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  Discussion on Fistulous Withers
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Member:
Cowgrl

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 21, 2004 - 1:31 pm:

One of our horses developed fistulous withers from a saddle pad rub. He had pack horse duty that time and only discovered about 5 miles down the trail that the pad was rubbing him. We immediately corrected the situation but the damage was done. It just looked like a small sore spot so we medicated it and thought all was well but it started swelling and finally burst open. We brought him to the vet immediately and started a thorough regimen of cleaning and medicating. Twice a day we'd flush it out then probe and treat with a antibiotic for lactating cows. It worked great and healed well but he was out of commission for four months but that's beside the point. So far it hasn't recurred and he has a small scar but we're very careful with his pads and make sure they're pulled well up into the gullet of the saddle.
Member:
Scline

Posted on Tuesday, Sep 28, 2004 - 7:35 pm:

Just thought I'd send an update on Durango who was diagnosed with Fistulous withers over 2 years ago. It took a full year of hot packing, cleaning, medicating twice a day every day but it finally cleared up and has not come back. I no longer have Durango, I donated him to a handicapped childrens ranch which is only 2 miles away. There the children learn to groom and ride and just generally love horses. I visit him as often as I can and he is doing just great.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Sep 29, 2004 - 7:53 am:

Excellent Susan, thank you so much for this positive note. We have had a recent posting about a horse with a new case of FW, perhaps this will give them some hope.
DrO
Member:
Iride2

Posted on Wednesday, Sep 29, 2004 - 11:41 am:

I have just read your discussion on fistula Withers. I am very concered about my mare. She is my Halter/showmanship mare. I have no idea how she came up with this. I was just told that she will have to have surgery in the next month.
I'm hopeful that everything will turn out okay.
Please keep her in your thoughts.
New Member:
Cherf

Posted on Sunday, Feb 13, 2005 - 2:12 pm:

Questions about cause of fistulous withers.
1) how long would it take for the swelling to show up if the cause was a poor fitting saddle pad? My mare was ridden/packed in October but the swelling didn't show up until late Jan of this year.
2) If caused by brucellosis, approximately how long would it take for the fistulous withers to show up after
contracting brucellosis?
3) How would a horse get brucellosis? Is it contagious to other horses and how is it passed?

We purchased this horse from a reputable breeder in August 03, She was with foal but lost the foal that winter. We did not have any cows around her until June 2004, and cows had not lived anywhere she was pastured until summer of 2004 when we purchased 2 cows which were kept in a separate paddock. We did some cattle drives and team penning with her in 2004. We bred her again in 2004, and it appears she lost that foal also, She was pregnant based on no heats after breeding and appeared pregnant in November when I moved her to her winter boarding site.

Connie
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Feb 14, 2005 - 8:49 am:

Hello Connie, soome of your questions we don't know the answer to, particularly about how horses get this from cows. It is assumed they come into contact with infected animals or material and the organism is picked up, circulated to the bursa there and the infection develops. It is unknown if horses are contagious but this is not reported in outbreaks. Though a ill fiting saddle blanket is not a likely cause, a ill fitting saddle is and yes severe bruising back in Oct might take till Jan to break out, for more on this see the article on this disease by clicking on » Fistulous Withers & Poll Evil » above.
DrO
Member:
Cherf

Posted on Wednesday, Feb 16, 2005 - 4:35 pm:

Re: Mare with Fistulous withers

The swelling and consequential drainage holes are further up her neck than any saddle would touch. She has two white spots on her back where the front bars of a saddle would sit on either side, but the swelling is about 6 inches higher on top of the withers. Does it matter where the saddle sores were. Would the sore need to be an open sore or just a bruise to cause this.
I'll have the test results at end of week to help us with this mystery.
Connie
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Feb 17, 2005 - 7:09 am:

I think you could postulate a deep bruise that becomes infected.
DrO
Member:
Jcsmoon

Posted on Tuesday, Apr 12, 2005 - 5:56 pm:

Dr O-
What, in your experience, are the most common organisims implicated in fistulous withers and pole evil? I am takeing a virology course now from a proff who is the leading researcher in bacteria phage research and I want to quize her on some of the "tough to treat" bacterial infections that occure in vet med. She has some pretty cool stuff in human medicine going on and I would love to see what she has to say about treating infections like this.

*NOTE: To any one reading this question... I am NOT suggesting that there is a magic cure for this or any other disease, only trying to think about where medical research is going in the future.

-Emily
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Apr 12, 2005 - 11:12 pm:

Mine have always been pretty common strep with a few gram negatives, like klebsiella, mixed in. I have been lucky with combinations of aggressive systemic and local antimicrobial therapy and patience. The classic organism is Brucella (abortus?) a real therapeutic nightmare.

The real problem in many of these cases is not a antimicrobial one, it is a physical one: there is no place to drain ventrally so the infection continues to extend down. It is gravity, not antimicrbial therapy, that is the big problem.
DrO
Member:
Jcsmoon

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 13, 2005 - 6:56 pm:

So without appropriate drainage there is a pocket of infection that continues?

About how long does it take to clear such an infection under normal care? (general ball park range)
-Emily
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Apr 14, 2005 - 8:13 am:

Each case is different Emily with differing times to resolution, and some don't get resolved. Specifically the last case I treated took about 6 months, reopened 3 times following healing, but remained assymptomatic for 5 years when lost to follow up.
DrO
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