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sick horse

R

RoperAB

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 11, 2006
Messages
1,435
Location
Alberta
Its been raining here for months.
A couple of days ago this horse started coughing when you rode him. Started coughing up flem out of his nose. Gave him a couple of days off and tonight I took him for a little walk to see what he would be like because he wasnt coughing today when he wasnt being rode.
We walked about a 1/4 mile and then he started coughing every now and then so we headed home. When we got home he coughed up a handful of flem.
None of my other horses are sick.
This horse had Rhino a year ago so he is immune to it.
Had all his other shots except for flu.
He hasnt been around any sick horses or exposed to any germs from any strange horses.
Im thinking he is just sick because I have been riding him a lot <everyday> in the rain.
Of course im riding my other horses in the rain everyday and they did not get sick.
I have three buyers waiting to look at this horse. How friggen long until he gets better? He isnt all that sick. He is on his feed and drinking lots.
But he is sick enough that I cant show him. One of the buyers is going to be here on wednsday unless I call him. He lives 500 miles from here but he is on his way to a roping.
Is there any chance of my horse being contagous? Im thinking its just some kind of cold that isnt going to amount to much and so far none of my other horses are sick.
What are your thoughts?
Local vet is just going to say to shoot him up with antibiotics. Lab work takes months to get the results back.
Could this just be alergies? Sounds dumb but my wife and I have alergies something terrible this year and the horse seems to have the same symtims.
The horse doesnt seem depressed or anything. Seems to have lots of energy and go. Its just the coughing and flem<kind of thick white stuff>
 
The possibility of it being anything you named is YES. But, you did not mention if his glands were swollen, and fever? I know down here we do have a few different reactions than you do up north.

I have a friend that a month ago, she had a few catch what we call "Bastard Strangles" and the one that died acted like he had a mild cold, with the lite coughs, they did treat him with antibiotics, but went down all of sudden and by the time vet got there, he was dead. They did a neocropsy and found that the rupture went inwards instead of out, the flem as you called it was coming up...but the rupture went into his lungs. Strangles, we were always taught once a colt had it by the time they were older they had built up a resistance and that you really did not have to worry about the horse getting them, this horse was 4 yrs old, and had had a mild case last year. WEIRD....viruses are building up a resistance in my oppinion, and as some say mutating and getting harder to defeat.

I hope that all that your horse has is allergies. With all the mold that comes out of this wet weather like we have here..it affects animals and humans alike. So hopefully that is all you have there. But, I would isolate him away from the others just in case.

Good Luck and keep us updated,
Easty
 
It's hard to say but if any of your other horses have been off the place they could be carriers. They might have never came down with any symtoms, but they still can pass the virus. But I would ask the vet and see if you should put him on like Tucaprim(powder penicillian). And if it was me I would call the guy interested in him and just explain what was going on and maybe get a vet check so the buyer knows the horse is ok. Have you just recently put him on hay, that will make a lot of horses cough. Or if it's been wet, is your hay moldy??
 
His glands under his jaw are fine.
Yesterday the horse did not cough or snot.
This morning a woman called who because of all the bad weather I have been putting off coming to see the horse. I told her about the horse being sick and she didnt care and wanted to come and see him so I said fine.
I rode the horse for her and then she rode him. No cough and only a little tiny bit of clear snot coming out.
Anyway she bought the horse pending the vet check.
Im thinking it must have been just a little cold that he had. It was really wet and misserable here for quite some time. Lots of hail. I literally had ducks swiming in the corrals.
His shots are up to date and he hasnt really been anywhere to have any contact with new horses.
He gets a couple of hours pasture time everyday and the hay that im feeding him is really good stuff.
Now I was feeding him in a big feed bunk because of all the mud in the corrals. Maybe because he was eating it in the feedbunk which would make it a little more dusty because he alweays buries his head into the bottom to get the fines. Maybe the dust was what caused all this? It wouldnt be a lot of dust but it would be some. None of the other horses had a problem with it.
Since I separated him from the others he is on pasture grass and now he is almost better. Maybe he is just extra sensative to dust?
Anyway thanks for your help. If the Vet finds something in the exam I will let you all know.
 
I'd bet it is the dust causing it. Some horses are just more senstitive to dust and mold. In this type of situation in the future, take a temperature. If it is viral or bacterial, there will be a fever.

If it is caused from dust, there won't be.

We don't feed our horses in a hay feeder any more than necessary
because of the horses inhaling the dust as you mentioned. If this
horse showed this tendency, he will most likely always be like that.

Horses lungs aren't very good, and they aren't very big in relation
to the size of the animal, so they can be problematic.

Glad everything turned out for you and the horse!!
 
Well what I have started doing is laying their hay outside of there corrals so they cant pee in it, root it around, etc. My corrals are made of steel panels so all they do is stick their heads through the panels to eat.
This cuts back on the dust. Plus there is no mud outside of the corrals where im putting the hay so it cuts down on wasted hay.
 
Tucoprim is a great feed thru antibiotic for a horse with a snotty nose. My old horse ( 35+ yrs old) gets sinus infections/feel bads pretty often. A dose of Tucoprim and it's all over!


Maybe your horse just needs a shot of some sort of antibiotic. You have to get it from the vet. I get a big bottle , powder form, for about $20 bucks.
 
Im going to ask the Vet about Tucaprim(powder penicillian).
What do you do shoot it up his nose like an asthma inhailer?
 
No ,I just mixed mine with his sweet feed. I have to soak his feed anyway..he's only got 3 teeth left!! :shock:

I made it taste better and added some pancake syrup to the mix to cover the bitter taste.

And my old horse is a PICKY eater....he just gobbled it down.
 
Did you have him checked for pneumonia? I had a horse 8 years back with similar symptoms except he really lacked energy...vet came and checked him, thought it was allergies and a cold, but it turned out to be deep lung pheumonia.

I'd check it out because it can really play he!! on a horse if it gets too far advanced. I ended up taking my horse to the University so they could get exrays to figure out what the problem was and by then, it took a continual IV for 7 days to get him back to where he was supposed to be and then pills for another 21.

Even now, on humid days, it's best not to be riding him hard because his lung capacity isn't what it used to be -- but then again, my girl rides him so he's got no worries about being ridden hard :wink:
 

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