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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 512
| Any additional thoughts, ideas, or advice appreciated.
Facts: I purchased my horse a few months ago. When we purchased him he had some nasal discharge, but during the pre- purchase vet check he ruled it out as a cold.
Since that time he has been on SMZ's, other high powered antibiotics, been scoped twice, two sets of x-rays and recently had a molar extracted.
First scope: he had large amounts of mucus present in his nasal cavity and trachea. Nasal discharge was present from both nostrils. He was cultured and tested positive for Staph. Vet also entertained heaves or allergies, but later ruled it out when the culture came back positive for Staph.
He was on 10 days of a high power IM antibiotic. After the 10 days, his discharge returned full force. A second round of the same IM antibiotic was given and after 10 days-the discharge returned only in the left nostril. From there we went back for a second scope.
Second scope: He had significant amounts of mucus draining from left nostril only. No mucus present in the trachea, however he did have mucus present in his nasal cavity. X-rays were performed at this time. They suspected a slight change to a molar tooth. X-rays were sent to a equine dentist. Guttural pouches were clean.
Equine dentist did another full exam and a second set of x-rays, decided we should extract a molar. He wasn't a 100% sure this was the cause but felt the tooth roots had some changes. We did the extraction. He did another round of antibiotics.
The discharge has now returned-left nostril only. We are using phenomenal vets but I am so discouraged. We have spend SO much money trying to diagnose this horse. Anyone have any ideas? Thoughts? or similar experiences?
Edited by Blueridgedreaming 2014-02-18 10:37 AM
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| Maybe they could try an allergy med and if they helps then you might try pinpointing the exact cause of his allergy. It sounds allergy related to me. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 512
| Thank you! |
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Location: Somewhere up North | You don't mention if the horse had the sinus discharge just before you purchased or has had it for some time. What did the sellers tell you? |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 512
| He had it during the vet check the day we purchased him. Vet that did the pre-purchase exam said he thought it was a cold as the weather had changed quickly. We didn't think anything of it at the time. Sellers won't answer any questions after we purchased him.
Edited by Blueridgedreaming 2014-02-16 6:09 PM
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Location: Somewhere up North | Ok, the sellers not answering your questions is a big red flag. Did your vet mention a ruptured sinus cavity? A ruptured sinus cavity can cause lots of discharge and be very difficult to cure. I'm not saying this is what you have but sounds a lot like that may be the case. Keep us posted. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 678
Location: Canada | Did you buy the horse locally or did you buy him from a different state? (If locally not likely airborne allergy, if from another state may be new pollen or airborne allergens affecting him)
Have you tried removing the hay source and supplementing with packaged foods? (If he's on hay can you switch for a week to cubed feed or prepackaged dust free hay) In the event it's something in his hay and see if that makes a difference.
Is he stalled at all? If so, if you leave him turned out is he better, if you can't leave him out have you tried wetting his bedding or switching bedding source?
Do you ride inside or out? If he's from somewhere warm where he was ridden outside and now in a colder climate and inside could the arena dust be the culprit?
If you've tried all that has your vet recommended a steroid allergy injection or a round of Dex to see if that eliminates the discharge?
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 512
| Thank you for all the great suggestions!
He was purchased only 2 hours away in the same state-so he is being exposed to relatively the same allergens. He is never stalled-has access to a run in shed. We have changed his hay, but have not tried packaged roughage. He is being ridden outside. We have tried watering his hay, and we have kept him in the most dust-free environment possible.
We have not tried any steroids or allergy medications as the vet was convinced it was related to a Staph infection-and after that they thought it may be tooth related.
Can you tell me more about the ruptured sinus? Thank you! Would it show up on x-rays? Or a scope? Thanks so much everyone!
Edited by Blueridgedreaming 2014-02-16 6:24 PM
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| Even if he came to you from that close by it could still be an allergen on your place. A friend of mine had a mare, a really good 1D mare, that exhibited symptoms very much like you are describing and worked for two years to get her cleared up. She ended up giving the mare to a friend that lived 20 minutes from her just to "use" as a lightly ridden trail horse but not to run barrels. Within two months the mare was totally well and the "friend" was literally sneaking away to run barrels with her. Come to find out the original owner had mold or something growing in/around in her barn that the mare was apparently breathing in. He could be allergic to something in your general area and the original owners may of had the same problem with him which is why they sold him.
Edited by runs4fun 2014-02-17 6:27 AM
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 512
| Runs4fun! Wow! That is amazing!
Sadly, he did have the nasal discharge at the barn where we bought him from. We did the pre-purchase exam at the seller's farm.
Edited by Blueridgedreaming 2014-02-16 6:26 PM
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 678
Location: Canada | He tested positive for the staph so maybe he needs stronger antibiotics or lower dose longer time. Has the vet tried or recommended changing treatment? Have they re-cultured since he was on the meds to see if the infection has cleared up. If the antibiotics haven't cleared it he's still going to have the discharge. |
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Location: Somewhere up North | You may want to ask your vet if they checked for a sinus condition (ruptured, perforated, etc.) when they did the scope. A horse with this condition will often exhibit a lot of nasal discharge due to food processing in their gut irritates the sinus cavity. Salt in grain or free choice salt can be a primary irritant. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 512
| They did a sensitivity test and the staph only responded to two different antibiotics, we have done two rounds of a drug called Naxcel and one round of a drug called Exceed (condensed form of naxcel). We actually were there for both scopes and everything looked really clean. They found nothing alarming or concerning on the scopes. Just to be noted I do not believe the sellers sold him knowing this condition. |
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 Crazy Doggy Mommy
Posts: 1419
Location: Where Governor's make the liscense plates | makes me think of some sort of allergy? |
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  Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | I'm going to PM you a supplement that might be a great thing to try. It's really beneficial to anything lung, breathing related and for allergies. It could definitly help. |
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| Could you PM me as well:). Thx! |
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 Veteran
Posts: 268
| I've seen this before, the horse had a cyst in the nasal cavity. Not saying it's that, but could be something to look into |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 512
| RunNitroRun: He did indeed test positive for Staph, but after 3 serious treatments of antibiotics it came to the conclusion there must to be a primary reason for the infection being created such as: tooth root, cyst, Ect. That is what has left the vets scratching there heads.
CocoChex: How was the cyst diagnosed? Were they able to see it on x-rays or during a scope?
Thank you everyone so much!
Edited by Blueridgedreaming 2014-02-17 7:40 AM
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 678
Location: Canada | Have the vets suggested anything else or sending him elsewhere? The only reason I ask is we have a local vet that will have you spend $1000's of dollars and if he can't find the problem just walk away instead of offering further options and I often hear of people who use him are totally stumped and frustrated. We have another vet who will try a few things but before offering you expensive treatments he will say if a/b/c doesn't work here is what our plan would be going forward and here are the costs. If those don't work my recommendation would be XXX.
If your vet is more like the first one and hasn't offered anything else is there another vet in your area or nearby state that you could call and say here my horse had all of these treatments, x-rays, scopes etc and we are still having the problem do you have anything else to recommend? If they say no, call the next recommended place until you get an answer. I can only imagine your frustration and I hope you get to the bottom of this soon.
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Tried and True
Posts: 21185
Location: Where I am happiest | I didnt read all the replies but alot of times with all this going on, persistant nasal discharge and staph present it is a gutteral pouch infection. |
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Folks on-line