would y ou buy a foal that had strangles

rhino said:
To the people saying no, what do you think should happen to a horse if it contracts strangles? Should they somehow all have to be kept at the same place, with the same owners all their lives? Should they be destroyed? :confused:
Click to expand...

The OP question is whether you would buy it and my answer is no for the reasons given. There are plenty of other foals out there. But if it's about buying for welfare of a horse surely one of those poor broken 2 year olds off DD would be a better welfare buy.
 
I would not buy anything that had not been with dam and playing in a field for seven months.
If it had had strangles this would make me have a blood test and also a vet check. In adults, a Gutteral Pouch swab is indicated, but this is probably not possible for a foal or small pony.
If you don't buy a four month old, someone else will, that is the same argument used for buying poor animals which are the result of indiscriminate breeding.
 
Miss L Toe said:
I would not buy anything that had not been with dam and playing in a field for seven months.
If it had had strangles this would make me have a blood test and also a vet check. In adults, a Gutteral Pouch swab is indicated, but this is probably not possible for a foal or small pony.
If you don't buy a four month old, someone else will, that is the same argument used for buying poor animals which are the result of indiscriminate breeding.
Click to expand...

you must have missed it but OP said her friend is buying at 4 months but foal wont be leaving mum yet
 
Miss L Toe said:
I would not buy anything that had not been with dam and playing in a field for seven months.
Click to expand...

I don't know anyone who weans their warmbloods at 7 months, all are 5 or 6 at most - have you seen the size of warmblood foals? Mine is currently only just barely 3 months old and he is huge. If I left him on her for 7 months it would drag her down far too much before winter - and to be honest, other than going back for a drink, they spend very little time attached to their mums by the age of 5 months. That said, mine would never be sent to their new homes directly at weaning. I think they need time to adjust to their new situation whilst at home with familiar people.
 
joginthepark said:
Friend is looking into buying a 4 month old but he had strangles.
Would you buy?

Although he seems well/healthy now, he could be a carrier?

Any thoughts?

He would be kept at her own yard and Id hate him infect hers with it. He is a nice foal....
Click to expand...

In posts like this you will get a variety of answers, many based on little or no real knowledge of the subject. Why doesn't your friend phone her vet & ask them about it. She will get a definative answer & then can make an informed decision.

They will also be able to advise if the youngster should be away from its mother at that age as well.
 
As far as people saying they'd not buy a horse that had had strangles - most horses have had it by age 8 or so. Sellers just don't think to mention it, as horse will have had it, been tested clear and turned out again with others as normal. It's an advantage really once they're tested clear, as you know that if they catch it again it'll be a lighter dose, or they might still be immune and not get it at all.

Testing-wise, a blood test shows antibodies, so will still test +ve for up to a year or so after they have got over the infection. A guttural pouch wash is the best definitive test, but the foal is probably too small for the tube to go down to do this. You can do three swabs up the nose, but that takes forever. Cost should be to the seller though.
 
HBM1 said:
I don't know anyone who weans their warmbloods at 7 months, all are 5 or 6 at most - have you seen the size of warmblood foals? Mine is currently only just barely 3 months old and he is huge. If I left him on her for 7 months it would drag her down far too much before winter - and to be honest, other than going back for a drink, they spend very little time attached to their mums by the age of 5 months. That said, mine would never be sent to their new homes directly at weaning. I think they need time to adjust to their new situation whilst at home with familiar people.
Click to expand...
I was thinking of behaviour, my foalie was with mum for over a year, due to facilities, They both fed from the same bucket, both held condition. She was pretty bumptious, and cheeky, but mum made sure she was under control, and she turned in to a wonderful youngster. Brave and bold, but great to work with. I only had one foal, so had to improvise. Keeping them on a stud is different, they tend to be weaned in groups, and can play together in a field.
 
If you get the blood test, it will show that the horse has been exposed to the strangles by the levels shown, depending on the result another blood test may be required and will show either climbing or dropping levels, dropping levels being the desirable result in the second blood test
The only way to be sure the horse isnt a shedder/carrier is to check for chondroids and have a gutteral pouch washout, a really horrible expensive assault/treatment on any horse never mind a foal, if the blood test/tests were ok, id buy at weaning
 
rhino said:
To the people saying no, what do you think should happen to a horse if it contracts strangles? Should they somehow all have to be kept at the same place, with the same owners all their lives? Should they be destroyed? :confused:

OP, if by Oct the foal is thriving, and tests clear, then yes I would buy.
Click to expand...

:) Exactly. You saved me writing the same.

My Vet, who is God as far as I am concerned, says that the best prevention for Strangles is Strangles.

:mad: Why, why, why, do people always jump to conclusions and start some sort of pious bitchfest? Sure, ask the question to clarify, but that isn't as much fun as condemnation, is it?

This time that a 4 month old was going to be ripped from its dam, OP didn't say that, merely that a 4 month old was going to be viewed.
 
Rhinos summed it up for me too. And though I don't have any data to back it up, I've always been led to believe that once exposed, provided they aren't a carrier, they are less likely to be at risk in the future. Mine has been in contact with strangles twice in her 23yrs. First time she had it so mild that if vets hadn't already been involved due to another horse, nobody would have thought of strangles. Second time she tested positive, but had no symptoms whatsoever at anytime.
 
There is absolutely no problem with buying an animal that has been exposed to strangles in the past, as long as the necessary precautions are taken. There are thousands and thousands of horses wondering our yards who have either had it, or have been in contact with the bacteria and who would probably give a positive result in a blood test. The spread of strangles is largely due to the stigma attached to it, people don't want to talk about it. Considering a guttural pouch wash costs less than £200, I dont see why people aren't more upfront where the welfare of potentially hundreds of horses are concerned.

I bought a horse that I knew had been in contact with the bacteria. She presented a positive blood test and underwent a scope to check for puss/chonroids in the guttural pouch. As someone suggested, it is not an assalut of any kind, and I was actually surprised at how quick and non-distressing it was. Following testing of the samples taken during the proceedure, and from the guttral pouch appearance, the horse was declared clear and was free to be treated as normal.
 
PiggyB said:
There is absolutely no problem with buying an animal that has been exposed to strangles in the past, as long as the necessary precautions are taken. There are thousands and thousands of horses wondering our yards who have either had it, or have been in contact with the bacteria and who would probably give a positive result in a blood test. The spread of strangles is largely due to the stigma attached to it, people don't want to talk about it. Considering a guttural pouch wash costs less than £200, I dont see why people aren't more upfront where the welfare of potentially hundreds of horses are concerned.

.
Click to expand...
The spread of strangles is due to people not isolating horses particularly those with symptoms including those are sold out of dealers yards without testing or veterinary intervention.
Most yards do not want to close up for three months and/or have a vet take charge of the outbreak, and this is why they say nothing, it is often not individual horse owners who are the culprits, but there are no doubt some who knowingly take horses out to competition, and there are plenty who say .... what is all the fuss about. These are not the owners who have horses who suffer dreadfully and who have large vet bills and who have to PTS foals or give horses up to a year off to recover, they are the owners whose horse has a wet nose or a rise in temperature or is at a yard with infected horses but it is kept quiet.
GP treatment is used on horses who have had the disease and a long term antibiotic is left in place, it would not be used to screen for exposure to the disease.
The AHT in Newmarket is advised by UK vets of local cases, it would be of interest to know what analysis is done on the data.
OP indicated the foal had had the disease [post title], not that it had possibly been exposed to it.
 
As others have said. Swab if positive then gutteral pouch wash if not then great purchase.

ANY horse can get strangles unless it never goes anywhere and never comes into contact with any other horses or yu as an owner never come into contact with any other horses.

Pretty much like trying to avoid illnesses at work or out and about in winter, unless you run a closed yard policy ANYTHING can make its way in.
 
Guttural pouch investigation (not treatment) was used in my case to look into a positive blood result. The horse I bought had not shown any signs of strangles but had obviously contacted the virus. The wash fluid was tested and no antibiotic was left in the pouch. The process was not used as a treatment but a reliable way to discover if an exposed horse was a carrier.

I agree with the comments on isolation and unscrupulous behaviour when an outbreak is suspected. But there are cases where people are selling horses following an outbreak which has been correctly dealt with, it's not necessary to discourage people from buying a horse based purely on the fact that they have had strangles, or been in contact with it, especially as there is so much that can be done to provide assurance that a horse is not harbouring bacteria. We probably wouldnt have bought most of our horses if this were the case.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top