Sunday, April 4, 2010

Strangled

This winter there was an outbreak of strangles at a local boarding facility. It was kind of an ongoing thing... it would seem to be over only to have a new horse break out. Things seem to have finally resolved themselves but Kimfer and I decided to play it safe and vaccinate our horses as a lot of horses involved travel in our barrel racing circle.

We did all 5 a few weeks ago (my 3 and Kimfer's 2, her dad chose not to) and then followed up with the second dose. I chose to do Cessa because she may not travel but I would feel terrible if I brought it home to her. Funny thing, she was the only one that took both doses like a champ... the second time she wasn't even haltered! lol Just stuck the tube in her nose and shot the syringe.

Baron was good the first time but fought it the second time, Isis, Applejack and Voodoo fought both times. And while its frustrating to have to fight with them for something that's for their own health I understand, I wouldn't want a tube shoved in my nose either especially if I couldn't understand why.

I have to say Voodoo was pretty funny. He didn't toss his head around and act like a goof like the other horses. His method of fighting was to raise his upper lip in the Flehmen response. Which may not seem like much of a "fight" until you try to stick a tube in those squished down nostrils!! lol It was frustrating but at the same time funny so Kimfer and I are trying to be stern and get the job done while fighting off giggles.

The second time we did Isis I "twitched" her ear with my hand so it went a bit easier and Kimfer discovered that if we stuck a finger in Applejack's mouth to distract him (not near his teeth, didn't want to get accidentally bit!) he would cooperate a bit.

Next up is deworming, which thankfully is not much drama with my ponies, and then pretty soon we'll be doing our regular vaccinations.

9 comments:

  1. Those strangles outbreaks can be a nightmare to deal with, I've heard. We got our horses done every year. Our appointment is in a week. I'm dreading it because My Boy is such a pill about it!! He's at some point had every kind of twitch imaginable, because he knows them all and is impossible to restrain. We'll see what happens, but the vet will probably have to sedate him to get him done. If only he knew it was for his own good! (Although like you said, I'd hate to have something stuck up my nose too, LOL!)
    Thanks for the sweet comment on my blog post about my hiatus. I replied on my post, but wanted you to thank you for your support and kind words. And I will be reading blogs! :)

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  2. Oh, the dreaded Strangles vaccine!
    We always vaccinate for strangles, even though we don't show. But we still do take our horses around other horses, and I'd rather be cautious. Brandy is really good with the vaccine, but Fritzy, yep, twitch is a must!
    Fritzy actually had strangles as a yearling. I have heard that once a horse gets strangles, they are immune for around 5 years.
    Our vet is out next week for the yearly vaccinations. It's always easy with my horses, but that boy of my sister's, oh goodness! That will be a huge fight!

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  3. I don't vaccinate for strangles. My guys are so rarely off property. When they are, it's usually just to t he vet or to Heather's. Now if THEY ever had an outbreak, then I would.

    Amazing all the tricks we have to devise to get our job done.

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  4. Strangles here in the UK, always a major problem. Vaccinations are available, the take up seems low? I dont really know why.
    The vets tend to insist on serious quarrantine, even for suspected cases, and then all stables within an area around the suspected case are virtual prisoners. When we ask about vaccination, we are not always recieved well! It would appear that vets here dont feel it is a worthwhile proposition. Stating that it doesnt always work?

    So I for one, am not sure which way to go.

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  5. Yeahhhh I got all that stuff done early this year. Paid off this weekend too!

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  6. Great post. I'm glad to read that yours wern't the ones infected with the Strangles. I've got an appt set up for next week for Apache's Vax Boosters, since I know the previous owner had never vetted Apache, and her owners before that neglected her for years.

    Apache did fine for the Strangles vax, but it always concerns me when I see so much of the liquid coming right back out of the nose. My mind tells me that it all needs to stay up there to do it's job. lol! But the vet says, the vax is just supposed to coat the membranes and the spray actually sends the liquid deep where it's supposed to be.

    ~Lisa

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  7. We do not vaccinate for Strangles, and our vet has never recommended it. Perhaps that is because they stay here at home on our property, are the only 2 horses here, and are not around other horses very much. I'm glad, because it sounds like a nightmare trying to spray a vaccine up a horse's nose!

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  8. You know its a standard vaccination in our area and oddly enough I have heard of several Strangles outbreaks in my area.

    Not sure what is going on...

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  9. I have never seen strangles. I sure hope I never do.

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