This is an archived Horseadvice.com Discussion. The parent article and menus are available on the navigation menu below:
HorseAdvice.com » Diseases of Horses » Urinary System » Discussions on the Urinary System not covered above »
  Discussion on Enterococcus Infection
Author Message
New Member:
troyboy

Posted on Thursday, Sep 1, 2011 - 12:58 pm:

I have a four year old thoroughbred colt that has been in training/racing since the beginning of the year. In late June, his form began to falter and I brought him back to my home racetrack to monitor him. I could tell from the moment he got here that something was amiss with him. He just wasn't himself - very quiet. Initial blood work, pulled in July, showed a low protein count along with a high potassium level. The veterinarian said I was over reacting when I asked to do a urine culture. Good thing that I did, as it showed 100,000 colonies of enterococcus. The vet recommended a treatment of doxycyclene (sp?) for a month, which ended the middle of August. His attitude improved and he returned to the horse that I knew so well. He was in light training during this initial does of anitibiotis. At that time, I pulled another urine culture which showed that the enterococcus was down to 20,000 but was now resilient to the doxy. So, the vet recommended changing to oral amoxiciline, which I thought odd. He returned to full training for a couple of days prior to getting the amoxiciline. He had one does of amoxiciline at night feed and the following morning he was completely off his feed - refused to eat his grain and only picked at his hay. I immediately stopped the amoxyciline and his appetite has returned to normal. But, now, he is quiet again. Is showing signs of lameness behind when he trains. His back is extremely painful. And, he now has diarrhea. I have started him on gastro aid to help with his stomach. I hired a new vet and pulled another blood which, again, shows the low protein. I am told the other levels are normal, although I have yet to see a copy of the bloodwork. We will be doing another urine culture. Has anyone every dealt with this type of bacterial infection before? I am told that it is very rare and there isn't alot of information on the web concerning it.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Sep 2, 2011 - 3:16 pm:

Welcome Renee,
I have to say this is a very odd story. How are you getting the urine samples? Enterococcus would be a normal contaminant found in high levels if caught by urine catch. Doxycycline would be a poor choice of antibiotic for urinary tract infections in my opinion because of its low concentration in the urine: it is processed by the liver. Oral amoxicillin is another poor choice for any infection in the horse as the horse, as apposed to most other species, does not absorb it well from the bowel.

If I were treating a urinary tract infection in a horse, and it is not at all clear that is a problem you have, I would first choose TMP/SMZ while waiting for sensitivity results.
DrO
New Member:
troyboy

Posted on Friday, Sep 2, 2011 - 6:28 pm:

Hello Dr. O and thank you for your response. I had inquired with both vets about the possibility of the urine sample being contaminated and both said that they highly doubted it due to the high colony count in the original urinalysis.

Let me ask you this - what other tests would you recommend. The horse is obviously not himself and I am very concerned.
New Member:
troyboy

Posted on Friday, Sep 2, 2011 - 6:31 pm:

I forgot to add, Dr. O, that the latest urine sample was extremely cloudy and seemed to have some mucus in it. Even the second vet, who is now treating the horse, commented on the look of the urine when we delivered it to him.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Sep 3, 2011 - 9:32 am:

Horse urine is somewhat unique Renee and the things you note above, cloudy and viscous, are all normal findings in horse urine and generally are worse when horses are fed legumes. You will find a description of this at HorseAdvice.com » Diseases of Horses » Urinary System » Normal Urination and Urinalysis in Horses.

Hmmm numbers too high of a fairly normal contaminant on a catch sample....who is to say there are just not a lot of them around the urethra. Usually urinary tract infections do not cause systemic signs unless the kidneys themselves are infected, just the local signs of urinary tract irritation. I think more important is whether there are clear signs of urinary tract infection: blood and WBC's in the urine in unusual amounts, is the horse having difficulty urinating, or attempting to urinate frequently with little produced.
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