This is an archived Horseadvice.com Discussion. The parent article and menus are available on the navigation menu below:
HorseAdvice.com » Diseases of Horses » Respiratory System » Discussions on Respiratory System not covered by the above »
  Discussion on Guttural Pouch Infection
Author Message
Member:
indigo

Posted on Friday, Jul 11, 2008 - 8:42 pm:

Hello Dr. O,

Have a mare that was diagnosed via endoscope today with a guttural pouch infection. My vet flushed her pouches with betadine, and will do so again for the next few days. She also recommended putting her on Chloremphenical for 5 days (have not started this yet.)

Is this a "normal" treatment routine? I've not found a lot of info on the web on this type of infection.

Also, my mare is 60 days pregnant, so I am hesitant to use the Chloremphenical. What type of antibiotic can be used as an alternative? My vet said we could use penicillian instead, but she said it's not normally quite as effective due to resistance.

Thanks!
CC
Member:
rtrotter

Posted on Friday, Jul 11, 2008 - 9:37 pm:

CC:
I just went through the same thing with my 6 year old trotting mare.

The vet flushed her guttural pouches with Gentocin and saline every other day for six days ( 3 flushes), put her on Baytril for 6 days and then SMZ pills for an additional two weeks. We also monitored her blood because her WBC was very high to start with. It has now returned to almost normal.

If I understood what my vet said, guttural pouch infections do not respond well to systemic antibiotics alone which is why they needed to be flushed directly with some type of antibiotic.

In my mare's case the additional antibiotics were given because there may have been a secondary infection of some type beyond the guttural pouches and both infections needed to be treated.

He also said that if the WBC did not continue to go down a tracheal wash might be necessary. I will pull another blood on Monday to make sure we are still in the "normal" WBC range.

Although my mare was bred 3 times earlier in the season. She did not catch and will be bred early next year, so as far as the use of these drugs in a pregnant mare, your vet would be the best judge of that.

Rachelle
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Jul 12, 2008 - 6:53 pm:

Hello CC,
What is the guttural pouch infected with? That determines the best treatment.
DrO
Member:
indigo

Posted on Saturday, Jul 12, 2008 - 7:12 pm:

I have no idea. When my vet flushed the guttural pouch yesterday and today, a large amount of white snot came out. She didn't do any type of culture, however. I've only had this mare a short while, so I have no idea what her previous history is.

My vet changed her over to penicillian today, after I expressed concern about the Chloremphenical. She's getting 25cc's twice a day for 5 days. Also I am to take her back tomorrow to be flushed, and she said she was going to put some type of penicillian gel into the pouch.

CC
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Jul 13, 2008 - 9:18 am:

Without culture we can only guess. I believe the most common organism would be a Strep so likely to be sensitive to penicillin. Has there been a history of Strangles on the premises?
DrO
Member:
indigo

Posted on Sunday, Jul 13, 2008 - 1:37 pm:

Hi Dr. O,

I've only had this mare a couple months, and I have no history of Strangles on my farm (at least not while I've lived here, which is coming up on three years). However I am fairly certain this mare had the infection prior to my purchasing her. My vet flushed her again today and she still has a large amount of snot coming out, so she recommended I skip tomorrow and bring her back in for another flush on Tuesday. She did not use the antibiotic gel, she said she we needed to keep flushing her every day or every other day until we quit getting large amounts of snot out of her, and then use the gel.

Assuming we're dealing with Strep, what would be the standard treatment protocol?

Thanks for all of your help!

CC
Member:
wgillmor

Posted on Sunday, Jul 13, 2008 - 5:04 pm:

CC,

For information on Strep, back up one level and read the articles on Strangles & Streptococcus equi. (That is, if you haven't already.)

I suspect, however, that without a culture DrO will say that Strangles is just an assumption.

Good Luck,
Wiley
Member:
indigo

Posted on Sunday, Jul 13, 2008 - 5:41 pm:

Hi Wiley,

Yes, I have read all the info on Strangles here, as well as everything else I could find on the net on guttural pouch infections. There is scant information on treating this type of infection out there, unfortunately. I may have to ask my vet to culture the mare...although she's often not open to my suggestions!

I actually suspect this mare may have had this infection for quite some time, and it may be why she was sold. Her previous owner was very evasive when I contacted her and questioned her about this issue. Thus far, however, none of the horses pastured with her have gotten sick (knock on wood!) and they've all been turned out with this mare since I brought her home a couple months ago. I've got her isolated now, but I dont know if it really makes any difference since she's already been in with the others previously.

CC
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Jul 14, 2008 - 9:30 am:

We do cover diagnosis and treatment of strep guttural pouch emphyema in the article on Strangles CC. I would be using penicillin to flush if I knew it was Strangles and while there is purulence, I would flush daily.
DrO
Home Page | Top of Page | Join Us!
Horseadvice.com is a BBB Accredited Business. Click for the BBB Business Review of this Horse Training in Stokesdale NC