swollen glands (horse)

[Marilyn]

My baby horse (who was 2 in May) has had swollen glands for about two weeks. It's not the glands round his throat, the ones under his jaw are the problem. A couple of weeks ago I phoned the vet about it but as he was still eating, drinking, and aqbsolutley fine in himself, she suggested just monitoring them and giving him garlic. I did both of these things and two weeks later, they're the same and so is he. i would get the vet out but when my mare's leg came uo before Christmas (although she wasn't lame, it didn't hurt her and she was fine in herself) they went through the same tests that I'd done, said they didn't know what was wrong, gave me some anti-biotics and I had a bill for £100. I'm not being mean, if I thought he was 'ill' I'd get the vet in a heartbeat...any suggestions...is there anything that I could feed to boost his immunity?

 

[kildalton]

My daghter's mare had swollen glands for months last year,extensive (and expensive ) veterinary tests didn't find the cause. The vet recommended echinacea (sp) to boost her immune system.

 

[Marilyn]

that's a good idea

 

[siennamum]

Given his age, I would be cautious and keep a close watch on him in case he gets snotty or starts coughing.
It might be worth changing pasture and seeing whether it's something he's in contact with in the field. I think we are having a final flush of grass and so it's probably just new grass, or maybe flowers.
There are a couple of viruses around at the mo, we just had one which cause a nasty littel dry cough and swollen glands, the glands do hang around for a while as well, so may just be that.

 

[Stasha22]

My mare has the same problem and the vet told me it was due to grass and not to worry about it. Could be something different but thought it was worth mentioning.

If you're after a good supplement to boost the immune system I would try Equine America's Immune, have used it a few times and I'm sure it helped.

 

[Marilyn]

Thanks, these are all good suggestions, I phoned the vet this morning top ask their advice but they haven't called me back yet. It happened around the time that the temperature dropped a bit and it started to rain so i suppose it could be something connected to that...still a worry though!