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 » Strangles & Streptococcus equi »
  Discussion on First and Hopefully last case of Strangles?
Author Message
New Member:
Kris197

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 26, 2006 - 9:16 pm:

This is my first post, sorry if I am posting in the wrong spot. I am fairly new to horses and I have a 25 yr old Appaloosa that this exact same thing happened. he was fine one day and then all of the sudden he had HUGE lumps under his chin (but back farther) I called the vet, he came out, he had no temp,but he did lance the cyst or whatever they are, he said that he had a lot of swollen lymph nodes, 2 on his chest and some in his groin some on his sides they are all over, I am scared to death,When he lanced the cyst not alot of pus came out it was mostly clear liquid and blood and only a little puss, that was 4 days ago, as of today it does drain a little pus out, but the swelling is not going down much.Now tonight when I went and gave him his meds I noticed that from about his hip back to his rump is very cool to the touch, almost like his circulation is not good I don't know, I again called the vet to ask him about it and he told me to get some "red cell" he thinks that he may be getting anemic. He is still eating and drinking fine but he looks to be getting more uncomfortable, his sheath is so swelled up, he has always had a slightly swelled sheath but now it is REALLY swelled, I'm wondering if I should call another vet for a second opinion. My vet says that it is strangles but he never had any other symptoms other that the swollen glands. My vet put him on tucoprim powder 1X daily. Neither one of my other horses are showing any signs of sickness. I have been racking my brain trying to figure out where he even could have contracted Strangles from I am having doubts that it even is what he has.We have not been riding with any other horses but our own in at least 60 days. Justanother thought I had, I have been having a problem with the neighbors cows and 2 pigs getting into my horse pasture, eating the hay and drinking the water. I fixed that problem about one week before my boy came down ill, but could he have gotten something from them?? any advise would be so greatly appreciated. Thank you all in advance
Member:
Jojo15

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 26, 2006 - 9:53 pm:

Not sure if i'm jumpin the gun here, but when you mention cattle and pigs... first thing came to mind was brucellosis... and its also contagious i think to horses. It is to humans..

where do you live? most states have been brucellosis free for decades. some not so lucky... see if you are in a state that is still susceptible etc.

the groin/sheath area was what prompted my thought on this.

But doesn't what they call bastard strangles start to pus and go all over? So it could just be a really bad case of strangles.
New Member:
Kris197

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 26, 2006 - 10:02 pm:

I live in Michigan, another thing that has me baffled is that he has not had a fever at all. I will look into the brucellosis Also any idea on the coolness to the touch of his skin
Member:
Jojo15

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 26, 2006 - 10:17 pm:



read here more on bastard strangles.. did you read some of the info yet? horses present symptoms differently. so you might think he just got it and didn't have any respiratory signs...
You could have brought the strangles home with you. its highly contagious. Been to a feed store lately? or show? or bought a used saddle?

I wanted to repost saying the chances of bruc... is very slim.. not to panic over it... I just looked it up and 44 states are free from it... hopefully soon its a dead disease.

when i typed in strangles in the search engine all sorts of good stuff came up. another interesting thing to read about is pigeon fever which also can come from cattle...


Hope this helps...
New Member:
Kris197

Posted on Thursday, Jul 27, 2006 - 7:02 am:

Yes Jojo I have read SO much on strangles and bastard strangles that I dream about it in my sleep Hopefully my big guy will start improving soon so I can relax. Thanx for the advice and I will look at the info on Pigeon fever.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Jul 27, 2006 - 7:40 am:

This does not sound like Strangles Kristen, though I am certain atypical infections are possible. I am guessing pigeon fever too. Is this common in MI? The key here is to have one of the abscesses cultured prior to rupture, only then will you know for sure what disease this is and what antibiotic would be best. Once antibiotics are started culturing some organisms are problematic as they won't grow well.

If it is deemed best to try and treat these abscesses with antibiotics, I would be considering as empirical therapy one of the regimens designed to penetrate abscesses as described in the article Diseases of Horses » Skin Diseases » Swellings / Localized Infection / Abscesses » Pigeon Fever, Dryland Strangles, & Distemper.
DrO
Member:
Qh4me

Posted on Thursday, Jul 27, 2006 - 10:32 am:

This isn't a comment on Kristens problem, but I wanted to thank Jojo for pointing something out.

I just bought a used show saddle, and never even thought that it may indeed carry something home to my barn.

Since I lost a horse to an unknown disease, I am always so cautious but that one never even crossed my mind.

Thanks again for pointing that out JoJo


And Kristen, I hope you find out what is going on with your gelding and he gets better soon, and your other horses keep healthy!
New Member:
Kris197

Posted on Thursday, Aug 3, 2006 - 11:29 am:

Well I had another vet come out to check on my boy, they pulled some fluid out of one of his lymph nodes and it was determined it was cancer. They gave him some Furosemide for all of the edema. That was yesterday afternoon about 3:30 When I got to the barn this morning he had taken a turn for the worse. He had swelled up really bad over night and was really laboring to breath also his circulation was getting really bad. SO I had to make the awful decision to have him put down BOY DID THAT STINK!! BUT at least he isn't suffering anymore.
Member:
Kris197

Posted on Thursday, Aug 3, 2006 - 11:36 am:

Well I had another vet come out to take a look at my old boy, his name was Indian Joe we called him Joe. They took a sample from a couple of the lymph nodes and found out that he in fact had cancer.He had severe edema so they gave him some Furosemide?? they said hopefully that would help with the edema to make him a little more comfortable. Well that was yesterday at 3:30. When me and my daughter got to the barn this morning he had taken a turn for the worse in the night. He was SO swelled up and I think his circulation was going really bad, there was no spot on his body that was the same temp. He was laboring really bad to breath. SO I had to make the AWFUL decision to have him put down and BOY DID THAT SUCK!! BUT at least he isn't suffering anymore.
Member:
Kris197

Posted on Thursday, Aug 3, 2006 - 11:47 am:

sorry for sending it twice =)
Member:
Caroltd

Posted on Thursday, Aug 3, 2006 - 12:11 pm:

I am so sorry Kristen. It's terrible to lose your friend.
Member:
Dres

Posted on Thursday, Aug 3, 2006 - 2:08 pm:

Kristen.. I am sorry for your loss of a friend..

On the first day God created horses, on the second day he painted them with spots..
Member:
Vickiann

Posted on Thursday, Aug 3, 2006 - 2:11 pm:

What a sad outcome. You have my sincerest sympathy, Kristen.
Member:
Boomer

Posted on Thursday, Aug 3, 2006 - 3:14 pm:

You poor girl. My sincere condolences Kristen. You did the right thing though, he's no longer suffering. Take care of yourself and your daughter, it must be hard especially hard on a child. **Hugs**
Member:
Lilo

Posted on Thursday, Aug 3, 2006 - 5:58 pm:

My condolences. My daughter had to make the decision to put her beloved gelding down due to cancer. We still talk about that horse - "the best horse in the universe", in our opinion.
So sorry you had to go through this, but you made the best decision for the horse.
Lilo
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Aug 3, 2006 - 7:49 pm:

My condolences Kristen.
DrO
Member:
Djws

Posted on Thursday, Aug 3, 2006 - 9:57 pm:

Kristen-

My heart really does go out to you, and your daughter. I am so sorry for your loss.

Take some comfort in knowing he is no longer in pain. You loved him enough to let him go...that speaks volumes!

DJ
Member:
Paul303

Posted on Friday, Aug 4, 2006 - 12:19 am:

For some reason, here on HA, each time a horse is lost, it rips through us all. Deepest sympathy, Kristen.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Aug 4, 2006 - 8:55 am:

It is tough when a member losses a horse. I did a rough calculation one time (number of members X times average number of horses owned in 100 randomly sampled names) and found that over 15,000 horses are represented here on HA. It means we will have these posts often as everyday represents about 25 years of horse life. This is doubly so since many join because of a serious health issue they are having. We have a section that I don't mention enough at Inspiration, Art, Entertainment members_only » Inspirational that has many posts that deal with the loss of a horse. Many report to have found solace there.
DrO
Member:
Sunny66

Posted on Friday, Aug 4, 2006 - 10:13 am:

My sympathies to you Kristin and ((((hugs))))
Member:
Kris197

Posted on Friday, Aug 4, 2006 - 1:17 pm:

Thank You all for your thoughts.
Member:
Erika

Posted on Friday, Aug 4, 2006 - 4:49 pm:

Oh, Kristin, what a shock this whole thing must have been. So sorry for your loss.
Erika
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