Strangles!

[rowdent]

Erg.. there is strangles in our area.. :eek: I just found out today when I went up to do Misty.. Everyone on our yard is OK at the moment.. http://sweetobsessions.co.uk/sob/images/smiles/crossfingers.gif, but there are a couple of yards around us with it.. it's pretty scary.. We can't ride where we normally do, as it's quarantined.. http://sweetobsessions.co.uk/sob/images/smiles/smoking.gif.. Actually I'm not too sure what Strangles is.. I shall have to go and google it... I know I should.. but I've never had the need before...

[Whatanejit]

Oh that is awful.

Take care and remember good hygiene and wash your hands.

[Selle Francais]

OK - panic ye not. Strangles is a horrible infection, akin to pneumonia, but very rarely fatal. Old horses and foals are most at risk - a normal healthy horse will probably shrug it off, or maybe catch it and be pretty sick for 3 or 4 weeks. It is very serious, but not generally life-threatening.

I have known it in the yard, and basically you take sensible precautions - you notify everyone in sight, you keep the Vet on standby, you isolate the infected horses from the others (doesn't do much good frankly in a busy yard), you only ride on your own ground, no shows, no contact with other stables, and you have disinfectant foot and hand baths EVERYWHERE! And you do not touch any horse but your own.

These are basic precautions and any BHS yard will have them in place immediately. After that you can only hope and pray that your horse is strong enough to get over it - which 99% of them do (mine did) - as I said, it's really only the very young and old who succomb, as a rule.

Do take it seriously, but don't panic - it's nasty, but not the end of the world.

Not fun, but don't worry yourself sick about it.

SF

[Iron Maiden]

We had a couple of outbreaks on my old horse's yard, it's a bacterial infection caused by a bug called Streptococcus Equi. I was lucky, my boy never got it, but most of the horses did & we were all in isolation for months. The horses that were badly affected had really distressing symptoms - awful snots & coughs, terrible abcesses & severe loss of condition. One horse got a serious complication called haemorrhagica purpura (probably not spelled right) & her legs swelled up like sausages, another one had to go to the vet college & have fluid drained off his lungs, they thought he might die. Fortunately they were all OK in the end but it was a terrible time.

Now you know you have strangles in your area, take care if you go to shows, other yards etc - no borrowing equipment, petting strange horses, lending water buckets or haynets to people, letting your horse touch noses with others, grazing at showgrounds etc. You really can't be too careful. If you're concerned that any clothing or equipment might be contaminated, a wash at 60 degrees or slosh in something like Virkon should do the trick - fortunately Strep Equi isn't indestructable. Make sure everyone knows to be careful & hopefully you should be OK, good luck!

[sheryl]

An old horse of mine had strangles years ago. She was only 2 yrs old at the time. She hadn't even been out of her field, and there was no other horse at the time that had it.
I was horrified, and scared to death!
There were 4 other horses in her field, including a foal. I felt terrible for the other owners but there was nothing I could do. The foal was even licking the puss from her abcesses:eek:
I had the vet out. He gave her anti-biotics, and I had to bathe her in hot salty water twice daily.
I'm glad to say she recovered really quickly. I just had to get the weight back on her, that she had lost so rapidly.
And most amazingly of all, none of the other horses caught it! Phew!!

So, don't panic too much. Just don't take unnecessary risks. You'll probably be absolutely fine;)

[hunny]

there was strangles at my yard a while ago will give you some tips
dont share tools or anything
wash hands and shoes regularly
put a notice up asking people not to stroke/touch your horse
clean all tools after use
if you suspect anything call vet lol

hope this helps its the advice r yo and vet gave when we had them
hope your horse and the others stay well

[rowdent]

Thanks... It is a bit worrying as Misty is 24.. but very healthy.. so hopefully even if we DID get it at the yard, she'd be ok...

At the moment we are taking precautions, not riding anywhere near the yard that has it etc..

Is it more prevalent these days? I read a website about it, and it sounded horrid :( I can never remember EVER hearing of a single case when I had horses 20 years or so ago.. or maybe we were just lucky?

Thanks for the help and concern..:)