Strange unilateral nasal discharge

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happy_talk

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I was wondering if any of you had come across these symptoms before.

On and off over the winter my horse has had a unilateral nasal discharge, which has recently got worse - more frequent and glands up (2 months). It has always been unilateral. It's in the head somewhere as she has never coughed, only snorts discharge out. When it comes out i see it during/after exercise it has been a clear with yellow tint discharge. Twice now I have seen it run- today and during a visit to the vets (in trailer) and throughout the treatment whilst under sedation (for bone spavin). The discharge is then an orangey/brown colour. similar to some liquid supplements in consistency/colour. Last weekend she did some quite hard schooling work and discharge was equal, normal/clear in each nostril. No discharge from the eyes.
She has been on 7 days of antibiotics which had no effect, and bloods & swab have come back as normal. NAF respirator boost seems to reduce discharge to nothing within 24h- although after 1 bottle (10-15days) symptoms return. Vet said she's not infectious so work her, probably an allergy.
Last year she had grass glands (looked like a hamster sometimes) which went down quickly in stable with hay. But don't remember her having a discharge.
Is it possible to have unilateral allergy?
 
my horse is also having these strange bouts of nasal discharge also unilateral but no swollen glands and doesnt cough also the discharge is not continuous or after exercise just like once a day has a good old sneeze and then this clear to white discharge comes out, i have spoken to our vet who says it is the weather/allergy and not to worry, only worry if horse starts coughing daily and the coughing increases esp at work and there is continuous nasal discharge.
 
just to add there must be a discharge fairly often as she comes in from the field with a very crusty (snot/mud) nostril.
I guess glands could be reacting to an allergy- but it's the colour that is odd/new to me.
 
Mine started out like this - she had 2 months of on/off unilateral nasal discharge. Vet wasnt sure what it could be but thought perhaps COPD/allergy. (she had no coughing and was well within herself at the time). She had antibiotics which didnt change things.

Then she became poorly - went off her food/hay and was depressed. 24 hours later she had a massive amount of smelly thick green discharge - went to vets and had xray of head and they diagnosed acute primary sinusitis (which ended up as chronic sinusitis). She ended up having lots of treatment to get rid of the nasal discharge and it took 12 months for things to resolve.

I would get an xray head done to rule out low grade sinusitis as im sure she was brewing a sinus infection in the few months before having a full blown infection (which was very obvious).
 
I 2nd the sinusitis idea. My horse had a similar problem as a youngster, on and off for 2 years. He would have anti-b's and it would appear to go away, only to return.

By the time hewas 4, antib's were ineffective, and he went for scoping and xrays. It should his whole sinus was packed with pus. It turned out to be a tiny gap between 2 of his teeth, and food was going up and rotting the tooth roots.

He had 2 teeth removed and a long surgery, and lots of money!

Ask you vet to scope him at the very least. There was no way we could have known about this tiny malocclusion, but he really knocked him backin his growth.
 
I had thought of sinusitis- is there usually a discharge from the eye as well?
britestar/siant- what colour was the discharge?
 
Sinusitis can be VERY hard to clear up so won't necessarily clear with one round of antibiotics. I've known more than one horse that had to be drilled and flushed for some time to effect a cure. There is also the possibility of a guttural pouch problem.

Another option could be a tooth issue. Or a tumour - a horse I know was just operated on successfully for a benign tumour in one of his sinuses but the vets felt he must have had it for ages before it finally got big enough to cause him real trouble.

Sorry, not being alarmist. It may very well be something minor but it probably warrants investigation, particularly if you're competing.
 
Mine had a slightly watery eye on the same side but that only developed in later months...and funnily enough she still gets a watery eye on that side even though she hasnt had any nasal discharge for 18 months (so dont think they come hand in hand).

In terms of colour of discharge - we had green/yellow/frothy white/pale and when she came in from field it was crusty! The green/yellow generally means there is an infection present (viral or bacterial)
 
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