Page 681 - The Veterinary Care of the Horse

guttural pouches for bacterial culture.

Treatment involves draining and flushing the pouches. Chondroids cannot be flushed out
VetBooks.ir and must be removed surgically or via the endoscope using a basket-like tool to retrieve

them. The horse is given antibiotics. If the horse is in pain or generally ill, non-steroidal anti-
inflammatory drugs are also administered. Feeding the horse from the ground encourages

drainage of the pouches.
Hygiene precautions are taken as the infection is likely to be due to the same bacterium

that causes strangles. In some horses it is impossible to eliminate the infection altogether and
they remain chronic carriers. The prognosis is guarded in all cases as recurrent episodes of

nasal discharge are common.

Guttural pouch mycosis

This is potentially the most serious of the conditions which affect the guttural pouch. The

fungus, Aspergillus spp, found in straw and hay is able to colonize the roof of the guttural
pouch, leading to destructive changes and secondary bacterial infection. The clinical signs

depend on which nerves and blood vessels have been damaged.

CLINICAL SIGNS

These include:

• bleeding from one nostril which is not related to exercise; this can vary from a trickle of
bright red blood to a profuse and rapidly fatal haemorrhage (Figure 15.13)

• a foul-smelling nasal discharge

• neurological signs due to cranial nerve damage, e.g. Horner’s syndrome (drooping eyelid,
sunken eye, protrusion of the third eyelid), facial paralysis, laryngeal paralysis and

pharyngeal paralysis leading to difficulty eating

• headshaking.