GAH! Possible Rhino in prego mare! HELP!

[Quester]

SO, I posted a few days back about a fescue scare...got that under control and some feeds that have no fescue...but when it rains it pours right? I was approached today by another boarder and told that atleast 5-6 horses at our boarding facility have "rhino". They all happen to be in close proximity to my mare up in her foaling stall under a cam. I heard one of them hacking yesterday and was not pleased. Well, today, my mare was down and blue. At first I just thought maybe because she is so far along but RIGHT as (no joke) this lady is telling me about the sick horses, my little girl hacks a cough...and not a hay stuck in her throat cough. UGH! I have not been able to get enough information to determine if it truly is rhino, like a vet diagnosed it or if they all think that is what it is and are treating it according to what they think they should. All of these horse are "supposedly" vaccinated and they all go out to public arenas weekly, bah! Of course it is a Saturday night, I have put a call into my vet but have not heard back. Has anyone had this before, a pregnant mare with rhino or another possible rhino type illness? If so, what did you do and how dangerous is it and the treatments for a pregnant mare.

 

[Charlotte]

Good grief! If it's not one darn thing it's another.

Rhino symptoms are usually a VERY nasty snotty nose. A cough usually goes more along with flu.....usually. But it sure sounds like a virus there. I hope your vet can help you keep your mare comfortable till she is recovered.

 

[Quester]

Apparantly the facility owner said "a vet did come out and he said it was rhino (he also said it is just a horse cold)"... They are all just treating them with antibiotics incase of a secondary infection and bute...not sure what I should do with my mare, hope my vet gets back to me or if anyone else has had this scenario? I have never had a sick horse myself and I have boarded at this facility for five years and none of the horses have ever been sick...yeesh, is it just me or are strains in humans AND horses, all sorts becoming more common???

Also, the owner's of the ill horses said they got a cough first, then fevers and runny nose.

 

[targetsmom]

Rhino does not ALWAYS produce the snotty nose as we found out the hard way in 2010-2011. It sounds like your mare wasn't vaccinated at 5, 7, and 9 months with Pneumabort shots??? What happened to us that year was that we picked up something at a horse show in August 2010 which seemed to be just a cough. Then it started going - slowly - through the whole herd and no one got the snotty nose until it was too late to vaccinate our pregnant mare. (Her 2010 foal was the first one to get the snotty nose). She delivered a dead foal at 299 days gestation last April.. My vet didn't think it was Rhino either, so he never suggested that we vaccinate. The immunity from the Rhino shots only lasts about 2-3 months, so last summer we vaccinated our show minis every 2 months, and the pregnant mares with Pneumabort at 5, 7, and 9 months, They are still pregnant and due soon so we keep our fingers crossed.

I think once your mare is sick there is nothing you can do for the foal except hope and pray. But certainly call your vet and get the mare treated. And I hope you get a better outcome than we did.

 

[Quester]

Thanks targetsmom. I did finally get a hold of my vet, he wants me to keep an eye on her temperature and begin treating her with antibiotics as preventative. He did say not ALL rhino strains cause abortion but it is still on my mind! I did just speak to the lady I bought her from, I have only had her a month and she was suppose to be in month 10 of her gestation so I assumed she had been vaccinated...I just found out she was not through any of her pregnancy! Bad on my part as I assumed and didn't ask. I am keeping me fingers crossed. And trying not to panic.

 

[targetsmom]

She might be close enough to foaling that the foal is well enough developed to survive. BUT, you need to watch the mare LIKE A HAWK. One thing Rhino does (in my experience anyway) is remove most normal signs of foaling so that the mare foals with no warning. And if you aren't right there, the foal won't get out of the sac. This can happen in 10 minutes or less - literally when your back is turned. I would put some kind of buzzer or alarm on the mare and camp out next to her stall (since she is boarded). You say she is on cam - how many people are watching and can you get there in less than 2 minutes? I wish you the best of luck!!!

 

[Joanne]

I think your vet is wise to decide to have you treat her with antibiotics.

You are finding out the hard way about keeping your horse where they are exposed to a lot of other horses.Even if your horse never leaves the facility, the other people are going off and to shows where they are exposing their horses, and yours to all kinds of infections.

Fingers crossed for a safe, healthy foaling.

 

[Eagle]

I have only had very bad experiences with pregnant mares and Rhino, I am praying for you that this isn't the case and that your mare is near enough to foaling that it won't effect the foal. I would have a blood test done to find out what exactly she has and as targetsmom says it is REALLY important that you are there at the birth to help the foal out of the sac.

Good luck

 

[Quester]

I have boarded at this facility for five years, the owner's of the first ill horses have boarded there for six years. There have never been any ill horses in all that time. It is just as dangerous to over vaccinate as it can be to under. My vet felt it best to vaccinate the way I have these past years with the minimal risks there were. Now these others are taking their horses out more and the illnesses have grown in Utah the past few years...so me and my vet aren't sure that our old vaccine routine will be enough at present as now the risks are higher. Unfortunately. What I learned the hard way was I thought the mare had been vaccinated through her pregnancy for rhino...it was obviously too late by the time I found out that was not the case...or I would have vaccinated her the day she arrived. My vet said as long as it isn't the type of rhino that causes abortion no matter what, that she has an 80% chance of carrying to full term as long as her fever and stress levels stay down...so basically...if she has the strain that causes abortion, that is that, there is nothing that can be done now. We will treat her as though she only has the mild rhino that causes flu like symptoms and that it won't affect the foal... So...

ray