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 Reacting to something but not sure what, any ideas???
Author Message
New Member:
tshorses

Posted on Monday, Feb 8, 2016 - 11:35 am:

I have a 13 year-old Arabian that presented with swollen lymph nodes in the jaw a couple of months ago, the left side bigger and more firm and a general "squishiness" throughout throat latch area. The vet came out, thought it might be reactive lymph nodes but put him on a course of antibiotics to see what would happen. The squishiness went away and so did the swelling of the right lymph node, but the left stayed swollen, even though the swelling went down. So we watched it for a bit then the swelling grew again and the squishiness came back, so my vet decided we would do a longer course of antibiotics and if it didn't go away, then we would do a biopsy. After a week+ of antibiotics, the swelling was still there though the squishiness had gone away. We decided to do a biopsy and a blood draw. Blood came back with low white blood count. The biopsy came back as non-infectious agent and non-cancerous. After consulting with a pathologist, it was decided it was a reactive lymph node and he was reacting to something and we may never know what it was and just to watch him. A week later, he came up with mild laminitis. Not sure what caused it but suspected that it could be from my husband accidently loading a bale of timothy grass into his bale slow-feeder net instead of his usual bermuda. After icing and bute for a week, he recovered from that. Being more concerned with the laminitis, we didn't notice that his stitches from his biopsy site never dissolved, so we worked on getting those out. A week later (this would be two days ago), I noticed he had a huge lump under his jaw. Shaved the side of his face and noticed that his whole throat latch area and up the side of his jaw was swollen and hard on the left side with slight swelling on the right. Texted my vet and she said she suspects it may be an abscess so we should do hot compresses and ichthammol for a couple of days to see if it helps. Yesterday it did seem a little softer but the swelling has not gone done. He has never had a fever nor nasal discharge, was lethargic a couple of times but not for long and slowed down eating a couple of times but never stopped eating. Any ideas???
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 9, 2016 - 8:47 am:

Welcome ts,
Does the horse have a fever? I think a good next step if temp is normal is a ultrasound to see what is under there.
DrO
New Member:
tshorses

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 9, 2016 - 10:50 am:

He does not have a fever and has not had one since the start of it. I did have my vet out again yesterday and she still feels it could be an abscess so we are continuing with the hot compresses and ichthammol for 3-5 days. If nothing comes up by Friday, then she will come and do an ultrasound. She said she came across something similar and it was an anaerobic bacterial infection. With that horse, it was behind the jugular so the horse was taken to a vet hospital for that draining and after care. If she is unable to see anything with her ultrasound then I will take him to hospital. Thank you for responding.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Feb 10, 2016 - 11:01 am:

ts, Could you post a picture of it?
DrO
New Member:
tshorses

Posted on Wednesday, Feb 10, 2016 - 1:02 pm:

Update as of this morning - swelling is down but still visible, overall is softer but he still has the hard lump in the upper throatlatch area. I tried to upload a photo but can not figure out how to reduce the size to 64 kb (original is 1.88 mb).
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Feb 11, 2016 - 11:01 am:

Here is a article on uploading images ts: HorseAdvice.com » Help & Information on Using This Site » Uploading Images and Files Into a Posting
New Member:
tshorses

Posted on Friday, Feb 12, 2016 - 5:49 pm:

Thank you, that was helpful but I am still unable to resize it small enough. I changed the pixels to 600 and it is still 986kb. An update is there has still not been any kind of drainage despite hot compresses and ichthammol application since last Saturday. My regular vet referred me and I will be taking my horse to the hospital Sunday night for a exam Monday morning. They will do an ultrasound, x-rays or whatever need be to figure out what it is. This has been going on since the beginning of December.
New Member:
tshorses

Posted on Thursday, Feb 18, 2016 - 2:33 am:

Update on my horse.. throat scope, ultrasound, and x-rays all unremarkable. Blood work all came back normal. The vet is doing a cushings test to rule that out but we are at a loss. While at the hospital, his lymph nodes and the lump in the throat latch area both went down so there is the possibility it is an allergic reaction to something at our house. He will stay at the hospital for a few more days for observation and then we will have to see what happens when he comes home.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Feb 21, 2016 - 8:38 am:

Hello ts,
Things like this happen all the time. You have done a great job of ruling out some common serious diseases and more importantly clinically your horse is improving.
DrO
Member:
tshorses

Posted on Monday, Feb 29, 2016 - 1:55 am:

Update: don't know if it covers everything that was happening with him but he tested positive for Cushings. Started him on Prascend and he has been doing fine with no new symptoms. His lymph nodes are still slightly bigger than normal but he is acting fine.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Mar 3, 2016 - 8:55 am:

Hello ts,
At his age I am wondering if you are not seeing Metabolic SynDrOme vs Cushings. What tests were run and what where the results?
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