Slobbering mare

[aurora]

I've had this mare about 4 - 5 months and have noticed about half a dozen times at feeding time that she will quit eating and start slobbering, great gobs of froth coming out of her mouth and slime coming out of her nose. She sometimes gives the flehman reflex. She does not cough or choke when this happens. I took her to the vet and had her teeth floated but I have seen this happen again after the float. She is in good body condition and is on good pasture 24 x 7 and grained 2x / day. I feed a pelleted feed. What is going on here?

[Shammy Davis]

Not to worry. If she vets out alright and you've floated her teeth, then she's just a "slob of a mare." I've done my own floating and dental work for more years than I'd like to remember and there are just some horses that are slobs. Other than mastication, saliva is first step in digestion. Another plus is that a wet mouth makes the bit more comfortable. It is very possible that the feed or forage is causing the problem. Too much or too little of something is causing her to salivate. Remember, have mineral salt blocks available to your horses 24/7. If it is really driving you crazy, hold back on her feed for awhile and just provide hay and limited pasture and see if that eliminates the problem. Otherwise, she is healthy and fat, but she's a slob. I could live with that.

[madelyn]

Slime out of her nose? Did she have a tieback operation on her airway for racing? If so she will always have this problem for the rest of her life.

[aurora]

She did race and I have no idea if she had surgery, Can you tell me what a tie back operation entails and why this would cause this problem?

This is not just normal slobbering. Anytime a horse gives the Flehman reflex it is either pain or reproductive heat, I've never seen them do this otherwise.

It is not just some slobber, it is great gobs of foamy slobber, stuff is coming out of her nose and she leaves her grain. Something is definately wrong.

[CS]

Well, I do not mean to be an alarmist - however a good friend's mare started with the same thing about 2 months ago. The mare would take a long time to eat, have gook coming out of her nose, and a slobbery mouth. Her vet looked at her, cultured the "gook", etc. but could find nothing wrong pathologically. The vet came back for a re-check 2 weeks later and recommended that she immeadiately be sent to the vet hospital in Lexington. To make a long story short, after 3 weeks of being in and out of the hospital, no specific diagnosis could be made other than a large, fast growing mass had consumed her left guttaral pouch and was encroaching on her airway. It biopsied as non-cancerous, but was a non-surgical case as well. The hospital (a very well known one) had never seen anything like it before, and requested to write a paper about her. They tried everything to save the mare, but she eventually passed away.

I doubt it is the same thing, but I would still have a vet out and scope her airway, looking specifically at the guttaral pouches. Good luck.

[aurora]

I did find out that a tie back operation ties back the laryngeal (sp?) flap so I could understand that this type of operation would cause this problem.

I'll talk to my vet and see if he wants to scope her.

[Shammy Davis]

Aurora: I feel like an idiot. I totally read over "slime from the nose." You definitely need to get this mare scoped. It is very possible that the two symptoms aren't even connected. Being a slob via the mouth is one thing. Slime from the nose is another. I do apologize. I don't know where you are located but in the east with the drought, dry air, and heavy pollen we've seen a great many sinus infections especially with pastured horses. Whatever the problem, I hope your mare is alright.