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  Discussion on Gutteral Pouch Swelling & Occasional Fever
Author Message
New Member:
mgeorges

Posted on Tuesday, Jun 15, 2010 - 11:30 am:

HI Dr O, I have a 15 yr old Andalusian gelding I've owned for 13 years. Since I've owned him I've dealt with chronic gutteral pouch swelling in the summer. When it is really bad if I leave him outside too long the swelling will continue down towards his nostrils. Both when I lived in Houston & now Austin Texas I've had this issue. 5 times in his life he's acquired a fever along with it. Usually the swelling worsens throughout the day when he's turned out, then slowly dissipates leaving him unharmed after he's brought into the barn. When he's developed a fever its usually after the swelling took a longer than usual time to go away (12 hours or more). In 2002 he had to be administered to Texas A&M in ICU & on IV fluids for 5 days due to the high fever (104) & not eating or drinking. "Fever of unknown origin" was the diagnosis. The swelling had gone down at that point, but I had them scope him anyway. They found nothing, no melanomas or anything. The seasonal pattern suggests allergies to me, but I've never pursued a test because he is also a foundered horse (use of steroids as treatment). He foundered in 2003, sole penetration & tenotomy surgery. My Laminitis specialist did order previous Xrays from 1999 and says he sees evidence of laminitis that went undiagnosed in those 1999 Xrays (which could explain some of the hypersensitivity issues I've had with him) My question is this. Should I pursue an allergy test? Are there current equine allergy treatments that do NOT involve steroids? Any thoughts? Thank you for your time. Megan Georges
Member:
judyhens

Posted on Tuesday, Jun 15, 2010 - 1:11 pm:

Hi Megan,
We have a 17 year old mare who apparently has heaves for the first time this year. A & M says weeds are growing (after DrOught then massive rains) that they don't even know the names of. So - maybe this is a year for allergies around here! We have started steroids with the mare. Although she has never had laminitis or founder I worry about that. How long was Q. on steroids before you saw signs of founder?

Blessings & welcome to HA!!!
Judy
P.S. Kim had her baby last week!!! Are you doing fine?
New Member:
mgeorges

Posted on Tuesday, Jun 15, 2010 - 5:40 pm:

Hi Judy! Quimero has never been on steroids, I just know that it is a big no no for horses with founder/laminitis tendencies. My dog is also suffering severe allergies with secondary effects right now, so I believe the new weeds part!
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Jun 16, 2010 - 3:03 pm:

Hello Megan,
Your horse sounds like one who develops dependent edema when out on pasture. This is because the horse keeps his head down for long periods of time. When the head is down there is increased hyDrOstatic pressure in the capillaries and fluid leaks out. When comes in and keeps his head up more things return to normal. It is not really the guttural pouches that swell in this case just the tissues over the pouch and usually the muzzle too.

It would not be surprising that this worsens with viral infections which adds a inflammatory component to increase the swelling. This may all sound quite odd but I have known a few horses over the years that do this pretty much their whole lives.
DrO
New Member:
mgeorges

Posted on Wednesday, Jun 16, 2010 - 6:23 pm:

HI Dr O, thank you for your response. What do you think of the seasonal pattern? He never swells at all during cooler weather (below 60 degrees). Can the heat itself create a more inflammitory friendly environment? Could he be more sensitive to viruses due to metabolic changes regarding his Laminitic past & possibly also because of the swelling that is already present? This would be a salivary gland over stimulation right? Yes, the fluid is definitely more on the exterior rather than in the pouches as you say, I can massage it and move it around his jaws etc. Thank you!
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Jun 17, 2010 - 5:48 am:

If we assume passive congestive edema is the main cause of the problem I would say the most likely relation with temperature would be the horse is grazing less at the lower temperatures, so his head is not as down as much. I don't think past episodes of laminitis would make him more susceptible to viruses and no the salivary glands would not be involved in my supposition.
DrO
Member:
mgeorges

Posted on Thursday, Jun 17, 2010 - 8:12 am:

If I had to guess, I'd say he grazes more in the winter than summer, due to the rye grass that keeps coming back each year. In the summers here its almost a dry lot, not quite, but almost. He spends more time under the shade tree in the summer, sleeping. the other symptom, the one that tipped me off this time is that his manure production slows way down during the elevated temp episodes. From 4 piles overnight to 1 or 2. Drinking & hay consumption stays the same throughout.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Jun 17, 2010 - 4:03 pm:

Does he sleep with his head down?

To return to your original question, I have little faith in equine allergy testing protocols and yes some allergic symptoms are responsive to antihistamines. For more on this see Treatments and Medications for Horses » Anti-inflammatories (NSAID's, Steroids, Arthritis Rx) » Antihistamine Use in Horses.
DrO
Member:
mgeorges

Posted on Thursday, Jun 17, 2010 - 5:38 pm:

Nope, He keeps his poll at the highest point. Typical baroque horse head carriage, even when he snoozes :-) Thanks, I'll check out the antihistimine info and be prepared to discuss this with my vet at my next opportunity. I was instructed to use benadryl on him once during a hive breakout and it worked well. Thanks Dr O!
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