HELP!!! Hi fellow Equine enthusiast, I’m new and mainly joined because I have a 24 year old OTTB gelding. This past year he has been struggling with a nasty and sometimes bloody discharge coming out of his left nostril. We tried EVERY anti-biotic in the books, with Penicillin shots, to just regular SMZ’s. Finally my vet said that my horse has a Guttural Pouch Infection, there is no cure for this. Without having surgery… So we did not go through with the surgery. We tried to flush it, but the scope would not fit. So we decided to just let him live with it. Recently the vet came back out to check up on him and noticed a tumor on his face… scary. The vet also noticed that he has zero breathing coming out of that nostril. So my question is, has anyone ever dealt with either a guttural pouch infection or a tumor in the nasal cavity? I would really like some advice in weather I need to limit our riding or what.
have you gotten a second opinion? Ask your vet but you might try some DSMO on the outer area to reduce swelling.
We have not gotten a second opinion, I live in Indiana. He’s the best and closest Equine Vet in our area. We’ve tried some home remedies to help the swelling of his guttural pouch. We would take a hot rag and apply is to his neck in the Guttural Pouch area and apply the heat to it. Hoping it would loosen it up some. When I ride he snorts really loud and is CONSTANTLY throwing his head or “sneezing” trying to get the discharge out, and he cant breathe.
If he’s having trouble breathing DON’T ride him. He’s clearly telling you he’s uncomfortable. Best of luck.
It really sounds like the horse needs a more thorough work up, probably at a referral clinic. Has his head been radiographed? Has he been on any antifungals? Has the discharge been cultured?
These are two potentially very serious conditions you describe.
If the guttural pouch infection is fungal, it will progress to the point of rupturing the carotid artery, which is fatal. (And horrible to witness; we would have several of these cases every year when I worked at Penn)
If the tumor is an ethmoid hematoma, it can obstruct his airway if left unchecked. It sounds like it possibly has.
If the tumor is malignant in nature, it can metastasize to his brain.
All of the above present with discharge and intermittent blood. “Let him live” with these has the potential to become very ugly and cause unnecessary suffering.
A trip to Purdue (or another major veterinary hospital) sounds like it is in order. Or at very least, a second opinion with a reputable clinic. If that’s not an option, and I understand that, maybe your vet can take some pictures and email them to one of the vet schools for better advice on how to proceed.
Good luck.
Personally, I would either ship him to a major vet hospital and get a proper workup and I wouldn’t take PTS off the table if vets are unable to fix the horses breathing. It would suck to not be able to breathe and I would rather a day too early than a day too late, especially if money is a concern in treatment.
Do NOT ride this horse. His breathing is compromised and that’s not fair to him to ask him to work. A guttural pouch infection is not something to take lightly. It’s a ticking time bomb. I worked at an equine hospital and have seen first hand what happens when the artery blows (as mentioned above). You literally have minutes to save the horse. Thankfully in this case the horse was heading to surgery so he was fine after.
I’ve also seen tumors in the face/head and due to their location surgery was not an option. Eventually they had to be euthanized.
Your horse needs a full work up at an equine hospital. That’s the only way to tell what really is going on.
Yep, you can’t fix/work with what you don’t have a thorough diagnosis for.
If it is a gutteral pouch infection, even if the lump is a benign tumor (ie not cancerous), then given how long it’s been, most like that infection is to the point it’s untreatable in any way, meds or surgery, and it’s just a matter of time before the artery is too compromised. That could be in 6 months or 6 years. I knew a horse who lived with one for almost a decade, as a retired pasture puff, until one night he was gone. There was no warning things were progressing, he just had regular light bleeds. Then apparently that night the dam just broke all the way and that was that.
Some nasal tumors are operable, of those some come back. Some are not operable because of where their fingers spread.
Could you ride a horse who has airflow to just one nostril? Sure, light walking, nothing to really elevate his breathing.
But should you ride a horse who has that AND a GPI? No way. The increased blood flow from any work can be the catalyst for bursting the dam.
