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  Discussion on Nose bleed
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New Member:
mcedar

Posted on Friday, Jul 27, 2007 - 1:02 pm:

I received a call last night from a neighbor whose horse was limping and her nose was bleeding. It looked to me that she got her foot hung up in a panel and the lower joint was swollen. she also had blood trickling from both nostrils. They called the vet but he has not been out as of yet. The blood from the nose appears dark to me. It is only seeping but it will not stop. Pretty much the same as last night. I have seen this in other horses but the blood is usually bright. I had one horse with a similar problem. The vet had me apply ice to his nose in a wrap and that took care of the problem. it was caused by trauma to the nose. I was there when it happened so I was certain of the cause. I am not with this horse. would that be something we could do until the vet gets there.
Thanks so Much,
Mike Cedar
Member:
hwood

Posted on Friday, Jul 27, 2007 - 1:42 pm:

Hey, Mike,
I don't see how the cold could hurt, but I really don't know the answer to your question. How is the mare acting? Is she alert and hungry? I know that nosebleeds can be a sign of something more serious. Besides her swollen joint, does she seem steady on her other legs? Any scrapes, bangs or injuries you can see to her head . . . Check around her ears and under her forelock and under her jaw, too. Did the folks find a place where a fence is down? If she thrashed around for awhile, there might be a clue on the ground around the fenceline or near a tree. She could have tripped in a hole and banged her nose. Any swelling on her head? Will she let you feel of her mouth and nose?
Member:
judyhens

Posted on Friday, Jul 27, 2007 - 2:30 pm:

A friend's mare developed a very mild nosebleed. Within a few minutes the blood was gushing. The mare passed away within a short time. And yes, the blood was bright red, not dark. The vet said it was most likely an aneurysm of the carotid artery in the gutteral pouch...secondary to fungus or the cancer (?) that the mare had (grey teenaged mare with multiple melanomas). Anyway, I would worry a great deal about a continuing nosebleed. Hopefully this nosebleed is only from the trauma. Please keep us posted.
Judy
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Jul 28, 2007 - 3:13 pm:

Hello Mike,
Trauma to the head with a resulting nose bleed is something that a veterinarian needs to see but not so much because of the nose bleed but because significant head trauma is often accompanied by fracture and occasionally serious trauma to the nerves to the eyes or brain swelling. About the best first aid you have for this is a good dose of bute or flunixin if you have it on hand.

Concerning the nose bleed from trauma itself the ice pack will not help much (it will help any externally swollen areas however). The best first aid is if the horse is acting normally to keep the head of the horse up. You could halter and tie to ring or overhead beam. You should not raise it to the point the horse is uncomfortable but keeping the horse from lowering the head down will significantly shorten the bleeding time.
DrO
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