Bacterial Pneumonia in the Horse

Digg

Del.icio.us

Stumble

Bacterial Pneumonia in the Horse

By: Dr. Melissa R. Mazan

Pages 1 2

Section: Veterinary Care In-depth

See Larger Image

Veterinary care should include diagnostic tests and subsequent treatment recommendations

Diagnosis

Your veterinarian will perform a thorough medical history and physical examination and will want to know what kind of work your horse does, what level of contact he has with other horses, how well he is vaccinated against viral diseases, if other horses in the barn have had a cough or fever, among many questions. Your veterinarian will spend time carefully listening to your horse's chest with a stethoscope (auscultation) for abnormal breathing sounds. She may also use a rebreathing bag on your horse. This is simply a small trash bag, or rectal sleeve, that is held over your horse's nose. This causes your horse to breathe in more deeply, which in turn makes it easier to hear abnormal noises.

In the field, your veterinarian will also be able to perform ultrasound of your horse's chest.

This can help to determine if there are areas where there is so much infection that the lung has become consolidated, or if there is a visible abscess in the lung.

X-rays. In some cases, at least part of the lung can be X-rayed in the field.

Complete blood count (CBC) to look for signs of infection. An increase in the cells called neutrophils or an increase in a protein called fibrinogen can both indicate the presence of inflammation and infection.

A chemistry profile to assess whether other organs, such as the kidneys, are functioning properly, and whether globulins are elevated. Globulins include antibodies and other proteins that are stimulated by inflammation.

Transtracheal aspirate (TTA). When your veterinarian performs a TTA, he inserts a large needle into the trachea, through which he passes a very thin, sterile catheter. He then obtains a sample of the mucous and bacteria that are deep within your horse's lungs. Your vet can then look at a portion of this aspirate under the microscope, and can have a good idea about what kind of cells and bacteria are present. There will usually be inflammatory cells called neutrophils present, there may or may not be visible bacteria. Your vet will then have a laboratory culture the bacteria so that he will know exactly what bacteria are present, and to which antibiotics those bacteria are sensitive.

Endoscopy or bronchoscopy. In this procedure, an endoscope, which is a long, slender, fiberoptic instrument through which your veterinarian can observe your horse's trachea and the beginning of the bronchi.

If your horse is admitted to a hospital, he will have radiographs (X-rays) of the lungs taken. This is usually the most effective way of evaluating the extent of the pneumonia. Normal lungs are primarily made up of air, thus the X-ray beam is able to penetrate a good portion of the lung, and then go on to expose the X-ray film. The end result is that you see a very dark, or black radiograph. If your horse has pneumonia, many of the normally air-filled spaces will now be filled with inflammatory exudate and consolidation, which makes it difficult for the X-ray beam to penetrate and thus fewer of the X-rays are able to expose the X-ray film. This results in a lighter, or whiter radiograph.

An arterial blood gas may be done to determine if your horse is able to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide adequately – this is, after all, the ultimate job of the lungs.

Treatment

Antibiotic therapy is the mainstay of treatment for pneumonia. Treatment will usually be more successful if your veterinarian can base her treatment on the results of the culture and sensitivity.

Because the results of the culture and sensitivity will not be available for 2 to 4 days, your veterinarian will want to start preliminary treatment based on what the most common bacteria are. This is referred to as empirical treatment, or a knowledgeable guess, based on the typical bacteria found in the horse, and the local area.

Bacterial pneumonia in horses usually involves a streptococcal species, so empirical treatment usually targets this bacterium. Most streptococcal species will respond to penicillin, which must be administered intramuscularly or, with some formulations, intravenously.

Gram negative bacterial species are also often involved, your veterinarian may want to combine the penicillin with aminoglycoside drugs, such as gentomycin. Other potentiated penicillins, such as ampicillin or penicillin-type drugs, such as ceftiofur (Naxcel®) will have action against both types of bacteria. Trimethoprim-sulfa (often referred to as SMZ) can also be a successful first line of defense, although this drug has been used so extensively in the past years that many streptococcal species have developed resistance to it.

In cases that do not respond to treatment, or when the culture and sensitivity indicates the need, your veterinarian may need to broaden the spectrum, or coverage, of antibiotic treatment to include anaerobic species. These are bacteria that do not need oxygen in order to survive. It may seem surprising that anaerobic bacteria can survive in the lung, where oxygen levels should be high! However, when the lung is severely damaged, parts of it may die (become necrotic), in which case those areas will contain no oxygen, and will become a perfect environment for oxygen-hating bacteria to set up housekeeping.

The length of treatment depends on the severity of pneumonia. The minimum treatment time is usually 7 days, but antibiotics may be required for several weeks.

Pages 1 2

Printable Version

Digg

Del.icio.us

Stumble

Share this Article with a Friend Email To:

Have a Pet Question?

Send Your Pet Question to Dr. Jon
and His Staff of Veterinarians

Dr. Jon's Newsletter

Yes! Send Me the Latest Health Information, Pet Tips, Pet Stories and more...

Search Over 15,000 articles

1 Inflammatory Airway Disease in Performance Horses
Don't assume that coughing in an otherwise healthy horse is normal. Coughing is one of the first indicators that your horse may have inflammatory airway disease, also known as IAD. With recent advances,...
Read More
2 Laryngeal Hemiplegia (Roaring)
Laryngeal hemiplegia is the term used to describe the inability of the horse’s larynx (connects the nasal passages to the windpipe) to fully dilate during breathing.
Read More
3 Sinusitis
Sinusitis is an inflammation of the sinus lining, often occurring during an upper respiratory infection, caused by either bacteria or viruses. It can also be a complication of tooth infection, allergy...
Read More
4 Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
COPD is a condition in which inflammation in the small airways of the lung leads to impaired ventilation. Most commonly, COPD occurs as a consequence of immune-induced inflammation in the terminal bronchioles...
Read More
5 Guttural Pouch Tympany
Guttural pouch tympany refers to distention of the guttural pouches with air. It does not appear to cause the horse any pain, but it can cause respiratory distress.
Read More

Over 10,000 Veterinarian Approved Articles

Dogs & Puppies

Dog Breeds

labrador retriever, golden retriever, yorkshire terriers, german shepherds, beagle, boxers

Dog Medication

dog allergy medication, dog pain medication, dog anxiety medication, dog flea medication

Dog Products

dog bowls, dog crates, dog toys, dog beds, dog ramps, dog food storage, dog tags

Dog Symptoms

dog vomiting, dog limping, dog diarrhea, dog bad breath, dog coughing, dog seizures

Dog Health

dog cancer, dog diabetes, dog epilepsy, dog hip dysplasia, dog health, sick dog

Dog Care

dog vaccination, dog microchipping, dog grooming, dog neutering, dog spaying, dogs mating

Dog Training

dog aggression, dog barking, dog chewing, dog behavior, dog jumping, dog whisperer

Dog Pictures

puppy pictures, funny dogs, cute dogs, dog breeds, sleeping dogs, silly dogs, small dogs

Cats

Cat Breeds

persian, siamese cats, devon rex, ragdoll cats, sphynx, maine coon cat

Cat Medication

cat flea medication, cat heartworm control, cat tick medications

Cat Products

cat litter box, cat food, cat bed, cat flea collar, cat carrier, cat urine odor

Cat Symptoms

cat vomiting, cat limping, cat diarrhea, cat bad breath, cat coughing

Cat Health

cat health, cat liver cancer, cat diabetes, cat scratch fever, cat aids, sick cat

Cat Care

cat vaccination, cat grooming, cat microchipping, cat neutering, cat spaying

Cat Behavior

cat urine marking, cat furniture scratching, cat litterbox training, cat toilet training, cat fears

Cat Pictures

cute cats, funny cats, playful cats, fat cats, jumping cats, lazy cats, sleeping cats, cute kittens

1Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
COPD is a condition in which inflammation in the small airways of the lung leads to impaired ventilation. Most commonly, COPD occurs as a consequence of immune-induced inflammation in the terminal bronchioles...
Read More
2Guttural Pouch Tympany
Guttural pouch tympany refers to distention of the guttural pouches with air. It does not appear to cause the horse any pain, but it can cause respiratory distress.
Read More
3Inflammatory Airway Disease in Performance Horses
Don't assume that coughing in an otherwise healthy horse is normal. Coughing is one of the first indicators that your horse may have inflammatory airway disease, also known as IAD. With recent advances,...
Read More
4Laryngeal Hemiplegia (Roaring)
Laryngeal hemiplegia is the term used to describe the inability of the horse’s larynx (connects the nasal passages to the windpipe) to fully dilate during breathing.
Read More
5Sinusitis
Sinusitis is an inflammation of the sinus lining, often occurring during an upper respiratory infection, caused by either bacteria or viruses. It can also be a complication of tooth infection, allergy...
Read More

Bacterial Pneumonia in the Horse

Bacterial Pneumonia in the Horse

Related Articles

Over 10,000 Veterinarian Approved Articles