Discussion on Snotty bilateral nose and eyes
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Kathy Hayden
Member
Username: kshayden
Post Number: 52
Registered: 6-2008
| | Posted on Monday, Dec 15, 2008 - 10:41 am: |   |
Hi Dr. O.
The little 6 or 7 month old that I rescued almost 3 weeks ago came with cloudy yellow eye discharge on both sides(gooky and thick) and hard, crusty snot in both nostrils. I haven't seen any runnyness in his nose, just very dry and hard. He coughs occasionally, maybe 3 or 4 times a week(haven't heard him cough for over a week now). We still haven't been able to put a halter on him - we could corner him and lasso if needed, but currently he allows us to scratch him all over but still moves just out of reach with concern after a few minutes. He is curious and stays with us and follows anytime we are out with him and we feel the approach is slow but better than being more aggressive. I have been able to add wormer to a handful of grain, or just squirt some on his hay and he eats it. He still needs more but we are doing this slowly as well.
Since he was unthrifty and starving when he arrived and eats none stop, I figured as he put some weight on, his overall condition would improve. He looks much better today - he hasn't been near as hard to bring back compared to our old rescue mare that has taken almost 2 years - we can now actually call her fat  but her body score is just pushing on 5 (those old arab hips are hard to cover).
Anyway, I would have already had my vet out if this was a tame horse for an evaluation. I am wondering since we are going on 3 weeks if this is indeed an infection that needs antibiotics. No way to know how long he had this prior to Thanksgiving day. We *might* be able to crush pills or perhaps there is liquid form antibiotics we can add to a little grain if he would eat it. His attitude has improved and he is much spunkier. At first I thought he was just a very calm little boy - but he is starting to run around and get frisky, so he must not have felt good.
What are the possibilities this will 'run it's course'? How long should I do a 'wait and see' approach? Could I just give him 10 days of antibiotics and see if he improves? What would be the best antibiotic to start with?
Thanks for everything. Kathy |
Robert N. Oglesby DVM
Moderator
Username: dro
Post Number: 21957
Registered: 1-1997
| | Posted on Monday, Dec 15, 2008 - 6:41 pm: | |
Hello Kathy,
Without an exam I cannot evaluate the seriousness of your colts infection nor recommend specific treatment. Your first step in evaluating the seriousness of your colts condition would be to take his vital signs. The more normal the vital signs the more likely this is not a serious situation or even if it may require further treatment. For more on this see Diseases of Horses » First Aid » Taking Temperature, Pulse, and Respiration. As to whether it sometimes takes weeks or even a month or more for young horses to recover from upper respiratory infection the answer is yes, particularly if the foal has been immunocompromised by poor health. But what I don't know is where your colt is at. To determine that requires a physical exam.
DrO |
