respiratory infection

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Denise5

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My 19 year old gelding was on Trimsulph for one month to treat on long-term sheath infection. Four days after he finished the antibiotic, he developed a cough and high respiration rate (no nasal discharge at that stage). The vet came out and examined him, prescribing penicillin. She also took a swab from the nostril (which then had a slight discharge) and a swab from the sheath. The results revealed e coli was the bacteria in both the swab from the sheath and the nostril. The horse hadn't responded to the penicillin at all (apparently the e coli was peniciliin resistant) and he is now on Excenel. He had his third injection of Excenel today but he is still coughing and respiration rate is still up. The nasal discharge seems to have decreased. He isn't off his feed at all and is quite bright and alert. But I'm really worried about him (I've had him for 18 years). Does Excenel take some time to show improvement in the horse or should I have noticed improvement by now?
 
You would find e coli on swabs taken from most places, equine or human, so I would ignore that bit.
Penicillin is an odd thing to prescribe for a respiratory ailment, personally I would question your vets judgement. Excenel is really a last ditch solution, and it seems odd to go to that expense before scoping/blood test and a course of Trimediazine.
Just re read your post, trying to make sense of your vets actions. Then I read she is a woman.
 
I have sympathy for you as our sec A has ongoing respiratory problems and it's a horrible situation to be in. Has your vet given any other explanation as to what the problem could be? I have heard of reports in humans where trimsulph can cause problems with breathing so may be i'ts the same for horses - I could be completely wrong though! I know excenel is meant to work very fast - 5 days
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if given everyday i think. Our horse often has pleurisy and pneumonia problems and the best thing we can do is leave her out and the vet gives a steroid injection. Stabling makes her worse but many vets won't listen to that so query him/her again! They're not always right
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Thanks for your understanding. I'm wondering about a link with using the Trimsulph and the gelding developing a cough. We are into summer here (in NZ) and my horses live outside (not stabled). His respiration rate is still high and he is still coughing. Last week the vet heard crackling and wheezing on his lungs. But after four days of Excenel, the vet checked his lungs again and said he has clear lungs sounds. So hopefully we have knocked out the bacteria. Now the gelding is on a teaspoon of potassium oidide daily to try to clear the gunk from his lungs. His nasal discharge now appears to be becoming clear. I'm worried about his high respiration still (and his cough). Tell me more about your horse's respiratory problems. What brings the problems on? I wonder if my horse ever be OK again.
 
The gelding had just finished a month long course of Trimsulp (sulphadimidine and Trimethoprim) prior to developing the respiratory infection. So it seemed pointless putting him back onto it.
 
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