My 7 year old gelding almost died recently. He had his teeth floated and something must have been sore causing him to not chew his food and he choked. We caught it early and immediately called the vet. He developed pneumonia within 24 hours, then showed signs of endotoxemia within 48 hours. The vet was out twice a day for over a week administering every med possible. My poor boy did not eat for 6 days and every day was a roller coaster ride. On the 7th day he started eating on his own and by 10 days, he was eating and drinking normally. We continued antibiotics for 10 days. Fast forward 6 weeks. He’s turned out 24/7, eating and drinking normally and running around like a maniac in the field playing with his budddy. I’ve ridden him at a walk and he seems forward and happy, but his breathing is elevated after a few minutes. I thought walking might help him develop muscle. He’s gained weight back, but not at all along his topline. He’s not shedding his winter coat except for patches. Overall he looks poor, but is acting normal with no fever. He’s getting grain, 24/7 hay and grass, and a fat supplement. The vet is coming out this week, but I was wondering if anyone else has experienced something like this. Do horses ever fully recover from pneumonia? Should he be in better shape after 6 weeks or am I worrying too much. What is a typical timeline? I appreciate hearing others experiences.
It depends on how much damage was done to the lung tissue. And you don’t know that, and as far as I know, can’t find that out with veterinary investigation. And since you can’t do anything about it, it is what it is, so there isn’t much point in spending money to “finding out” anyway. You will find out, your horse will tell you.
If you are sure that the horse no longer has infection in his lungs, he will recover as much as he can in time. But he may not recover fully, back to what he was before the damage was done. He may be OK for light riding, but not for heavy work.
Yes, I’ve had one with lung damage from pneumonia, she was given to me at the end of her three year old year, and I knew she had had the lung infection the year previously, but no one knew for sure just how much damage had been done. I wanted to try training her from the farm rather than stabled at the track, with less stress and more fresh air. She also had a fresh slightly bowed tendon, which was not a problem. I tried to get her back to the races the following year as a four year old (she had had a successful career as a 2 yr old, the pneumonia happened in the spring of her three year old year. She raced unsuccessfully at 3). The bow healed up perfectly over the winter, and she galloped OK in training. But her works were not as good as I had hoped, it turned out that the lung damage may have been the reason why. I entered her twice, on Lasix (because her lungs were an issue and she was already on the Lasix list anyway). Her first start was back of the pack, not a lot of effort put out on her part. Her second start, she did not want to enter the starting gate, did weird stuff coming out, did not want to participate. She knew she had lung damage. Retired her from racing at that point, and bred her instead (nice pedigree and 2 yr old success). She showed no problems out in the field, out with a group of horses, running around happily. As a low level riding horse, she would have been OK, just not a racehorse.
I think that if you are looking at some lung damage, 6 weeks is not a long time to be thinking that you have full recovery yet, or as full a recovery as you are going to get. Give it time. Ventipulmin helps reduce lung inflammation, but you don’t want to use it for too long, it’s a steroid. Ask your vet if it might help.
My 3 yo got pneumonia after a choke – barn manager forced water down him and resolved the choke, but apparently got pneumonia instead. 3 rounds of 10 day antibiotics and then, 3 months in pasture. Brought him home to a stall life (unfortunate) and exercise was getting backed and ridden by trainer, so it was slow. We noticed elevated breathing too! Thought he sounded raspy. Long story short is that it went away and we didn’t even notice when…
He went on to a competitive career in dressage, achieving PSG before he and I parted ways.
My senior TB had two instances of aspiration pneumonia in the 6 years I owned him. He came back fully after the first: it was a relatively mild case of pneumonia, and it took a couple of months to get him back. The second time he was already semi-retired, and it was a more severe case. I spent a fortune on the Excede alone. But he bounced back remarkably well, and went back to his semi-retired state with no apparent issues. In both cases we did give him a lot of time (several months), and since he was already a senior citizen with other issues we never expected perfection. Good outcomes are definitely possible, it may just take a lot of time.
I appreciate hearing everyone’s experiences. The vet came out today to scope and ultrasound him. He has multiple lung abscesses (>5cm) and Grade 4 laryngeal hemiplegia. Pulling his shoes tomorrow, starting a very expensive treatment and letting him become a professional grass mower for the summer. He should make a full recovery according to the vet, but that’s what I was told 6 weeks ago and it’s anything but true.
I agreed to do 2 weeks of antibiotics ($900 ouch!) then a follow up ultrasound in 2 weeks. I love my horse, but he is a $2000 Trail horse and my vet bills since the initial choke will exceed $4000 if I continue a full months treatment. Should I get another opinion or trust that this round of treatment will lead to his full recovery? Ultimately the question is…am I just delaying the inevitable?
Gosh, my 3 10-day antibiotics weren’t that much combined!! I doubt you are delaying the inevitable, but your vet seems expensive. Didn’t you say he was acting normal now? Is there a reason to continue treatment other than letting him have time off to get his stamina back?
It’s been crazy. My credit card hurts! The first 2k was for 2 visits a day for a week, 3 tubings to get water and Electrolytes in him, blood work, gentamicin, banamine, exceed, polymyxin b and putting a polymer frog/hoof supports in his front feet because he was a candidate for laminitis. After he finished all of those meds and was eating, we continued with 2 weeks of Uniprim. He’s acting normal and is very alert, eating, pooping and doing normal horse stuff. The red flags for me were a significant loss of topline and delayed shedding of his winter coat. When I walked him up hill I noticed abnormal breathing, which is why I called the vet again. This current round of vet care includes an ultrasound, scope, and 2 weeks of cephalfor (sp?) which is $900. This entire time the vet has been adamant that he’ll make a full recovery which I question.
$900 sounds reasonable for ultrasound and scope and meds… but I am still amazed that a horse acting normal except for abnormal breathing upon exertion needed all that. More antibiotics because? Is he running a fever? For my guy, who wasn’t nearly as bad as yours, I would expect some labored breathing at the 6 week mark… I guess from what you say, I would be more “wait and see,” but then again being cautious gives peace of mind.
$900 was just the 2 weeks of meds. I haven’t received the bill for the ultrasound and scope yet. He does not present normally at all. Even with the choke, we were not sure it was choke. He’s been on chloramphenicol 3 times a day since Friday for the lung abscesses found during the last ultrasound. Today was a different story. He ate grass all morning, but this evening was dull, lethargic, no interest in food, yawning and obviously declining. Vet is coming out first thing tomorrow and suspects liver issues. I just love this horse to pieces and am absolutely heartbroken.
Update - Bloodwork came back and vet says it looks really good. Slightly elevated LDH and Fibrinogen. Next check up is next Wednesday. He is still listless and not eating much. I guess just wait and see is the approach to take.
Anything new? Fingers crossed for good news.
Is the laryngeal hemiplegia reversible? If not, repeated aspiration (and resultant pneumonia) is liable to happen. Those are some big abscesses. Usually antibiotics are needed for extended periods to get penetration into the abscess.
Jingles for your guy. I hope he is doing better.
Susan
Stay the course. My horse had a less complicated bout of pneumonia, and he was on antibiotics for a couple months (three vet visits). If your vet is prescribing ceftiofur, that’s the generic for Naxcel (also the main antibiotic used for my horse). My vet charges $100/bottle, so $900 for the week is not far from the mark, espesically if he prescribed any additional drugs, dispersed needles, etc. with it.
My guys was diagnosed in May of 2013 and we were beginning to walk under saddle in August. I slowly built him back up over the winter and returned him to 3rd/4th level work. It takes time, but hopefully your guy will make a full recovery!
Thank you for the positive vibes. He finished 4 weeks of chloramphenicol at the end of May. The vet ultrasounded him after the first 2 weeks and his abscesses were half their original size. He seems to be feeling better and is eating and drinking like a champ. I have the okay to hand walk him this month. He’s definitely not 100% but I hopeful he will recover with time. Definitely a slow process and I think I have a few new gray hairs. I’m not sure about the effects of the hemiplegia. He is still able to whinny and has not had any additional episodes of choke or aspiration since the initial choke in March.
My mare developed bacterial pneumonia in Oct 2014…horrible case…weeks of meds, aerosal treatments, antibiotics, you name it…she lost approx 40% capacity in one lung…from scar tissue…I had to let her go…
Update - October 2018 - He is fat and happy in the field. I’ve ridden him lightly, but he blows constantly at the walk with every step and has lost his former energy under saddle. I’ve followed up with the vet. He recommends trans tracheal wash to rule out any lower airway issues and laser tie back surgery to reduce the noise he makes (which is not a whistle or roar, but a flutter). I have a call in to New Bolton to get an opinion and cost estimate. The saga continues…
My gelding came back from a terrible bout of pneumonia - both lungs had huge abscesses, he blew those out twice and nearly bled to death. There were months (see nashfad above) of antibiotics and isoniazid and rifampin and hand-walking with sedation, but over the course of a year he returned to work and competed again at Inter II. When I euthanized him for a different reason I had a post mortem done, and his lungs were about 45% scar tissue, but the remaining 55% was healthy and clearly working well, because his exercise tolerance returned to normal and the scope of the work returned to normal. It did take a year of slow and steady work, but it was worth the time.
