Re: intranasal vaccine for strangles

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

In a message dated 1/14/99 9:46:50 AM Pacific Standard Time,
katswig@deltanet.com writes:

<< Maybe I am going to show my ignorance here, but what is wrong with just
 letting a horse GET strangles???
 
 My experience is, if the horse is in general good health otherwise,
 strangles is something to be gotten and gotten over.  And since the first
 place I kept my horse was a "strangles barn," I have seen plenty of horses
 with it, and plenty of horses just get over it.
 
 It is a messy nuisance, but hardly life threatening.  >>

Many horses do get it and get over it.  Many more develop scarring and damage
in the throat area.  Many have long seiges with it (depends somewhat on the
strain that is involved), abort foals from the stress, lose a great deal of
weight and body condition (ie are VERY sick), etc.  Some get complications
like internal abcesses or hemorhagica purpura and die.  (Far more get that
from the disease than from the vaccine.)  No, it is NOT a disease that I would
want my horses to have to go through the pain and suffering of having, let
alone the risk of having complications...

Heidi Smith, DVM