Yellow snot/ mucus left nostril only- no cough

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AgarTheWarmblood

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Hi,
need people's advice on what they think might be up with my horse. He has thick yellow snot coming out of his left nostril and a swollen left gland, but no cough or loss of appetite.
He seemed a bit grumpy today but hasn't been off his food or coughing whilst I've had him in and will let me touch the swollen gland so don't think it's too painful.
He hasn't got a fever and temp is fine.
He's been a bit wheezy for the last week when I rode him but still no cough, just a couple of snorts to clear his nose/ throat whilst warming up.
As it's the bank holiday I won't be able to call the vet until Tuesday unless it's an emergency.
I've left him in for the night and haven't and won't be riding him until he's right again.
What do people recommend I do? And what do you this this is? Just a simple infection or something worse?
Thanks.
 
All I would say is don't leave it too long...... Mine had a snotty nose for a couple of days but was otherwise in good form and galloping round the field quite happily. We are now on week 6 of being off the road, on our 3rd set of antibiotics, 4th pot of Sputulosin and apparently no nearer getting it sorted. He's been scoped and samples have shown a deep seated bacterial infection. I'm convinced I should have acted more quickly.
 
Can you call your vet and ask if the horse needs to be seen as an emergency or whether it can wait till Tuesday?

It could be a sinus problem, a foreign object, etc. you really need the vet out to have a look.
 
Does the discharge smell? If its a sinus infection (which is commonly caused by a rotten tooth) then it most probably would smell revolting.
 
Have spoken to the emergency vet who doesn't think it's worth an emergency call out.
Probably sinusitis or respiratory infection in her opinion.
Keeping him separated off from the other horses for now and will check him tomorrow morning and night to see if there's any change.
Will be getting the vet out on Tuesday to double check it's nothing serious.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys :)
 
My pony has hay fever and sometimes gets a quite alarming illuminous yellow snot. Vet came out and said as it didn't smell and there was no temperature to leave it alone. I now use a nasal spray when the snot turns yellow. It tends to be springtime so vet thinks it is a reaction to a particular pollen.It only ever lasts a couple of days.

I would keep an eye on your horse and if still eating and drinking fine, I'd wait to call the vet until Tuesday.
 
HaffiesRock said:
My pony has hay fever and sometimes gets a quite alarming illuminous yellow snot. Vet came out and said as it didn't smell and there was no temperature to leave it alone. I now use a nasal spray when the snot turns yellow. It tends to be springtime so vet thinks it is a reaction to a particular pollen.It only ever lasts a couple of days.

I would keep an eye on your horse and if still eating and drinking fine, I'd wait to call the vet until Tuesday.
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Thanks, this is more reassuring that I'm just overreacting haha, does your pony's glands swell up too with this or just snotty? And is it both nostrils?
 
It varies. Usually its just one nostril, and he sometimes goes a little quiet but always eats and drinks. I do worry when it happens but vet says he probably just feels a bit stuffy like we do with hay fever. He does sneeze a lot though so I dont work him. He is also happy to let me give him the spray. He is usually a mardy bum so it must help.
 
HaffiesRock said:
It varies. Usually its just one nostril, and he sometimes goes a little quiet but always eats and drinks. I do worry when it happens but vet says he probably just feels a bit stuffy like we do with hay fever. He does sneeze a lot though so I dont work him. He is also happy to let me give him the spray. He is usually a mardy bum so it must help.
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Okay, Thanks... Fingers crossed it's something similar and manageable like this.
 
It sounds like sinusitis to me. It would smell if it was caused by a rotten tooth, but there doesn't always have to be a tooth involved.

My chap had sinusitis (due to a rotten tooth) last year, his gland was also swollen. I'd definitely get your vet to have a look on Tuesday!
 
HaffiesRock said:
It varies. Usually its just one nostril, and he sometimes goes a little quiet but always eats and drinks. I do worry when it happens but vet says he probably just feels a bit stuffy like we do with hay fever. He does sneeze a lot though so I dont work him. He is also happy to let me give him the spray. He is usually a mardy bum so it must help.
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There seems to be a lot of this sort of thing around just now - I wonder if the pollen is particularly bad this year? My mare had a course of antibiotics for a very similar thing. She's had sinusitis in the past, so we thought it was that again, but that time she was very down and listless, and off her food. This time she's been fine except for the snot and a cough, which I noticed was very much better on the rainy days we've had.

HaffiesRock - what nasal spray do you use? I might give it a go for my horse!
 
Just to update you all...
The vet has been out this morning and has said it's sinusitis.
He's got a 5 day course of antibiotics and can be turned out in the day but kept in at night.
She said feeding him from the floor, including his hay would be good for loosening off the mucous and is happy with everything else.

Thanks for your ideas and help guys! :)
 
Usually discharge like this is caused by a bacterial infection in the respiratory tract.

If discharge is out of one nostril only, this can indicate a sinus infection, or a bacterial infection in the guttural pouch. Maybe your vet will be able to put a camera into the nose (called scoping) and find out if there is anything nasty present.

Its a simple procedure done under sedation. The only problem is sometimes it can be a bu**er to get a camera into the gutteral pouches as they are renowed for being awkward to access. This happened to my horse for recurrent nosebleeds but they couldn't find anything wrong with him.
 
Grumpy Herbert said:
There seems to be a lot of this sort of thing around just now - I wonder if the pollen is particularly bad this year? My mare had a course of antibiotics for a very similar thing. She's had sinusitis in the past, so we thought it was that again, but that time she was very down and listless, and off her food. This time she's been fine except for the snot and a cough, which I noticed was very much better on the rainy days we've had.

HaffiesRock - what nasal spray do you use? I might give it a go for my horse!
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Pollen itself can actually make the discharge yellow as it contains masses of inhaled pollen. Do you have a large number of trees around.

As there is no temperature it sounds like it's not an infection - a raised temperature is a good indicator of infection. A dental problem can cause swelling on the jaw.

You could help clear the snot by rubbing a little Vicks Vapour Rub at the base of the nostril
 
AgarTheWarmblood said:
Just to update you all...
The vet has been out this morning and has said it's sinusitis.
He's got a 5 day course of antibiotics and can be turned out in the day but kept in at night.
She said feeding him from the floor, including his hay would be good for loosening off the mucous and is happy with everything else.

Thanks for your ideas and help guys! :)
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Out of interest did your vet check your horse's teeth / mouth to see if there is a primary cause of the sinusitis? You can have primary sinusitis but you need to make sure something else isn't causing the infection.

Hopefully there is nothing else going on and the antibiotics will sort it :)
 
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