Strangles

[kigerkrazy]

I'm trying to keep from totally freaking out, so bare with me here! I keep my mare (Missy) at a pasture that has a large stall. We rent half the pasture and the stall. The other half of the pasture is rented out to another horse. Today I got a call from the owner of that horse stating her mare had "a cold", so she put her in my stall. (She doesn't have a stall for her mare.) I asked what she meant by a cold, and she said the mare has swollen lymph nodes and goopy eyes. She said the horse had the same problems a few years back and the vet did a blood test for strangles that came back negative. She said the vet told her the mare had an upper respiratory infection also, but that is was viral and would pass. The vet is coming out tomorrow to look at the mare and hopefully diagnose what is happening currently. I have never had a horse got a cold, or strangles or anything else. So I have no experience with this. I'm peeved she stuck her horse in my stall without asking and before she knew if it was contagious! My question is, how do they test for strangles, and what do I do now that she is already in my stall? Can I get it out of the stall if she has something contagious? I reaaaaaally don't want a sick horse!!!!!!!
=(

[DianneC]

Can you be there when the vet comes? Has the other horse been some place else recently, like a show? Do the two horses share water and the pasture? If so the stall is probably not an issue as there would be plenty of exposure from the water tank and pasture. Strangles is no fun, the horse is miserable but its not usually lethal. Get the story straight from the vet and advice as to what to do. Oddly enough, antibiotics is usually the wrong thing to give.

[kigerkrazy]

I'm getting mixed stories about when the vet is actually coming. First she said tomorrow afternoon, and now she is saying tomorrow morning =( They don't share a pasture, but there is a stock tank they share. I don't think she has taken her anywhere. I haven't seen her leave, but then I haven't really been paying attention. The only other animals that share a fence line with them are buffalo and cattle. I'm calling the vet in the morning to see when they are coming out.

[Michelle Clarke]

You can give me a call if needed...I've dealt with three strangles outbreaks throughout the years. Everything needs to be sprayed down and scrubbed with a bleach mixture and I mean E V E R Y T H I N G - walls and bars include. Buckets should be thrown away and anything used to clean the stall with. We used a manure fork and a manure bucket, lined the bucket with a large trash bag and threw that away - don't add it to the manure pile. Then throw the fork and bucket away. Flooring should be scrapped up as much as possible, then limed, raked and limed agian. If there are matts, they should be thrown away.

Everytime someone exits the stall, shoes should be sprayed down with the bleach mixture and hands should also be promptly sprayed and washed...all without touching doorknobs, spickets, etc with infected hands. We used rubber gloves each time we went in the stall. We would take care of our strangles horses after we fed everyone else in the morning and last at night.

They can be contagious for up to a year and some can become carriers. Best after the mare is well for three weeks (meaning no abcessing) to have her swabbed and make sure she is clean before putting her anywhere near another animal. Strangles settles in the gutteral pouches and those need to be flushed if she is a carrier.

Being with all those other animals around, you may be dealing with a big outbreak on it's way. The stock tank should be dumped and majorly disinfected with bleach. Start your mare on one ounce of Colloidal Silver twice per day; put it in a plastic syringe and dose her with it directly in her mouth. Don't add it too food. Best to add it with a good quality liquid probiotic that you can get from a health food store. 85% of the immune system surrounds the hing gut, so boost that with the probis.

I am sorry you are dealing with this...it is a nasty thing to irradicate. Send me a pm and I'll send my phone number if needed. And definately call me if your mare starts to show signs of being sick...

[kigerkrazy]

I'm still totally freaking out about this. Thank you so much Michelle. If it turns out to be strangles I will definitely call you! The girl told me the mare had these symptoms before but the vet did a blood test and said it wasn't strangles. Everything I'm reading says they test for strangles by doing a nasal swab? I'm also reading it's going to be about two weeks for the results to come back. So I guess I should let her stay in my stall until we get the results back? Since they share one of the stock tanks, I'm guessing Missy has already been exposed. =( I'm crossing my fingers and praying it isn't Strangles!!!

[kigerkrazy]

The vet came out this morning and said it wasn't strangles. It turns out the mare is selenium deficient (it's common in our neck of the woods since it's lacking in our soil.) I saw the horse a couple days ago and thought she looked fine, but didn't want to chance having something contagious around my horse. Apparently when they checked her lymph nodes they were feeling the wrong area and mistakenly thought they were swollen. I'm happy it isn't anything that's going to affect Missy and we can now have our stall back! Weather is supposed to turn ugly today and she needs her shelter back Thank you all for your help with this situation even if it was a false alarm. It's never a bad thing to know what to look for when it comes to contagious diseases!

[Michelle Clarke]

Thank goodness!