Anyone know what this might be?

[zoel_222]

First off I want to say this is NOT my horse and I don't have the authority to call the vet.

There's a horse at my work who is sick and is getting worse. He's had a cough for like 2 months and a mildly runny nose. We let the owner know and suggested she have a vet out to make sure it's nothing serious. "Oh, no, no, no! No need for a vet they just get a dry winter cough sometimes." :rolleyes: Over the past two weeks he dropped a lot of weight very rapidly. That is really unusual for this horse. He's a majorly easy keeper, even nicknamed "Dough Boy." He was actually rehomed because he couldn't be on pasture anymore because they thought he was going to founder. Now he's about 100 pounds underweight. He still has quite the appetite and my boss has all but trippled his food.

Friday morning my boss fed the horses at 5 and everything was normal (or as normal as he had been lately). I got in to work at 10 and the poor horse had really thick yellow and green snot oozing out his nostrils and all over his muzzle. He's stall-bound now because we don't want whatever he has to spread. The whole day he was coughing and wheezing a lot worse than usual and snot was just OOZING from his nose. The second I saw him like this I called my boss who called his owner. She said she called the vet out and they'd be there at 5. I took off at 4:30, and the next day got a call from my friend (who's a boarder there) who said his owner decided NOT to call the vet out because she didn't want to pay the $20 after hour fee. :doh: The owner said he's been vaccinated against everything, but seeing how a few months ago I heard her talking to the old BM saying she "doesn't believe in vaccinating horses" I have a feeling she's lying.

Today I go into work and see the poor horse propped up in the corner with yellow gooey stuff coming out his eyes and nose, ALL over his face. He looks like he can barely stand and he's wheezing up a storm. I feel SO bad for this horse. He's my favorite horse in the whole barn. He's just a big cuddley kitten, but he's now he's so sick and lethargic I'm afraid to pet him. When I came home on Friday I changed all my clothes and scrubbed my hands clean before I saw my own horses. Today I cleaned his stall last after I was done with all the other work, and I wore GLOVES and cleaned all the shovels and the wheelbarrow in bleach. Maybe I'm overly paranoid but I really don't want whatever he has to spread to my horses or the other boarder's horses. Does anyone know what this could be?
-wheezing and coughing
-eye discharge
-weight loss
-snotty nose

I'm worried about this horse and the other horses around him, but most of all MY horses!:(

[alittleoffkey]

Honestly, to me, it sounds like he's choking. Are you sure he's eating his food, or is he just moving it around, maybe picking it up in his mouth then dropping it all over his bedding?

If he is eating his food, he might have some awful respiratory infection. I feel for the poor guy. I hope you can get his owner to do something - anything. That's really frustrating, I know. :(

Edit: I don't blame you for being careful - I would definitely be as cautious as you're being with the possibility of germ transfer. My cousin's horse was sick once and we kept a sack of walmart bags at the door and wrapped our boots in a couple of layers of them, tying them over the tops of our boots, before we went in to care for her. She was new, and had a cold that was made worse by moving homes, but we weren't taking any chances.

[zoel_222]

I'm pretty sure he's eating it. There's very few (if any) leftovers in his stall or feed bucket. I handfed him some hay today and he chewed it up and swallowed it okay. I'd think if he's been choking for 2 months he'd be dead already. :/

[alittleoffkey]

Oops, I skipped the "two month old" part of the cough. :rolleyes: I hope the vet comes out soon. Poor boy, I'm going to be thinking of him all day tomorrow.

[JackieB]

I'd say he has a respiratory infection. Poor boy. I have no respect for that type of behavior in a horse owner. She should be ashamed of herself allowing the poor thing to suffer like that.

You are very wise for being so careful to avoid contamination. I applaud you for taking those precautions and am impressed with your care.

Please let us know how it goes. I'll be thinking of him.

[zoel_222]

Thanks for thinking of him, ALOK. He sure could use some prayers.

Thanks JackieB for your kind words. :) You're right it does sound like a respiratory infection. I was thinking strangles for a while there, but so far he has no swollen lymph nodes or anything, so I don't think that's it. The owner is just preposterous. This is the latest thing on the list of idiotic things she's done with her horses. I'm also disappointed in the BO (my boss) because she doesn't require any proof of vaccinations for horses to enter the stable grounds, or for current boarders. We have horses coming and going all the time and she never makes sure they're up to date, so they could be tracking diseases in all through the barn.

[vicklynn]

Time to call animal control. You gonna let it sit there and die? The owner is.
Someone needs to step up for the horses sake.

[oursarge]

Time to call animal control. You gonna let it sit there and die? The owner is.
Someone needs to step up for the horses sake.

I have to say I'm with Vicklynn, that owner does not deserve a horse or any animal. I'm wild when it comes to this stuff, I'd be calling.

[mygirlmaggie]

It sounds like what my mare had 2 winters ago. Respiratory infection. She had green goo out her nose, wasn't peppy, didn't want to eat. She had to be on penicillin for 2 weeks and rest. That horse needs a vet before it gets worse and they lose him.

[Horseaholic]

Time to call animal control. You gonna let it sit there and die? The owner is.
Someone needs to step up for the horses sake.

I agree as well. :/ This poor horse...

[zoel_222]

My friend who is one of the boarder's said the owner is going to have the vet out later this week? If that doesn't happen you bet I'm calling animal control. I've had it with working at this place. I have 1 1/2 weeks left there and I'm at my wits end! If I were my boss I would have called the vet out myself and paid for it and charged the owner along with board for next month. The owner actually signed a contract saying she'd be obligated to pay vet expenses for when my boss calls the vet. I don't know what's wrong with my boss and why she isn't DOING anything. It's her responsibility as the BO to make sure the animals are being taken care of.

[cloedoll]

Poor thing. :( Honestly, I'd just call animal control now...why should the horse have to wait a few more days? Sounds like he is just getting worse and the owner could care less. =/

[oursarge]

Poor thing. :( Honestly, I'd just call animal control now...why should the horse have to wait a few more days? Sounds like he is just getting worse and the owner could care less. =/

Me too, in a few days the poor baby could be dead. I hope that he will recover.

[Toodlestoo]

Sounds just like WDW's Ickabod when we got him. He had pneumonia after recovering from Strangles. I'd get the vet out.

[zoel_222]

Ok, I'm going to call my boss when I get into work today and tell her if she doesn't get a vet out NOW I'm calling animal control TODAY.

[oursarge]

You are a good person Zoel!

[zoel_222]

When I got to work today the vet and the owner were there.... apparently it's just a cold. WHEW. Though he looks mighty sick for it to just be a cold. The vet gave him a vitamin shot and is going to come back on Friday to give him another one. He said it's NOT contagious. I'm relieved, but at the same time I feel like maybe the vet's wrong because that horse is WAY out of it and with the weight loss and length of time he's been sick..... I don't know it seems like a cold wouldn't have that big of an affect on him. I really don't like that vet either. I've had a number of bad experiences with him and from what my friend who's a farrier tells me, lots of other people have too.

[WashingtonBay]

Well, you can feel pretty lousy from a cold. I'm glad it's at least being treated.

[cheval]

Shame on the owner and the barn owner. The BO should have demanded the horse get looked at. I swear, I don't get people.

Glad the horse is being treated now!

[cloedoll]

I hope for a speedy recovery!

[gaited07]

I'd say he has a respiratory infection. Poor boy. I have no respect for that type of behavior in a horse owner. She should be ashamed of herself allowing the poor thing to suffer like that.

You are very wise for being so careful to avoid contamination. I applaud you for taking those precautions and am impressed with your care.

Please let us know how it goes. I'll be thinking of him.



I have to agree that there is an infection with the description that you gave.

I also have to say that the BO would have in his/her contract that they have the right to call out the vet in the event of a situation such as this that maybe harmful to the other horses on the property and at the HORSE OWNERS expense!
This is pure, sorry, STUPIDITY! If there is a financial problems, sometimes the vet will take payments with a down.
Even if they did not want the vet out, go get some penicillin and give the horse some shots to help clear up the infection. The key here is, DO SOMETHING!


I'm sorry, I really dislike owners like this and it is very upsetting to see things like this happen. Very, very sad.

I hope the horse pulls through and gets the care that he needs SOON!

Good luck:)

[jeezitsjacki]

well im glad the vet came out. I dont really understand why the BO didnt do anything sooner... some people...

[zoel_222]

I have to agree that there is an infection with the description that you gave.

I also have to say that the BO would have in his/her contract that they have the right to call out the vet in the event of a situation such as this that maybe harmful to the other horses on the property and at the HORSE OWNERS expense!

I really feel like it is an infection. He just seems to be having some major symptoms for it to be just a cold. The vet walked in took one look at the horse and said "oh it's just a cold." He didn't check his vitals, temp or anything.

The worst part is the BO DOES Have a contract signed by the owner stating all of this, but she just didn't feel like doing anything about it. I'm so upset with the whole situation. I've always had a problem with the owner. She's a real "whip and spur" kind of a rider and NEVER comes to see her horses. I've been working here a year and she's only been out about 10 times, maybe less, to work with her horses. Sometimes she'll show up without stopping by for a month or two, talk to the BO and not even bother to go say hi to her horses. :(

[Cat]

I'm glad he finally got looked at.

Typically in animal control cases they would hold the barn owner as responsible as the horse owner in cases where the horse was neglected in some way (didn't get vet care, feeding, etc). Your barn owner really needs to reconsider their approach to these situations and hold the horse's well-being at a higher importance. Not doing so could really bite them in the butt in the future.

[Beausgirl]

If I were my boss I would have called the vet out myself and paid for it and charged the owner along with board for next month.


Exactly! There's no excuse for this. Penicillin is about as cheap as you can get and to think this may be all the poor horse needs. Call animal control. Don't wait. This person should not be allowed to own an animal, and your BO should also be held responsible because as the horses' "keeper" they are also responsible for their well being.

[ownedby7horses]

I just remembered that a friend of mine had a horse with a mucous (sp?) discharge from the nose and was very lethargic, not himself at all. She had the vet out and the vet did the exact same thing, "it's just a cold" but M had a bad feeling that it wasn't just a cold. She called a different vet and they came out and scoped him and found out it's a hemotobin (sp?) tumour. It's on his brain and every once in a while she has to drive him up to the UofS vet clinic and have it drained or it causes his nose to bleed. Because of one vets unwillingness to actually do some tests on Felix, he almost cost her her $60,000 horse.

If I was you, I'd call animal control. In my opinion, this horse needs a second opinion from a different vet.

[natisha]

If the BO has authority to call a vet she should have, heck I've called them when I didn't have authority. I'll never understand how someone can look at a sick animal & do nothing.
Colds don't last 2 months, infections do. That horse needs further treatment.

[zoel_222]

Today the horse has improved a TON! All the crap in his eyes is gone, his nose was cleared up mostly. Still has some white/clear snot but it's not thick and yellowy like it was before. He still has a cough though, but he has a ton of energy and wasn't just sitting there in a lump like he was the other day. Maybe it is just a cold.... I wish they would get a second opinion, but my boss really likes this vet (for some weird reason....) and trusts his word. Same with the owner. It's really out of my control. Now that he is getting medical attention, if I called animal control they couldn't DO anything seeing how he's being cared for. I'd just get fired or something.

[JackieB]

Glad the horse is doing better, Zoe.

[natisha]

You did the best you could given the circumstances. Glad he's doing better

[John Boy]

Today the horse has improved a TON! All the crap in his eyes is gone, his nose was cleared up mostly. Still has some white/clear snot but it's not thick and yellowy like it was before. He still has a cough though, but he has a ton of energy and wasn't just sitting there in a lump like he was the other day. Maybe it is just a cold.... I wish they would get a second opinion, but my boss really likes this vet (for some weird reason....) and trusts his word. Same with the owner. It's really out of my control. Now that he is getting medical attention, if I called animal control they couldn't DO anything seeing how he's being cared for. I'd just get fired or something.
your concern is merited Zoe-
But if the owner didn't do anything it was the owner of the barn to step up , and if the vet was out and gave the horse something (antibiotic's etc ...) that is the best that can be done. Infections at a boarding facility are probably the worst , because the horses aren't out the majority of the time.

All the best

[TheBadLands]

Time to call animal control. You gonna let it sit there and die? The owner is.
Someone needs to step up for the horses sake.
.

[TheBadLands]

Actually I would front the money, let the BO call the vet, then keep the bill and put a lein on the horse. If she doesn't pay, find him a new home.