Pedigree Query

HAve a horse diagnosed and treated by a veterinarian but no follow up care according to him. Any ideas on if there should be and how does a horse get it in the first place and what can be done to prevent it from reoccurring?

Hard to tell from your post what you are asking.... but I can't believe a vet treated a guttural pouch infection and did not leave you with a course of follow up antibiotics, maybe some bute in case of fever, etc. etc.

With my horse I received Smz's and Bute, Bute and more Bute! But he had a couple other issues too....

Any sort of infection should be treated with at least 10 days of SMZ's or penicillin.

THey kept him at the clinic, flushed his gutturol pouch for 3 days, that was it. When I asked about follow up they said none. I am concerned and that is why I brought it up on this board as I felt surely something more would be in order and that someone on here had experience with the problem.

We had a filly come down with a gutteral pouch infection last year at the racetrack. They had to do multiple flushes and tons of medicating... it seemed as soon as we thought she was over it, it would return. It took forever to get rid of it... we pretty much lost that whole meet. I don't know if they are typically that difficult to get rid of or if we were just lucky. I can't imagine everything being A-OK after only three days of flushing. However, not knowing the severity of the case or exactly what was used in the flush, it's hard to say. I would recommend asking a different vet for a second opinion if you're worried about this. Good luck!

I had a colt darn near die after a strenuous workout with a gutteral infection that hadn't been detected - he all but collapsed on the apron after turning in a stinker of a time....

It still took a month or more of me fretting and insisting that something just wasn't right with this horse...and three different vets' inspections...before I got the 'right' diagnosis. Once diagnosed he was flushed twice with a solution that contained a natural, herbal 'antibiotic' - I want to say "tea tree oil" or something but can't really recall now - and simultaneously he was given a mild course of a broad spectrum antibiotic to help end any residual source of re-infection that might have been lingering in his system.

He was like a changed creature two weeks later - back to his old high energy, playful self, but we went ahead and gave him a good 5 months off at the farm. I think it's just a matter of the individual and their overall state at the time of the infection being treated. I think in his case being let down at the farm for a month and a half before he was diagnosed and treated may have allowed him to de-stress and his own natural immune system to pick up a notch, helping him throw off entirely what had led to the GPI.

Raw garlic will kill any infection but you have to go slow and easy with it when you start using it.

Chop up a clove and put it in your feed tub and mix molasses or honey to hide the taste of garlic. You can gradually add more garlic as it will kill the infection. With antibiotics a TB can have a relapse of the same problem down the road.

I have had 2 TB mares with it. We did flush them and gave penicillin, I was told it was akin to strangles.
cheryl

From what I have been led to believe this infection cannot be touched by antibiotics because of a special construction of the guttoral pouch. Any thoughts on this?

OKay here's two different links that explain about guttural pouches and what type of infections that occur with them.
http://www.usyd.edu.au/su/rirdc/article ... tural.html

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index ... 121323.htm

Sulphurfire,

Thanks for the links.

Pete