8 days ago, gelding came in from pasture with green snot from one nostril. Pastured alone, same pasture as always. Vet came, said bacterial infection, gave me packets of antibiotic of trimethoprim/ sulphadiazine… Looked like it was working, last one given yesterday. Today has some green goo again. Have texted vet & waiting for reply.Is this common for it appear to be killed, only to come back the very next day?
I have experience with lameness issues (sadly) but not much with infections.
Thanks
In my limited experience, this would indicate the antibiotics given weren’t the correct ones for the agent causing the infection. A culture should be done then the correct antibiotics can be given.
As an aside, had a mare in a closed herd, green goo, sample taken for culture, started on SMZ’s, when results came back, it was MRSA so different antibiotics were given. Cleared up the infection.
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my vet doesn’t mess around with things like this. Minimum 10 days of abx, and sometimes, as we did once, 2 months. She sees way too many respiratory things come back after a typical 7 day course, and even some longer (like 14 days) courses.
I assume you had SMZ/TMP, not just TMP? That’s the typical abx, though sometimes it requires Exceed.
If one sided, it could be caused by a tooth problem, and if you don’t fix that then the infection will keep coming back.
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FWIW, a horse in my barn had unilateral greenish/yellowish discharge that was refractory to antibiotics and it turned out to be Guttural Pouch Mycosis. He had no bleeding or other symptoms. Unilateral nasal discharge is something I don’t mess around with in mine. If it doesn’t clear up quick with Abs, I have mine scoped (which I have done twice in the last 3 years) to rule out GPM.
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Yes, SMZ/TMP (Uniprim brand name). Teeth done 2 days before with nothing unusual.
Do these things just come out of nowhere?
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I’d also say teeth or some other root cause and not just a snotty nose. Sometimes they miss broken teeth unless they slow down really look for them.
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I would say that too except I had an exception. Cushings pony presented with one snotty nostril and boy did that snot stink! I just knew it was an abscessed tooth. So off he went to the vet and x-rays were taken. No visible teeth problems but a “white area” which was presumed to be the infection. Vet gave me syringes of antibiotic ( not sure what it was but it seemed to be palatable) and I dosed the pony until it was gone. A month or so later the DVM dentist was in town so I showed him the xrays and asked him if he saw anything that looked like a tooth problem. Nothing.
This was 5 or 6 years ago. Infection never came back. Pony has had no abscessed teeth. He does seem to be susceptible to molds though and he does have Cushings so I guess he could develop an infected sinus. So it does happen. I sure thought it was a tooth and was really happy it was not!
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Who “did” the teeth? Trained equine dental veterinarian, regular equine veterinarian, or non-degreed tooth floater? I ask because I have started using a board certified equine dental veterinarian and I have never before seen such a thorough dental examination done by anyone I have ever used, including other equine veterinarians without any specialty training in dentistry. I have even seen tooth floaters just go by feel, never really taking a look with a light at the state of the teeth and soft tissues. Something may have been missed, or even pushed over the line from a chronic periodontal or periapical problem to an acute infection.
I agree with a culture and sensitivity, but material taken from the nostril will likely be a mixed bag of microorganisms. And what are your geldings vital signs?
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I just started my horse on pergolide and SMZs about 3 weeks ago. My horse had similar presentation with horrible stench coming from nose for about 48 hrs. Green snot is long gone and I hope it doesn’t reappear. When I started abx, vet just wrote “ongoing” with no particular end date.
Done by vet who does teeth also, light sedation, power tool with both hands in mouth- one feeling & one on tool. BO told me about slight discharge 1 day before vet comes for teeth so I figured if it was more than green from eating pasture, it would be discovered. Tooth vet found nothing Vitals done 2 days later when 2nd vet out to look at some real green drainage. It has been crazy wet/rainy this summer. I’d like to try to figure out where this came from, but maybe there is no explanation?
I am the kind of person who likes to looks for a reasonable explanation. With horses- is there ever? Thanks for your input.
I had a mare present with on and off green discharge from one nostril. It turned out to be a fungal infection discovered via scope. She scoped clear after 30 days of fluconazole.
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Oh boy, is this a timely thread. Im in the middle of a similar issue now. 21 year old gelding, overall very healthy and in good weight - came in with right nostril discharge beginning early July mostly yellow, some greenish. Persisted for a week and then called the vet. SMZs for 18 days, improvement in color/quantity, but returned almost immediately after stoping the antibiotics.
We went to the local emergency clinic where I had head x-rays and scope done. Snot had turned smelly by this point. X-rays suggested sinuses impacted with puss (no surprise) and scope was generally clear. Oral exam of teeth found no major issues.
From there we were sent to a local vet college to get a CT Scan - which happened this past Friday. Results were 2 bad teeth, cyst in non symptomatic sinus (left), mild-moderate sinusitis on right side, and suspected Cushing’s. Still waiting for final review of scan by the radiologists before we create a plan. Getting tested for Cushing’s tomorrow…
Far lower right molar is suspected to be causing the sinusitis. Another molar closer to the front has broken roots - tooth outwardly looks healthy otherwise.
If the snot is one sided and a round of antibiotics doesn’t work, don’t rule out something like teeth even if they’ve been seen recently.
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I am trying to figure anatomically how a lower molar is the cause of sinusitis. That is strange.
This is also a lesson to take dental exam lack of findings from a general equine vet with a grain of salt.
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