She says “Stayed at the vet six days until he was cleared to leave. Did a nasal swab on Thursday to make sure he still wasn’t contagious.”
If he’s cleared to leave and not contagious, what is the big deal? Ship him home.
[QUOTE=saultgirl;8808815]
She says “Stayed at the vet six days until he was cleared to leave. Did a nasal swab on Thursday to make sure he still wasn’t contagious.”
If he’s cleared to leave and not contagious, what is the big deal? Ship him home.[/QUOTE]
I think the concern may be that he is a strangles carrier. Maybe the barn owner will not permit him in the barn.
[QUOTE=Palm Beach;8808997]
I think the concern may be that he is a strangles carrier. Maybe the barn owner will not permit him in the barn.[/QUOTE]
My understanding is the nasal swab was to confirm the pneumonia was not contagious, and in doing so, they discovered the strangles infection, so he had to remain. DUnno, maybe I got it wrong.
But seems like there are other QT options to pursue vs vet board.
[QUOTE=HungarianHippo;8809043]
My understanding is the nasal swab was to confirm the pneumonia was not contagious, and in doing so, they discovered the strangles infection, so he had to remain. DUnno, maybe I got it wrong.
But seems like there are other QT options to pursue vs vet board.[/QUOTE]
Oh ok that makes sense. I misunderstood.
[QUOTE=HungarianHippo;8809043]
My understanding is the nasal swab was to confirm the pneumonia was not contagious, and in doing so, they discovered the strangles infection, so he had to remain. DUnno, maybe I got it wrong.
But seems like there are other QT options to pursue vs vet board.[/QUOTE]
You are correct.
Thank you everyone. I have read all the responses, just been stressed out about the situation so I didn’t respond.
When the horse arrived (five hour trip) he was so sick he was struggling to breathe, vet wasn’t sure he would make it. Was put on aggressive intra-vein (sp?) antibiotics. Owner of the barn didn’t want him back until he was cleared. Seven days at the vet’s + medicine = $1700. That wasn’t a big deal, I’ve had horses before and things happen.
If it were just Strangles, I’d find a place to quarantine him and give him the medication.
The nasal swab showed that he’s a “carrier” of Strangles. They tried to clean out the pus nodules/gutteral pouch wash today, said it was really bad and will need to be done again. It could be worse and need even more sessions, there might be hard pieces that are extremely difficult to remove. It costs $250 for each cleaning, plus board. She doesn’t know how many sessions he’ll need.
It’s also possible he is uncurable and will always be a carrier, that’s the issue. That’s why my vet brought up the possibility of putting him down (sorry, I didn’t make that clear). If he’s a permanent carrier, he would have to be quarantined for life.
I think most people have a limit on how much they can spend. It wasn’t “oh my God, my horse is sick so I better put him down!”. Right now my bill is about 2500. It will go up.
Called the seller and she said “sorry to hear that”. I guess the horses at her place haven’t shown any symptoms.
If it had been pneumonia or Strangles (which he doesn’t have, unfortunately) I wouldn’t have worried. It was the double-wammy that set me off.
I guess this is all just bad luck.
That does not even sound remotely like what you said or implied in your original post.
[QUOTE=Sick;8807209]
I don’t want to put the horse down since he’s fairly young, 10 yrs old and can be cured, but if I have to I will. The meter is running at the vet.[/QUOTE]
If I was the seller and sold horses for a living and wished to continue having a good reputation I think I would offer to pay for part of the vet bills.
The horse was perfectly healthy and five hours later was having difficulty breathing, with a temp and pneumonia? Give me a break. I don’t think so.
If the horse turns out to be a carrier that will keep giving strangles to other horses THAT is rotten luck. But horses don’t get massive infections with respiratory distress in 5 hours. I can’t believe no one noticed anything amiss before it got on the trailer and a reputable seller would call and say, there’s something wrong, etc. etc.
Honestly, I would say the only recourse you have is with the vet. Were they an impartial 3rd party? Were you present for the PPE? It sounds like they probably didn’t know about the Strangles carrier thing, but they very well could have known about the pneumonia, if he came off the trailer that bad.
I bought my 4yo as a long yearling. I was just so excited about getting a new horse that I didn’t even think of finding my own vet to do the PPE, and I used the one recommended by the seller (I wasn’t local). She did a full exam, but since I was so focused on getting x-rays (healed puncture wound on his coffin I wanted checked), I didn’t really focus on anything else. I got the results, and he passed, no problems.
A month or so later, when he was home and my normal vet came to do vaccines… she VERY clearly heard a heart murmur. Grade 3/4. PALPABLE. My vet said there is absolutely NO way the vet doing the PPE didn’t know about it. Thankfully he’s growing out of it, so jokes on them (I got him for a song, and now I know why).
Should I have done something? Absolutely. But honestly, I love my guy, and I did from the moment I met him. I didn’t want to give him back, and I really didn’t want to take either of them to court. I think you need to decide how much you’re willing to do, how far you’re willing to go. If you can prove the seller and/or vet knew about the pneumonia, maybe you can take them to court. I hope it all works out!
[QUOTE=Ruth0552;8809637]
The horse was perfectly healthy and five hours later was having difficulty breathing, with a temp and pneumonia? Give me a break. I don’t think so.
If the horse turns out to be a carrier that will keep giving strangles to other horses THAT is rotten luck. But horses don’t get massive infections with respiratory distress in 5 hours. I can’t believe no one noticed anything amiss before it got on the trailer and a reputable seller would call and say, there’s something wrong, etc. etc.[/QUOTE]
Entirely possible with an acute pneumonia. Earlier this year I had two three week old puppies go from healthy, fat, and nursing to dead within four hours. Necropsy showed one, horrible, agressive acute pneumonia.
Travel stress can do strange things to horses. I really don’t doubt that the horse was normal on PPE exam the day before.
This is rotten luck, with nobody to blame.
If the horse was really that bad when he was loaded I would think the shipper would have either refused to load the horse or would have called OP to let her know the horse looks sick.
Wow, I’m very sorry to hear about what happened. I hope he recovers fully.
[QUOTE=Marshfield;8809690]
Entirely possible with an acute pneumonia. Earlier this year I had two three week old puppies go from healthy, fat, and nursing to dead within four hours. Necropsy showed one, horrible, agressive acute pneumonia.
Travel stress can do strange things to horses. I really don’t doubt that the horse was normal on PPE exam the day before.
This is rotten luck, with nobody to blame.[/QUOTE]
I’m so sorry about your pups, but they were very young and fragile still. This is a mature animal with what we assume to have a normal immune system.
I’m far from a vet, but that is something that came to mind.
My reading of the thread is that the real issue, in terms of the OP keeping the horse, is less the pneumonia, and more the idea that the horse may be a carrier of strangles. As a carrier, the horse would potentially pose a threat to other horses in any barn.
Thus the worry is that even once the pneumonia is done with, the horse may not be able to be boarded with other horses (or even come into contact with other horses) for some extended period of time, greater than the usual 1 month quarantine after an active case of strangles.
[QUOTE=Sugarwells;8809821]
I’m so sorry about your pups, but they were very young and fragile still. This is a mature animal with what we assume to have a normal immune system.
I’m far from a vet, but that is something that came to mind.[/QUOTE]
Yes, but you have ow had at least two DVMs tell you that it is entirely plausible that the horse stepped onto the trailer looking fine, and then went to hell in a handbasket.
[QUOTE=Ghazzu;8810006]
Yes, but you have ow had at least two DVMs tell you that it is entirely plausible that the horse stepped onto the trailer looking fine, and then went to hell in a handbasket.[/QUOTE]
I’m not understanding your point. I was just saying that comparing 3week old puppies and a mature animal with an uncompromised immune system are different, although not impossible.
[QUOTE=Sugarwells;8809821]
I’m so sorry about your pups, but they were very young and fragile still. This is a mature animal with what we assume to have a normal immune system.
I’m far from a vet, but that is something that came to mind.[/QUOTE]
I am a vet, and an experienced breeder. It is actually very rare to lose newborn puppies after the two week mark. Typically, once they’re starting to thermoregulate on their own, they’re in the clear
[QUOTE=Ghazzu;8810006]
Yes, but you have ow had at least two DVMs tell you that it is entirely plausible that the horse stepped onto the trailer looking fine, and then went to hell in a handbasket.[/QUOTE]
The point is simple. The point is that two posters in this thread that are vets have posted that they find it not strange that a horse that is perfectly healthy, no signs of illness can walk onto a trailer and then, with out warning the horse is ill a short time later. There is no long term obvious warning needed. It is very believable that the vet doing the PPE and shipping papers on this horse did not have any reason to think the horse was anything but healthy, because at that point the horse was healthy.
They’ve cleaned him out twice, but it comes back completely each time. They’re doing it again tomorrow. They say they just have to keep doing this until it come clean, if it ever does. I don’t know what to do. It’s possible that he’s been a carrier for so long that his body can’t get rid of it.
Personally, I think the horse was healthy and the ride stressed him out. I did see and ride him the day before he left.
Does anyone know of any quarantine places in the Los Angeles/Simi Valley/Moorpark/Santa Clarita/Thousand Oaks etc. areas? I’ve called everything I can think of.
It looks like he’ll be ready to leave in a couple of days. Poor guy, he’s been sick a very long time, much of what he had in the pouches was dried and firm, very hard for the vet to get out. She said he needs about a month of quarantine to make sure he’s not contagious. Since he doesn’t need daily care the clinic could use his spot for other horses.
Thanks!
Kudos to you for giving this horse a chance. Jingles for him; I hope all goes well for him and you. Is there a vet hospital you can board him at as quarantine?
