Strangles

[Marsha Cassada]

What a nightmare! You think you are doing everything right, and trouble comes out of the blue. I have a new neighbor who brings home auction horses regularly. I am so in dread of what could happen. We dont' share a fence, but I am not sure that would save my horses if he brought home a sick one.

Hope all your horses come through fine. What an ordeal for you!

 

[HGFarm]

Thank you Marsha... the ones that are sick now do not share a fence with anyone that was sick previously! So no, it will not help! But as many said earlier, it can be spread even by a single fly, the barn cat, your shoes and clothes, hay blowing over from one who is sick to another pen, etc.... just about anything.

The link that I believe Reble posted was a very good article and explains a lot about it.

 

[RockRiverTiff]

We have been lucky to avoid it so far, but I live in constant fear of it since the neighboring horse farm has had it at least twice now. It sounds like you and your vet are on top of it, but you will be in my thoughts until this horrible situation blows over.

 

[chandab]

Thanks for the link there too, I will go check it out.... and yep, sure wish I had a magic wand to make it all disappear. I did make the two sickies a batch of beet pulp this evening too, to go with their hay and they sure liked that. By just leaving the hay in their feeder all the time and allowing them to pick at it, they are at least holding their weight pretty well through all this.

Didn't notice it so much with the minis, but when my APHA mare had strangles, I raised all her feeders and waterers to about her knee level and that kept her eating well. When they were all on the ground, she wasn't that interested in reaching down to get her feed, so raising her feed/water kept her eating and she didn't lose weight. Often they lose weight when they have strangles as its uncomfortable for them to swallow (they don't call it strangles for nothing).

 

[Mona]

Oh Laurie, I am so sorry you and your babies are going through this. I hope they will all be OK again soon! Knock on wood, I have never had to deal with anything like that and hope I never do.

 

[JWC sr.]

We happened to be going to the vet today on a gelding party excursion. So since it has been about 10 years since we had any problems with it I took the opurtunity to ask him some questions about it for you. Here is what he told me:

1. Highly contagious and is tranmitted in a lot of cases by horse owners visiting each other and carriying it in with them. Additionally of course direct contact across fince lines is a definite risk also. Shows are perfect places for getting it.He suggested disinfecting all stall areas and using an out pointing fan in the stall to minimize possibility and no nose to nose contact with outside horses.

2. You want the areas to pop and drain, if it turns in as he called it and does not pop very severe complications can arise ( even death).

3. When they pop you are actually on the downside of the infection and it normaly takes about 3 weeks for it to run it course from that point.

4. Encourage draining with warm compresses etc. and do not restrict the draining to prevent scarring.

5. He suggestted Rocal as versus Beach as a disinfectant as it is longer acting, more effective and less irratating than bleach.

6. Use the rocal on your shoes, clothing etc when moving around the farm to avoid cross contamination.

7. Minimize as much as you can the contact between horses with different stages of the problem, to discourage recontamination.

8. His final word was as long as they are draining and looking terrible they are getting better in most cases.

Oh and one final thing give them whatever feed or hay they will eat so as to keep the body functions going no matter what it is they like the best. Lots and Lots of clean water also. No anitibiotics whatsoever either.

Hope some of that helps, it is a nasty problem, but it will pass eventually.

Good Luck,

 

[onlyminis]

I've dealt with strangles three times over the years and no, it's not pretty. The first case was years ago as a kid and I boarded my horse at the local fairgrounds. He was so sick he spent a week at the Vets office in a portable stall in their garage, took months for him to get back to his old self.

Second time an older arab who's head swelled unbelievabely, then ruptured through his nostril, ughhhhhh. We never did figure out where he contracted it.

The third time was a mini colt and a mini mare. The colt only had a minor case, but the poor mare, the whole side of her head sloughed off. We finally figured out where it came from that time. Our blacksmith had been at a sale on Saturday, then came to our place on Monday and that colt and mare had chewed on his shoes. So yes, it's one hardy little bug.

om

 

[HGFarm]

Thank you much John for asking your vet also. I never heard of rocal... but will look into it!!

I, and my next door neighbors behind with Minis, canceled going to our club meeting last weekend, as they have been over here, and I have been over there, and there is NO telling what may have germs on it. We did not want to take it to anyone else or their place, so we didnt go to the meeting (and we are both officers but they ran the meeting without us).

The mare has had chunks of skin/meat come off where the skin ruptured, but small ones. I worked on both her and the colt with warm water and Epsom salts. Will see this morning if he has opened to drain yet or not.

THREE MORE WEEKS after they rupture?!! WOW.

Of the first two that got it, but no swollen jaws, the one lost a lot of weight. Her ribs were not sticking out, but she looked pretty poorly. The other one, who is pg. by the way, lost some, but bounced back quickly and the worst mare looks good now. I didnt keep food in front of them all the time though like I am trying with these guys, and that seems to be working fairly well. They still look normal weight wise, thank heavens, even through all this. Of course, they are very lethargic and really don't move around at all to wear off any calories either, so I think I will be fine in that department.

Well, am off with another bucket of warm water and salts!!!!

Thanks everyone for your info... it has helped and given me encouragement. I just thought perhaps it was really dragging out here for some reason, but seems that it is the way it goes.

 

[Magic]

Ugh, I'm so sorry to hear that you are dealing with this! I've had strangles in my horses a couple of times, but it's been a few years now. What a mess and a pain it is! It was a relief (though disgusting) when the horses' abscesses would burst though, as they would start feeling better after that. Good luck, I hope everyone is feeling better very quickly!

 

[joylee123]

[SIZE=12pt]Laurie,[/SIZE]

So sorry to hear you're having to deal with this

It really is nasty. I worked at a place once years ago, where there was an outbreak. It's just plain nasty. I know I've often heard not to give antibiotics at the onset, as it can repress the virus and turn it into brat strangles which is harder to get rid of. Hope all your furkids get better soon

Joy

 

[Mnmini]

What a mess. After being involved in horses all my life, of all sizes, I have never had to deal with strangles. Never have even known anyone on a personal level that did.
We have new-ish neighbors next door with full sized horses, who move a lot in and out- sell some, buy some, take some to her sisters, move others back, etc... One of my big lots is up against their fence where some of their horses are. This is the ONLY place I can think of it may have come from... my horses have not been off my place since last spring and no one new in- nothing at all.... we take summers off cause it's just too hot.

A few weeks ago I had two mares come down with what I thought was a really awful cold- two mares in the lot that up against their horse pen. It was difficult to get rid of, and they felt horrible. I was told by my vet to just let it run it's course as it was the 'season' and lots of stuff was going around the valley. They finally recovered - the other two mares in with them never got it.

Then a couple of weeks later, two youngsters in the other lot on the other side of the property got it. And this time, they got the tell tale swollen jaw/throat area along with it.

I called the vet again immediately and she gave me instruction, etc... on how to proceed from here... what a horrible mess. Bleaching buckets and feeders daily. Giving them meds for the fever, etc.... using Lysol wipes on their noses. She gave me instructions also on the swellings that would break open.

All I can say is OMG- Saturday of last week the filly's broke open... I have never dealt with anything so gross and I don't have a weak stomache. I am just glad I did not waste time that morning eating breakfast. By Sunday, instead of the first two ruptures, she has about six!! They seem to have pretty much quit draining now- the icky stuff anyhow, so am working on healing up the open holes (two are big enough I could stick my thumbs in and I dont have tiny hands).

The poor colt is swollen and appears he will break open soon.... I have a third horse that the last couple of days sounds 'suspicous' so am watching her to see if she may be getting it.

Has anyone else had experience with this and any handy ideas on getting this to pass more quickly? The vet said to let it run it's course, but I feel so sorry for them - it is obvious they do not feel well. I just keep their feeders full of feed to pick in because they are not eating that much.

Keeping everything bleached and using the Lysol wipes and fly spray daily (the vet said the Lysol kills the germs)- She also had me use the ichthamol salve on the swollen areas to help draw the infection out and I am using disposable diapers to cover and 'bandage' the area. This also keeps the infected matter from dripping all over the place as well, further spreading germs.

HOW LONG DOES THIS TAKE TO PASS??!!! It has been two weeks for these guys and the colt has yet to open and drain his jaws, but his just started swelling the last three days- after the filly's had already swelled and ruptured open.

I find it odd too, that the first two mares never got swollen areas or ruptured open.... as I thought was always a symptom of strangles but then found out it is not always.

I will be spraying the entire property down with bleach this weekend from front to back, fencing and all-

Anybody have anything else to add that I could/should do? I do not wear the same shoes/clothes around the other horses that I do with these two, and I make sure everyone else is fed and done before going into their pens, but I had at least 2 others directly exposed to these guys....

Good grief..... it has been exhausting and worrisome for these poor guys

So if anyone else has some handy hints on dealing with this, let me know!!!! I can't do much about the horse traffic next door, but I am making sure I am not going anywhere there is any other horses, horse property, etc... and have pretty much quarantined myself and the place period.

I had dodged the strangles bullet until this year. Pretty much was a downer for us. All of mine were vaccinated (intranasel) for strangles, but some horses from our barn attended a dressage clinic, and brought a beta version of strangles with them. Didn't seem to matter what horses had been vaccinated, and what hadn't. Was very hit or miss. While I had always heard once contracted they couldn't get it again....wrong. Just like different strains of the flu, they CAN get it from a different strain.

Anyway, I had a mare and stud both come down with it this spring. Mare aborted a couple of weeks before she should have foaled. Foal was VERY septic. Vet and I both gave it a go with round the clock treatment, but colt crashed on day 3, very sad. Didn't think I would get so wrapped up emotionally with a baby that I hadn't been terribly optimistic about, but their "try" blots out all rational thought. Missed out on all my CDE's for the year with the stud, because it seemed to take so long before he was back to normal. I'd say 3 weeks after the abscesses broke is maybe about right. At least by that time they were back to eating and drinking normally, but think it was a full 6 weeks after draining before they seemed "normal."

I bought the Nolvasan premises solution. Can find in the ag/dairy supply stores. Used to disinfect buckets, pipe fencing, trailers, etc. I mixed per the directions, and spayed everything that these two came in contact with.

 

[Hosscrazy]

None of my horses have ever experienced strangles -- knocking on wood here --- but I sure do extend my deepest sympathies to you -- from what I've heard, it is NOT a pleasant experience!

Liz R.

 

[txminipinto]

I'm going to chime in here because I've recently dealt with this horrible condition and there is some misinformation being put out there.

1) Strangles is caused by a bacteria, Strep. equi. It is NOT airborne unless you count the bacteria being spread by the flies.

2) It is a very fragile bacteria. It does not live outside the host long and will not stay in the soil. Bleach, diluted Tide, and other cleaners will kill it. I like Bleach; it's cheap and you're going to use a lot of it. If you are in a situation where you having outbreaks every year to every other year, you have a carrier horse. To determine who is carrying it you must do cultures on all the horses on your property. 3 negatives 1 week apart each = clean.

3) DO NOT under ANY condition treat this by yourself with antibiotics. Antibiotics in a strangles case can cause brat strangles - abscess go internal and ruputure in the abdomen = death.

4) In my experience, it takes about 2 weeks for the abscess to mature and rupture, 2 weeks to heal (I like to do hydrotherapy - spray with gentle water hose), and 4 weeks for the horse to appear normal. You must stall rest these horses. Do not exercise them, do not transport them unless you are going to a hospital, etc. Stall rest for another 4 weeks before you start any kind of reconditioning program.

5) Sunlight helps kill the bacteria on inanimate objects.

6) Do not bring any new horses on to your place for at least 8 weeks following the last RECOVERED horse.

If your horses come down with it, they will most likely stop eating, drop weight, and look like they're dieing. Like John said, once the abscess ruptures, you're on the down hill side of it. It's a very expensive disease, but fortunately not usually fatal with the exception of brat strangles which almost always caused by mismanagement of the disease. I've only had to put one horse down with it, but it was because she had a gutteral pouch condition that would cause her to be a carrier the rest of her life. After pulling elevan horses through this, it was decided that no horse was worth going throught this again. Some people might not agree with this but every time a foal was born, weaned, or a new unexposed horse was brought on the property, an outbreak would occur again. REMEMBER it is spread HORSE TO HORSE or INANIMATE OBJECT. It is NOT in the soil.

My references are the Equine Internists here at Texas A&M who assisted me in my herd treatment.

Now the GOOD news about Strangles:

Once a horse has been exposed to the bacteria they will most likely have an active immunity to the disease from 5years - lifetime.

Now some more BAD news:

If you have a horse that has had or exposed to Strangles in it's LIFETIME, DO NOT VACCINATE THE HORSE FOR STRANGLES. The vaccine can cause an immune-mediated condition that causes the immune system to attack the horse, potentially killing the horse. A far worse condition than the strangles itself. Only horses that have had titers run should be vaccinated.

And this should go without saying but......leave infected horses at home and do not bring them to a show. This is where the majority of farms pick up strangles.

 

[HGFarm]

Thanks Carin....

Oh no, I wont take anyone anywhere, nor am I going anywhere either! I know this can be tracked on skin, clothes, shoes- anything and until I am SURE it's done and then some, I don't want to track it anywhere else.

The two are doing pretty good. Though their appetites have been really poor, by leaving hay in front of them all the time, they pick in it around the clock and don't look to bad actually. The mare is feeling much better, she is getting harder to catch, LOL, to get her doctored and cleaned up each day. The colt could just care less, but that is the way he is about everything anyhow. He is happy as long as he is getting attention, no matter what it is, haha.

The 5th horse has a slight case of it so far- not a lot of nasal discharge, but has a wet raspy breathing with an occasional half a cough due to sinuses or fluids. She is still eating ok, and doesnt seem to be as bad as everyone else has been, but I am not sure how long it takes to get to that point then, once it really starts, or whether she is just going to have a mild case.

Thanks for the info everyone, and your experiences. This is one reason we have NEVER shared grooming stuff, buckets, feeders, etc... at any shows. I have been hauling around since 1973 all over the place... and never had a case of it, but I guess it's making up for it now.

I also knew never to use antibiotics on it... but it's good to know that it's not airborne, literally, except by flies. This makes me 99% sure it came from next door, as those are the only other horses around here that were in and out a lot and that mine would have had direct access to.

We DO have plenty of sunlight here, and I have plenty of bleach. I tell you, I am supporting Clorox sales this year- Lysol also kills it too, and the wipes smell good and are great to use on noses, hands and quick wipedowns, etc....

I also like the hydrotherapy and the filly really liked it. I took the hose to her this weekend, since it was quite warm here... and just let it run with a tiny bit of pressure all over the underside of her jaws, since she has so many ruptures and she would actually turn her head to let the water get under there- I think it felt good.

Still a bit of sinus drainage from her too, but not a LOT, but the colt, who just ruptured this weekend, still has quite a bit of drainage going on... but getting some better.

 

[JWC sr.]

Carin,

I wish I could explain things as well as you did. Thanks for filling in the stuff I left out. Expanation of the why and where fore has never been my strong suit. Now you know why Cindy is always so tired, she has had to cover for me for 37 years. LOL

 

[HGFarm]

LOL John!!!! <insert sympathy card to Cindy here>

John, your input was excellent as well!

 

[txminipinto]

Carin,
I wish I could explain things as well as you did. Thanks for filling in the stuff I left out. Expanation of the why and where fore has never been my strong suit. Now you know why Cindy is always so tired, she has had to cover for me for 37 years. LOL

LOL! Well, John, you did an excellent job too! With 10 years experience as a Registered Veterinary Technician and having experienced this first hand myself in the last year......let's just say I've become an expert on it. There was a month that I almost cried every morning I went out to feed because someone new would be showing signs. It's a real pain in the butt and what's even worse is that many people don't understand the disease or how it's transmitted. That ignorance causes a lot of trouble for others. What the big kicker is that many people don't know is that the vaccines on the market aren't 100% effective. There are many strains of the bacteria and the vaccines don't cover all of them. Plus, the vaccines have a history of causing problems themselves as well and it's never a good idea to vaccinate a horse without knowing it's entire history. It's a huge risk. I just thank the lord I choose this profession and that I work at one of the best veterinary teaching hospitals in the country. I had a whole panel of internists helping me understand what was going on, how to control it, and what the future outcome would be. Thankfully, we're over it and everyone is clean. Give me a colic ANYDAY!!

 

[Riverdance]

DO NOT under ANY condition treat this by yourself with antibiotics.

brat strangles which almost always caused by mismanagement of the disease

Since I and my friend had such a horrible case of Strangles, and we had several vets involved, as well as copious reading on my part (majored in Biology in college). I will have to disagree with these two statements.

As for medication. All of the vets involved (and we have a large University Vetrinarian school here and had many vets involed in our prospective cases), Penicillin is the medication of choice. BUT--- should only be used if the horse has a very bad case and is being overwelmed with it. Otherwise, let nature take it's course.

As for brat Strangles, no one can predict if a horse is going to have that verson or not. Miss-management will not cause Basterd Strangles. Fortunatly most horses do not get that version. Case in point. We had a 12 year old mare here who got the same treatment that everyone else did, she was getting worse and worse. We called the vets that AM as she was looking really bad, they said to put her on Penicillin. BUT, she died before her first shot. Basically, she reared up and dropped dead. We had a necropsy done and it came back as brat Strangles. Her care was no different then all of the others. She was in a warm well bedded stall too.

All of the vets said the same thing, one can not control if one is going to have brat Strangles , or if there is going to be a carrier in the herd in the future. Chances are there will be if you have a large herd. Another of our mares aborted 2 months early and ended up with distocia. She made it through, but died the following year when we tried to breed her. When the necropsy was done, her uterus was full of the Strangles bacteria. It turned out she was the carrier who gave it to our weanlings the fall before. After she passed away (knock on wood) we did not have any more outbreaks)

 

[txminipinto]

Sorry Riverdance, I have to stand by my post. As an RVT at Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine, the advice I listed was the exact advice I received from Drs. Tracey Norman and Carolyn Arnold, as well as others. The layman should never treat strangles with antibiotics WITHOUT the direct prescription from a vet. We did put one horse on antibiotics and it wasn't penicillin, we used doxycycline. This horse did slightly improve on the antibiotics (her abscess were deep in her head and her gutural pouches), however, her gutural pouches were abnormal which was inhibiting her complete recovery and would have rendered her a carrier.

brat Strangles can result on its own, but it is COMMONLY caused by the mis-use of antibiotics. This form of strangles almost always results in death.

The best way to determine if you have a carrier or not is to culture the entire herd (very expensive) 8 weeks after the last horse has recovered. Horses who've had 3 negative cultures each a week apart are considered clean.

 

[Margo_C-T]

Laurie, I REALLY sympathize with the trials you and your horses are enduring(and with those of others who've gone through this!) What a burden for the caretaker--you are dealing with it with strength and determination...my admiration to you and all who have had to do the same!

I don't think there is really that much 'disagreement' between the last posters...Carin said not to try to medicate w/ penicillin WITHOUT VET'S ORDERS; she didn't say "never". Also--anyone whose been around for awhile understands that there are almost NEVER any absolute, hard-and-fast, 'rules' of how something will 'always' play out; I certainly can see how there can always be the occasional exception to a 'general rule'. I think both had good vets and good advice, but opinions and local circumstances can and do differ--and understandably so, IMO.

I would suggest that this thread, or at least, the strongly informational posts contained within it, be added to the archives, where they can henceforth be accessed. Very good, current information!

Margo