At 14:41:19 on 04.12.09, YasandCrystal wrote:
Hi I had to have my little pony blood tested for strangles - a pre-requisite of the yard where the family who want to trial him with the option to buy are(they had strangles years ago and are very fearful now although their liveries go off to shows all over the place where they could pick up a virus). Anyway as it was explained to me the 2 antibodies A and B are tested and the negative thresholds are 0.5 and 1.00 and his reaults were 0.6 and 1.30, so a marginal positive as described by my vet. Her conclusion for this is that he had either a) been exposed to strangles in the past 6 monts or b) was a carrier. I was offered the option to scope him and flush his guteral pouches and the fluid would be tested to determine if he was a carrier or had been infexted and with a further blood test the costs of this little exercise would be 300+ quid - on a 700 pound pony??? I don't think so ! Problem is the family would offer an excellent home for him as a driving pony. He was bred to drive and his sire was lead team pony and 4 times world champion, so he should be good at it. The yard won't budge without a negative result. I asked my vet that if he's a carrier how come my other 3 haven't contracted strangles nor the horse he was loaned to companion a year ago? My option is to re-test in say 6 weeks time but the vet said that this result will only become negative if he was infected not if is a carrier! Can I give him anything natural to flush out these antibodies? I can't spend that money on the scoping. I am also told these antibody tests are woolly anyway and that 1 in 10 horses would test positive - if that's so what is the point? Thanks for reading this.

At 21:45:55 on 22.12.09, HorseVet wrote:
Hi There's a lot of scare-mongering over strangles mostly driven by the drug companies wanting to push the vaccine. Unfortunately that doesn't help your cause but I don't recommend prolonged antibiotics to try to treat the carrier status. Re-infection can just as easily happen at a show so what's the point in the expense? Natural immunity is the best and antibody levels will rise in the face of infection to do their job. The best scenario would be for all horses to get natural immunity!! My advice would be that there are plenty of buyers out there who aren't so fussy, or else get them to buy the pony and pay for the treatment if they are that keen to have him. I don't recommend loaning horses/ponies to try unless you've got a very thorough written agreement as to who is liable for what in the event of illness/injury. Best wishes HorseVet
http://www.naturalhealingsolutions.co.uk

At 14:28:51 on 05.01.10, YasandCrystal wrote:
Thanks Horsevet - I agree with you. It's not the prospective owners being fussy - it's the yard they are at. They will be such a good home for the pony - perfect a driving home!! I will let you know how the 2nd blood test goes - Polka is on blood cleansing herbs for a month at the moment!