Temperature was 99.8. He has seemed to be a little lethargic the past couple days but is has been hot and humid so that was a consideration but maybe not. He is otherwise eating, drinking, peeing, pooping is all normal.
He is due for a dental, that is scheduled for the end of September and he is on Zyrtec for allergies that popped up about a month or so ago.
Honestly I feel like horses often have naturally wet noses and if there’s no other symptoms, it’s just dust or irritation or their noses run when they exercise.
Did your horse recently have any dental work done? This happened to mine during allergy season, so initially we chalked it up to allergies, but when snot dried up in one nostril we got suspicious. A round of antibiotics cleared it right up. Mind you horse was never off her feed nor did she act as if she had any mouth/dental pain. But the timing was very close so we assumed they were related.
It’s the lethargy which has me questioning it the most as being something other than a runny/irritated nose. And this was taken when I got to the barn, not after any exercise and he had the previous day off.
He has not, we are scheduled for our annual dental at the end of September. However, last year, he did have some growth and wear the vet noticed that did really need addressed. With him being 5 and having a lot going on in the growing/teeth department, something tooth related doesn’t seem out of the question.
I also read that creamy discharge from one nostril could be a bacterial infection in the guttural pouch too. Fever and depression are suppose to run along with that though, but he has been down. He’s got no visible swelling or ouchiness anywhere in his face or neck, but I don’t know if something like this will be present that way.
Im waiting to hear from the barn staff this morning to see how he looks and decide if keeping an eye on it seems ok or see what the vet thinks.
Editing to update - clear nose has been confirmed this morning so thats good news.
My horse had a similar looking snotty nostril recently. Saw it once then clear then saw it again a few days later then clear then saw it again a few days later.
I gave his Porta Grazer a good scrub with soapy water to get all the bits of dust and dirt out of the crevices at the bottom.
It’s been 2-3 weeks and no more snot. I’d be suspicious of a dusty hay feeder and/or the round bale,
Good call on the Portagrzer, I will do that today! The intermittent nature of the snot sounds like just like your horse.
Dust is definitely a constant in our lives with having the stalls and the arena all open to one another. BO does a decent job at keeping it watered, but dust is dust is dust. I know when we move there, my system was all out of whack with the dust increase for a while.
TBH I was pretty horrified at the line of ick in the bottom of my PG. I dump it fairly regularly to remove waste chaff etc but my model has a crease around the bottom that traps icky stuff. It’s definitely worth checking out yours. A good scrub won’t hurt anything even if it’s not the cause!
Sinus infection maybe? My mini had about that much drainage (intermittently) when he had a sinus infection, although his drainage stunk to high heaven . He was on several rounds of SMZ’s and finally end up having surgery. I hope for you and your boy’s sake it’s not sinus! Jingles!
I hope it isn’t but it is on my radar. If it starts up again after I clean the snot (har har) out of his Portagrazer I will give the vet a call. Your poor guy!!
I did realize when I got there yesterday he was actively eating hay out of his portagrazer at the time, so that could be a contributor.
There are late Summer/early Fall flowers that are starting to open up, and some of them are allergens, like ragweed. Winter coats are also noticeably present, so even if coats aren’t longer yet, they’re thicker, and I know mine are struggling a little more in the current upper 80s and lower humidity, than they were in lower 90’s and higher humidity 3-4 weeks ago. So the combination could be some bit of allergy and heat.
Of course it’s always good to check temp, do the scrubbing mentioned, etc, those are just some additional things
Being one sided, I’d be suspicious of sinus infection. Could be cause by tooth or secondary to allergies or something else. They don’t always run a temp.
PM update, nose as clear/dry as a whistle (if whistles are clear and dry…) when I got there and after I rode. Portagrazer was scrubbed and it was still pretty clean from the last time, but there was more yuck under the rim at the top so good to get that.
Seemed pretty normal for himself today, normal temp. I did a short training ride and he was great. He was playful after and happy to get out to the pasture.
. He was on several rounds of SMZ’s and finally end up having surgery. I hope for you and your boy’s sake it’s not sinus! Jingles!