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  Discussion on Enterobacter
Author Message
New Member:
marsha

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 26, 2017 - 1:11 pm:

I have a gelding that came in from the paddock with what looked like a large hock (bog-spavin). The leg continued to swell from the stifle down to the foot in what we thought was lymphangitis. He was put on SMZ and Banamine but had a bad reaction going off his feed, spiked a temp of 104 and was not feeling well. We (our vet and owners) took blood cultures and urine cultures. At this time his urine was brownish red with high concentrates of e-coli. He was then put on Baytril Enrofloxacin and had very good results. The leg went down (no bog spavin or lymphangitis) temp returned to normal. But, he developed sheath swelling and mid-line swelling. We kept him on Baytril for an additional 7 days and now all swelling is gone. We did another urine culture and this time it came back with Enterobacter that is not sensitive to anything in vitro. There are no other clinical signs of disease. This sheath and mid line swelling has occurred before (approximately 2 times a year in the spring or summer). I also sent to CA (pigeon fever)blood serium that came back neg @ 1:8. My concern was internal infection. While things are looking good I am still interested in Enterobacter in the urine and how to get rid of it. I still wonder if there isn't an internal infection with this mysterious swelling periodically. Any thoughts or experiences are greatly appreciated. Dr. O, I would be curious your thoughts on this. Much Thanks
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Apr 27, 2017 - 11:32 am:

Welcome Marsha,
To check for internal infection I would consider running a CBD and fibrinogen for signs of chronic inflammation. If they are normal chronic internal infection seems unlikely. Enterobacter could well be a contaminant. It is a genus containing a large number of species many of which are not well known as pathogens. How many colonies grew and on the last UA cytology was there elevated WBCs? Bacteria in even the most carefully sampled catch or even catheter collected urine is normal and by itself not a sign of urinary tract infection.
DrO
New Member:
marsha

Posted on Sunday, Nov 12, 2017 - 7:59 am:

Greetings Dr. O, We just did another urine culture on this gelding and the results came back with significant levels of E-coli. Oddly enough we also had to have a new well put in and the bacteria test failed for high levels of E-coli. Evidently, E-coli is resistant to most antibiotics. Signs that I see are loss of weight and the swelling has now moved to the left hind fetlock. I have a second horse that I have noticed is urinating much more frequently. I will pull a urine culture on him this week. While some E-coli might be visible, significant growth is probably not. What might a path of remedy be? Our new well came back with good quality water when tested.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Nov 15, 2017 - 8:48 am:

Hello Marsha,
What is the diagnosis(?), as per my last post your description of the urine of a catch sample would be in the normal range.
DrO
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