When I brought Tesla up to the barn on Tuesday evening I saw this:
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| my fwace fweels fwunny |
The right side of her face was completely swollen.
Some of the barn girls freaked out a bit - the S-word was bounced around.
I took her temp and it was normal (but I was warned that S-word doesn't always cause a fever.) I searched all over but couldn't find any sign of trauma, bite or stinger...
So I ran to the store and picked up a bottle of Benadryl and dosed her (thats 12 little pink pills) with an apple. Then I cold-hosed it (one thing I love about this horse - she will let you do anything to her on the ground)
Wednesday morning she was off her feed (worrisome) and the swelling was still present, so she got more antihistamines, and I hung out at the barn, watched a few lessons, and after a few hours or so, she was happily eating. I had made up my mind to call the vet if she wasn't looking near 100% normal by Wednesday evening, but when I came back out, she looked like herself again, was eating & still normal temp :)
I guess I'm confused why you would treat strangles with an antihistamine if people thought it was strangles..
ReplyDeleteShe didn't have the other classical signs: nasal discharge, fever, swelling in lymph nodes on both sides of her face - the fact that the swelling was on one side and her cheek was puffy made me suspect allergies on a first pass...and a bad tooth second.....
DeleteAAAAH I hate facial swellings! They make our ponies look so freakish! Feel better soon, T!
ReplyDeleteI know, right? horrifying how much they can swell!
DeleteIt could be a spider bite. They can cause things like that. Glad that she's better.
ReplyDeleteGlad she's ok!
ReplyDeleteSo scary! There are so many bugs out right now and I know I have reactions to their bites sometimes. Hopefully that's all it is and she'll be feeling better soon :)
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