilds without risk of reinfestation. The other good news is that generally young stock older than 18 months often develop resistance to ascarids. Sadly ascarid burden can resultin fatality and heavily burdened foals when wormed can suffer froom impactation when dead worms are evacuated, so always a good idea to keep a very close eye on them following treatment.

Good luck :)
 
I was just going to agree with Opie, a 5 day wormer would be my choice also, we have also had problems with round worms and have tried and failed with the ivermectin based products, it was the 5 day that seems to have broken the cycle. We have also syringed it!!!!
 
Would it be an idea to have a worm count done, before worming? That way you'll be able to look for other reasons, in the event that they're clear.

Once a heavy worm burden has established itself, then regular worming of your foals will probably be the only realistic answer. The ground will be heavily contaminated. We always worm our mares before going to stud, and then upon their return. Otherwise we worm once a year.

Alec.
 
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Worm count done and sent away and wormer given on mon. So far, nowt which either means no worms or wormer didn't shift them. Have to wait and see what the count says now. On the up side, the 5 day course of Strep/Pen jabs seemed to have worked, (fingers crossed) though Darcy now hates me for stabbing him every day! Don't blame him! Also, the vet swabbed both foals just in case and still awaiting results.
 
Glad things seem better. I would never had put snot and worms together, maybe thats were my ENT doctor is going wrong maybe he should just worm me!!
 
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