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pigeon fever...

Posted by Jody1 on 7/10/2012, 5:42 pm
174.46.245.10

Anyone dealt with it? It's new to me..I've had a horse at pioneer with an ablcess on his flank with swelling. Possibly pigeon fever. No other symptoms, like loss of appetite, lethargic, fever. I have read it spreads through cattle flyies Ugh what else can go wrong around here????

We have had it

Posted by pnp4kidz on 7/10/2012, 8:11 pm, in reply to "pigeon fever..."
69.42.24.153

It was messy and painful but manageable. It is endemic meaning it is in essentially all of CA now and crops up in small out breaks. It is exceedingly rare for more than one or two horses at a ranch to get it, it is therefore considered NOT highly contagious horse to horse. It is generally the young horses and the old or infirm.

Big time

Posted by Gail Ivey on 7/10/2012, 8:26 pm, in reply to "pigeon fever..."
66.245.46.208

Getting Transfer Factor into them at the first sign seems to help a lot. My horse got two very large abscesses last year, one on his chest, the other on his sheath. The one on his sheath reabsorbed and went away, the one on his chest burst open after packing it with bentonite clay for a couple of days, then was cleaned out a couple times a day with a chlorine dioxide solution for about a week, then diluted EE Wound Relief after that. Completely healed in three weeks with no recurrence.
"Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for." -
Socrates

There is a new

Posted by Jane on 7/11/2012, 7:03 am, in reply to "pigeon fever..."
72.173.64.58

article on it on The Horse. It now appears to be endemic in much of the US because of the heat and drought. I have had a few horses get it, and none of them have been really sick, but it takes time for the abscesses to go away.

Is it true once they get it they won't get it again?

Posted by LoveMySpots on 7/11/2012, 11:15 am, in reply to "pigeon fever..."
12.185.27.253

I heard it's like chickenpox.

According to my vet,

Posted by Jane on 7/11/2012, 11:23 am, in reply to "Is it true once they get it they won't get it again?"
72.173.32.39

usually they won't, even if they have been exposed and didn't get an active case. My horses have all been exposed, so only the young get it. However, horses with a compromised immune system can get it again. I had an old horse who had health issues get it again two years ago.

havent had a case in years

Posted by Bitohoneylady on 7/11/2012, 11:55 am, in reply to "According to my vet,"
166.250.36.38

And would like to keep it that way. Honey had a bad case in 02 and never want to go through that mess again!
Placerville CA

Not really

Posted by Gail Ivey on 7/11/2012, 11:49 am, in reply to "Is it true once they get it they won't get it again?"
66.245.46.208

Like Jane said, an immune compromised horse can get it again. A partial list of things that can compromise an immune system (or are also a result of a compromised immune system) -
Obesity
Laminitis
PPID (Cushing's)
Emaciation
Over-vaccination
Low grade infections
Excessive deworming
Excessive wormload
Ulcers
Stress
Recent dental procedure that included bleeding
Insulin resistance
Uveitis
Equine Protozoal Myelitis infection
Severe dietary imbalance
Old age

I'm sure there's more. These are just the ones I've had experience with where pigeon fever appeared.

"Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for." -
Socrates

Shingles

Posted by sundancekid on 7/11/2012, 12:47 pm, in reply to "Is it true once they get it they won't get it again?"
97.182.242.146

The chicken pox virus is a herpes virus, is dormant once exposed, with older age and weakened or aging immune systems, instead of chicken pox, people get shingles. There is a vaccine for it.

I had a filly that

Posted by Annie on 7/11/2012, 3:36 pm, in reply to "Is it true once they get it they won't get it again?"
168.71.218.3

got it almost every year...in her teets...and the inside of her stifle area.
A good ranch horse will side pass to the truck bed and stand quielty while you open the ice chest and grab a beer.

Posted by Martha on 7/12/2012, 11:42 pm, in reply to "Is it true once they get it they won't get it again?"
166.250.35.175

They can get it again. Most won't, but some will - especially if they have a weakened immunue system.
Martha
DreamPower Horsemanship
www.dreampowerhorsemanship.com
Gilroy, CA

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