Ongoing nosebleed any suggestions please ?

[CourtJester]

My 18 year old gelding Squiggles who I have owned for 8 years started getting nosebleeds in the summer. Only ever a tiny amount of blood and from the same one nostril. I assumed it was to do with the dry weather, he is a head shaker (controlled with a nose net) and does sometimes snort/blow his nose a lot.

As the weather changed he didn’t improve so in October he went to the vets for head X-ray and scoping. Nothing was found which was a bit of a relief as lots of potential nasties were ruled out! The vet recommendation was an asthma like in haler twice a day for 6 weeks. I did this but there was no improvement.

At the beginning of Dec our horse “physio” visited he is a very experienced horseman so I asked if he had come across anything similar. He recommended feeding celery. So I thought I would give it a try, why not, my horse seems to find it quite palatable and it is very cheap compared to the veterinary options!

So 6 weeks on, celery sales at Tesco and my local Nisa have rocketed but Squiggles seems about the same! I spoke to my vet again today and it seems that the next option would be a CT scan.

Before I go down that route I wondered if anyone here had a similar experience and/or any suggestions?

Squiggs seems absolutely fine in himself, he is in light/medium work, competes prelim/novice dressage and hacks for about an hour with a few short canters. Some days there is no sign of any blood, some times there is some on his nose and sometimes there is a smear on his white leg, feed bucket or his field mates grey face!

Thank you for your patience in reading this far!

 

[Equi]

If he was a human i would be saying to check his blood pressure, but im sure the vet did that.

 

[Chianti]

Have you had a blood test? First horse kept getting nosebleeds - very small amounts of blood from both nostrils. She was also just a bit off and not her usual self. Vet took blood and she was very anaemic.

 

[bonny]

As long as it’s only from one nostril and the horse is fine in himself, I would ignore it. I wouldn’t go down the route of more invasive tests. Obviously you need to keep an eye on the situation but the amount of blood you are describing I doubt means anything at all.

 

[Melody Grey]

Is there anything to suggest trauma to the nose/head? I knew a horse years ago that had epilepsy- the first we knew of it were nosebleeds because he was banging his head fitting. If there's no sign of trauma, I'd discount this though and ignore if it's only a small amount and infrequent.

 

[CourtJester]

Thank you for the replies. I am not sure how you check a horses blood pressure but the vet did the usual heart checks etc. before he was sedated for the head X-ray and everything was good. Initially I though he might have banged his head because of nose irritation flies/pollen etc but 6 months plus on I thought it would have healed or got noticeably worse. He is Irish bred and generally very careful with himself unlike my friends warmbloods who frequently self harm ? He seems great in himself but obviously it is a concern if I want to compete and there is always the worry that it may get worse. If there are no other suggestions then I think I will keep a diary to see if I can find a pattern and perhaps try working him more or resting him and see if that has any effect. Though if he chooses to gallop round the field for fun I can’t easily monitor that !

 

[be positive]

The pointer I had in was known to bleed, not quite the same as yours as it was full on fast work that caused it, we had him on a supplement to help, gave the top up before racing and he only bled slightly once when he took off on the gallops, he was fine racing so it may have made a difference as he had bled almost daily when in a pro yard, it may be worth a try.

https://www.equine-america.co.uk/bleader-gard-powder-908g/view/99

 

[Skib]

It is a good idea to keep a diary. I dont know about horses but I can report on humans. It does seem that in many cases a nose bleed is caused by a damaged vein inside the nostril, the damage often caused by a minor infection.
My OH has always been prone to nose bleeds from one nostril. A couple of years ago a new GP who went though all the minor things affecting him, examined his nose. Said the vein was damaged and gave him an antibiotic cream to use. The noose bleeds stopped.
After a slight stroke he was on anti clotting medication but his blood pressure was normal. Before Christmas he woke up with a very bad nose bleed that would not stop. I now know that if that happens one should go to A & E at a hospital which has an ENT department.
Once the emegency was over, the eventual treatment he had from the consultant was
1. The nostril was cleaned of blood clots and the site of the bleed was identified.
3. The vein was then cauturised.
3. He was put on a course of three different antibiotics, and instructed to return for a further check up.
It is early days but he hasnt had a nosebleed since.

 

[Lady Jane]

It is a good idea to keep a diary. I dont know about horses but I can report on humans. It does seem that in many cases a nose bleed is caused by a damaged vein inside the nostril, the damage often caused by a minor infection.
My OH has always been prone to nose bleeds from one nostril. A couple of years ago a new GP who went though all the minor things affecting him, examined his nose. Said the vein was damaged and gave him an antibiotic cream to use. The noose bleeds stopped.
After a slight stroke he was on anti clotting medication but his blood pressure was normal. Before Christmas he woke up with a very bad nose bleed that would not stop. I now know that if that happens one should go to A & E at a hospital which has an ENT department.
Once the emegency was over, the eventual treatment he had from the consultant was
1. The nostril was cleaned of blood clots and the site of the bleed was identified.
3. The vein was then cauturised.
3. He was put on a course of three different antibiotics, and instructed to return for a further check up.
It is early days but he hasnt had a nosebleed since.

Would the bleed have got worse if he hadn't had the anti-clotting meds for stroke? I realise you may not know the answer to that. Fingers crossed he is ok

 

[CourtJester]

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An update - the bleed/discharge disappeared for about 4 months and reappeared again at the end of May. Exactly as before a tiny smear in one nostril. This time a head X-ray showed fluid in his nasal cavity.

He was operated on last week and a mass of tissue stuff (about half a mug full) removed. The vet thinks it may have once been a cyst and it has been sent away for analysis.

Photos below of the op, the gunk removed and his face one week after the op. He still needs to take things easy and keep his blood pressure down to let everything settle and heal but he is making a good recovery.

 

[bonny]

That’s alarming !

 

[doodle]

Wow that looks dramatic!

 

[CourtJester]

Sorry had trouble uploading the third photo this a little less alarming!

 

[Mrs G]

Oh my! Horrendous images but impressive repair job after! Hope he heals well and all’s well from now on.

 

[Bob notacob]

Oh my! Horrendous images but impressive repair job after! Hope he heals well and all’s well from now on.

Poor boy , Bob notacob and mike send virtual hugs to him.

 

[Bob notacob]

PS the one nostril thing was the giveaway that it was in the sinus area ,possible tooth problem gone bad also.

 

[Jeni the dragon]

Poor boy! Hope things settle down now and heal okay.

 

[ycbm]

Ooh, that'll be better gone. I hope he's feeling better. Very interesting, thanks for sharing that.

.

 

[ihatework]

Fingers crossed for a good outcome. It will be interesting to see if the head shaking symptoms resolve/improve

 

[Quigleyandme]

Very tidy repair job. Hope he makes a full and speedy recovery.