T
Triggy&Blue&Daisy Too
Guest
I may have a case of strangles on my hands with my little Blue. He's been running a high temp since Saturday and is off his water. He will eat soupy beet pulp and nibble hay but that's about it. He's pooping and peeing so no problems there at this time.
Vet was out Monday and thought it was just an upper respiratory thing going on. No snotty nose and lungs sounded clear but a lot of gunk in his upper airway. So she treated him with banamine for the fever and put him on SMZs. His breathing was pretty raspy but seemed to be doing pretty well all things considered. I'd made him a vaporizer out of a deep electrolyte container to let him breath in some steam from the hot water which seemed to loosen some of the phlem in his throat and helped him cough some of it out.
This morning I woke with a start at about 3:00 am put my clothes on and went out to him. He was pretty much the same but I guess I was having bad dreams about his illness. Took his temp and it was high again, 104, so I gave him his banamine, SMZs and let him eat his beet pulp concoction. After he'd finished, he started to pant and was getting very distressed so I called the vet and she made it there at 6:00. Before she got there I felt under his jaw and yep, there was an enlarged lymph node about the size of half a golf ball.
She took blood, nasal swab and aspirated the lump and got quite a bit of thick pus for the sample. She also lanced it so it would drain more easily. She confirmed my dread that it is a possible case of strangles. He is fully vaccinated and boostered but I know that isn't 100% effective. She will also have the sample DNA'd to see if it is the strain used for the vaccine and if so the company usually will pay the vet bills but I think it's just the stuff we had on the place last summer and is resurfacing again. One thing really concerns me is that she wants to keep him on the SMZs until she gets the preliminary pathology report. It should be in tomorrow morning. I did as she said tonight but I'm going to hold back on his am dose until I hear from her. She said there are plenty of things that can cause similar issues and doesn't want to stop the antibiotics until she can confirm it's strangles. If any mini vets should read this would you be concerned as well or am I just adding to my worry load?
I have been hot packing it to keep it open and draining, he is still eating and is not dehydrated in the least which really surprised me. Is there anything else you can think of I could do for him to keep him comfortable through this ordeal? Thankfully, my other two are not displaying any symptoms but are starting to hate me as much as Blue for taking their temps so often.
After all that, my question is has anyone got some experience with strangles in minis and are there any idiosyncracies you are aware of to watch out for with them. All my experience with it has been in big equines and I know minis have their own set of problems with things.
Edited for crappy spelling.
Vet was out Monday and thought it was just an upper respiratory thing going on. No snotty nose and lungs sounded clear but a lot of gunk in his upper airway. So she treated him with banamine for the fever and put him on SMZs. His breathing was pretty raspy but seemed to be doing pretty well all things considered. I'd made him a vaporizer out of a deep electrolyte container to let him breath in some steam from the hot water which seemed to loosen some of the phlem in his throat and helped him cough some of it out.
This morning I woke with a start at about 3:00 am put my clothes on and went out to him. He was pretty much the same but I guess I was having bad dreams about his illness. Took his temp and it was high again, 104, so I gave him his banamine, SMZs and let him eat his beet pulp concoction. After he'd finished, he started to pant and was getting very distressed so I called the vet and she made it there at 6:00. Before she got there I felt under his jaw and yep, there was an enlarged lymph node about the size of half a golf ball.
She took blood, nasal swab and aspirated the lump and got quite a bit of thick pus for the sample. She also lanced it so it would drain more easily. She confirmed my dread that it is a possible case of strangles. He is fully vaccinated and boostered but I know that isn't 100% effective. She will also have the sample DNA'd to see if it is the strain used for the vaccine and if so the company usually will pay the vet bills but I think it's just the stuff we had on the place last summer and is resurfacing again. One thing really concerns me is that she wants to keep him on the SMZs until she gets the preliminary pathology report. It should be in tomorrow morning. I did as she said tonight but I'm going to hold back on his am dose until I hear from her. She said there are plenty of things that can cause similar issues and doesn't want to stop the antibiotics until she can confirm it's strangles. If any mini vets should read this would you be concerned as well or am I just adding to my worry load?
I have been hot packing it to keep it open and draining, he is still eating and is not dehydrated in the least which really surprised me. Is there anything else you can think of I could do for him to keep him comfortable through this ordeal? Thankfully, my other two are not displaying any symptoms but are starting to hate me as much as Blue for taking their temps so often.
After all that, my question is has anyone got some experience with strangles in minis and are there any idiosyncracies you are aware of to watch out for with them. All my experience with it has been in big equines and I know minis have their own set of problems with things.
Edited for crappy spelling.
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