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  Discussion on Gutteral pouch infections
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New Member:
dutch

Posted on Tuesday, Dec 18, 2007 - 12:38 am:

My 3 year old gelding came up with a unilateral snotty nose last Monday 12/10. The discharge was very runny, whitish yellow and stank, a bit like thrush and a bit like strangles. I called the vet and we put him on an antibiotic for 7 days. During the week it got progressivly worse as far as smell and amount of fluid coming from the nostril.The color became more greenish and then back to whitish yellow. His temperature has remained at 100.4, he is eating with gusto, he runs and plays, no depression at all. There are 2 other horses exposed to him that have not had any symptoms of infection.
Today, 7 days later, he has mild discharge, a bit more chunky and the smell is much less rank.
It was suggested to me that he might have a gutteral pouch infection and I will be having him scoped by Friday if this does not clear up.
Being the good internet using horse owner that I am, I have looked up Gutteral pouch infections and am of course horrified. He has not had any nose bleeds or swelling. My vet has informed me that if the antibiotics do not clear this up I will need to take him to a hospital and have the pouch flushed out.
We can pretty well rule out strangles here as well.He was pastured for a little over a year, isolated from outside horses, and he is now pastured with his original pasture herd in another spot where he has no exposure to strange horses.
Does this sound like a gutteral pouch infection of some kind and what can I expect for the future if it is? Maybe its just a really bad sinus infection?
Thanks
Deirdra
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Dec 18, 2007 - 8:10 am:

Hello Deidra,
Do not confuse guttural pouch mycosis, a fungal infection that often results in life threatening hemorrhage, with a guttural pouch bacterial infection which may produce copious purulence but does not have severe hemorrhage as a common sequela. Your description could equally describe a bacterial sinusitis. We will have to wait for further diagnostics to know. I also do a radiograph of the head while the horse is sedated for the endoscopic exam. The ultrasound might id where the fluid is coming from but with all the purulence in the way and the fact it cannot get around sharp corners rarely offers a diagnosis of the cause of a sinus infection. Once you get a diagnosis then we can discuss a treatment and prognosis. In the meantime large doses of antibiotics is rational though 7 days is way too short for most bacterial infections of the upper respiratory tract.
DrO
New Member:
dutch

Posted on Tuesday, Dec 18, 2007 - 12:38 pm:

Thank you DrO!!

I did double up on the dose and had added 4 extra days to the program. The drug is Albon and we are giving 2 a day, which he eats like a bucket of carrots. I asked to up the dose because of his size, and we figured a few extra days would not hurt until I had the vet out, which we were waiting on to see if the infection cleared up.
If it dries up, should I have the vet out any way?
Thanks again, the internet blogs are a scary place for an ocd horse owner like me.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Dec 19, 2007 - 6:52 am:

Albon is a non-potentiated sulfa drug (sulfadimethoxine) which has a fair amount of resistance built up in the bacterial population. There are several sizes of Albon what is the dosage rate of the boluses you are using. If you do not see a result you should switch to potentiated sulfas like TMP-SMZ tablets. I have had to treat such infections as long as 30 days but the rule of thumb would be to treat for 3 to 5 days after all symptoms are gone. Having had several of these start back up using 3 days I would go with the 5 days.

If it completely resolves I don't see a need for a vet but you and your veterinarian should discuss this with your goals and resources in mind.
DrO
Member:
boomer

Posted on Monday, Dec 24, 2007 - 1:15 pm:

It doesn't sound like Mycosis at all. My mare died as a result of that and her symptoms were different. Thank goodness. My best wishes to you and yours sounds like he's improving though
New Member:
lrhughes

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 - 4:38 pm:

Dear Dr. Oglesby,
Christmas '07 I gave a very well trained little quarter horse to my eleven year old niece Katie. She and Bravo are a great pair and I'd like to see that last a long time! After we moved Bravo from our ranch to Katie's he developed a thick yellowish white discharge in one nostril. Our vet scoped him and diagnosed a gutteral pouch infection. Bravo was lavaged twice and put on antibiotics until the discharge was gone for a week. Now, several months later, the discharge (white) has returned. It is most visible with exercise and seems to go away after awhile. Is it common for gutteral pouch infections to remain chronic despite treatment? Should he be retreated, and if so, what would you suggest using at this point. Bravo is energetic and plays with the other horses as well as eats with enthusiasm. Your thoughts will be much appreciated!

Thank you,
Linda Hughes
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Jan 23, 2008 - 9:09 am:

Hello Linda,
Rather than placing your post at the bottom of another member's post, you should "Start a New Discussion" to post your problem. You will receive quicker and more responses that way.

This is a good topic for your post so using the navigation bar at the top of this page click on "Discussions on Respiratory System not covered by the above". If after reviewing the article you still have questions you might see if some of the other discussions that are listed below the article answer your question. If not, you will find at the bottom of list of already present discussions a "Start New Discussion" button. For more on this see Help & Information ยป Posting Guidelines or where did my post go?.
DrO
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