Icky, smelly snotty nose

[leahlady]

Chaos, one of the landlord's horses I'm taking care of, came up with a disgusting snotty nose yesterday. It is thick, whitish-yellow snot chunks coming out of only the left nostril.

The weirdest thing is the SMELL, it just absolutely reeks. It smells like the secretions my old dog used to have out of his anal gland - seriously disgusting.

He is eating and drinking just fine, and his temperature is normal at 99.5. We took it twice yesterday and it was normal both times. He seems a little more lethargic than normal, laying down a few times yesterday. We looked in his mouth and nose with a flashlight, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. We poked and prodded thinking it may be an infected tooth, but we couldn't find any reaction or soreness.

I'm giving him some antibiotics and he has been isolated from the other horses. What could this be? My initial thoughts are a sinus infection or an infected tooth - both of which require vet care I'm not in the position financially to provide.

[cricket]

There's a nasty virus going around most of the barns down here in Thurston county. Really snotty, gross nasal discharge with a bad cough. At my barn, all the horses except my gelding got over it fine without any antibiotics.

The vet said that a bad smell can be a symptom of a sinus infection.

[cricket]

Oh, most of the horses had just whitish snot dripping from their noses. Dox's was literally fluorescent yellow with huge green boogers. I generally don't have a weak stomach when it comes to stuff like that, but this was beyond disgusting. His stall is coated in mucus and his front legs got all crusty from him wiping his nose on them.

Whatever this bug is, it seems to be extremely contagious. Have your horses been around any outside horses or in a public arena?

[leahlady]

EWW! Well, I hope it is just a virus and not something more serious! They haven't been around any outside horses at all, just on the same property, so it is a little odd. No cough at all.

[winterlakesfarm]

Sinus infection or a tooth abscess........

[cutiepiepmu]

Agree on the sinus infection/tooth issue. This kid needs antibiotics and a vet check - flat out. While some infections can resolve on their own, once you see very thick discharge it does generally require the antibiotics to clear fully.

Sara

[pedv]

I work at Performance Equine And we just did a sinus surgery on a mare who has had a sinus infection for about a year, Antibiotics did not cover the entire infection. we took out a mass that was very deep into her sinus cavity. She is doing great and no more infection! definitely have a vet check this out .

[jaybird]

Friend of mine has a gelding that came down with these symptoms and it was a tooth abscess.