Does anyone know of a treatment for bastard strangles... strangles that have internalized they think into the abdomen? The white cell count on the colt that belongs to a dear friend is 40,000 and they aren't holding out alot of hope. I'm kind of digging at straws here... but anyone?

AKA as "dry land dystemper" or "pigeon fever".
Wish I had an answer for you. Antibiotics & more Antibiotics & lots of
prayer. Outcome depends a lot on where the abcess is & if it ruptures.
((((((HUGS))))) & best of luck.

Thanks I will definitely pass the well wishes on as it's not my foal... I feel so bad for her but part of me is just glad it's not my baby that is sick

They aren't giving much hope for the little guy tho

I hope I'm not too late....my vet just successfully treated an absolutely horrendous case of strangles. She nearly lost her mare because of it. I won't go into detail but when she described what she had to do, it almost was too much for me to digest.

I don't know where you are, but my vet's name is Dr. Kristen Weilepp. Her practice is in Granite Bay, CA (near Sacramento). If you want, I will call her and speak with her and ask her if I can give her phone number to you. Perhaps she can help.

Let me know. Time is of the essence. My e-mail add is: susan@gfsi.com

--Susan

I sent the information on to her Susan.. thank you so much. Was hers internal do you know?

Just a moment of clarification here....Is this bastard strangles or pigeon fever (Dryland distemper)? The two are completely seperate conditions caused by different bacteria. Strangles being caused by Streptococcus equi equi, Pigeon Fever being caused by Corynebacterium psuedotuberculosis.

If its true bastard strangles, treatment needs to be exceptionally aggressive, typically with high dose antibiotics (broad spectrum coverage, usually some form of Penicillin & Gentocin or Amikacin, or Naxcel), typically IV fluids and any other supportive care that might be deemed necessary. The biggest concern is if the internal abscesses rupture into the abdomen, you inevitably end up with septic periotonitis which can subsequently lead to adhesion formation and lead to severe colic.

What kind of diagnostic work has been done thus far?

This is bastard strangles.. NOT pigeon fever. It cleared in all the herd except for this one 2 year old colt. They were going to do some further tests this evening and see how extensive the infection has spread. They are anticipating finding a huge abcess in the abdomen.. and I think that was the biggest worry was it rupturing and causing peritonitis.

Is there any way to dry up the infection without rupturing the abcess itself in the abdomen? I think that was the biggest concern with surgery.. that and the affect of general anesthesia on the colt with this massive infection in his system.

Yanno what makes me the maddest.. when these horses first got sick none of the vets in the area would go by there .. even as a last stop before they went home and scrubbed down. She has been begging someone to come and see this colt for nearly 2 weeks now and the strangles have lasted alot longer than that even. I have heard that penicillin doesn't do much for this but it's got me scared now.. we've dealt with strangles before but nothing like this... is there a treatment for strangles other than isolation that can prevent it getting this advanced?? She did everything she was told.. kept the abcess under the jaw open, kept him isolated.. has quarantined her whole farm now for nearly 3 months...

I just feel so horrible for her... They are telling her there is probably no hope for this colt and he was her baby. So sad.. I just wondered if anyone had any ideas that her vets might have overlooked.

I believe I was told that Rimfampin (check spelling) in association with another drug managed to penetrate abscesses.
CVM might know more about that.

Well, penicillin in general is STILL the drug of choice for treating Strangles, although its use when already well established may actually induce bastard strangles. Its a catch-22 with how--or IF--you should treat these animals aside from just letting the disease run its course. Naxcel (ceftiofur) tends to have a pretty decent spectrum of activity against the bacteria as well.

Erythromycin is typically used in conjunction with Rifampin for Rhodococcus equi infections in foal. Erythro does tend to have some spectrum of activity against Streps, but ultimately the choice will depend on what culture and sensitivity testing indicate is the best choice. Azithromycin (Zithromax in humans) is gaining popularity as a treatment for R. equi as well, and very well may be the Gun that's big enough to help. There are a lot of potential antibiotics that may work in this scenario, but ultimately it depends on 1) what the bacteria is most sensitive to 2) The environment of activity of the drug (for example, oxytetracycline does pretty well at penetrating into thick abscesses where there is little oxygen available, but doesn't necessarily work on Strep).

In this case, I would wager that the course of treatment would be to first do a transabdominal ultrasound to TRY and locate an abscess. That can be a very daunting task though when you consider how deep (or rather how shallow) ultrasound probes can penetrate and how thick a horse is. A belly tap, or abdominocentesis, will likely also be done to determine exactly what's going on in the abdomen.

Do you know if a fibrinogen has been run yet?

I don't know actually I've not talked to her tonite and can't reach her by telephone. They may be at the clinic with the colt. I hope this isn't a bad sign

I just feel so horrible for her.

I wanted to give everyone an update... they did an ultrasound and scope on the colt yesterday evening and found not just one opaque area, but several.. it looks like this is pretty well involved and widespread. It's not so much a matter of *if* more a matter of *when*. Sometimes part of our responsibility as owners and breeders is having to make the decision to end suffering. It's not a thing we like to think about, but something I think every horse owner or animal lover for that matter has to keep at the back of their mind. They will make a final decision today whether to continue on with treatment and possibly prolong his suffering or ease this young colt on his journey and bid him safe passage.

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and advice and information. Please keep him and his family, his owner whose heart is broken and everyone involved in your prayers regardless of religion or theology. It's going to be a very sad weekend I think

How terribly sad for the owners and for the poor colt, such a short life. My thoughts are with them, their pain must be enormous.

If it is a tragic finale then they can know that they did all they could and spared him futher suffering.

Condolonces.

Barbara

Another update.. please bear with me on this ... They brought him home last night. He had not gotten worse while at the clinic and the vets thought it was worth giving him a chance.. they are filling him with some powerful antibiotics.. so perhaps there is still a glimmer of hope.

Please keep them in your prayers and thoughts.

Was wondering if there was any good news re this colt, he is in our prayers and thoughts.

My new filly has been ill and it reminded me of this poor colt and his owners.

Barbara