The snots have returned...

So we're moving on to IV Gentocin as of today. I've not given an IV injection in 10 years, but I hit it right on and she was a good girl for me.
Quick recap, Flicka suffers from the snots, for unknown reasons. We've had her scoped, we've done SMZ, Uniprim, PenG and Ultiam antibiotics. We've had her cultured and treated gram specific. This Gentocin is our last resort, then we got to scope again.
I'm also going to flush her nasal lacrimal duct, just in case, can't hurt.
Poor gal, I feel bad for her, she's SO good. The snot does not affect her health in any way, no fevers, loss of appetite, lethargy or anything. We're still working her as usual...just keeps coming back.
Someone, ANYONE, please tell me this is going to be resolved. We've done everything we've been told to do...treated her in all the ways we were told, and it won't go away. I just want a healthy baby girl again, because they're talking operable things at this point, and I don't know that I would be able to go sinus surgery on her..I don't even want to think about it. I'm very stressed and worried over it as you can tell.

Is this from both nostrils or just one sided? When they scoped her, are you SURE they looked in the guttural pouches? It can be a bit tricky to get inside but that is where infections like to hide (especially Strangles) so please make sure you have a skilled vet doing the endoscopy.

Well, according to them they did.
I'm not completely happy with the vet that did the scope, but my vet does not have a scope, it's his sterile technique not ability that bothers me. The new scope is to be done by someone else, BUT according to the vet who did it he throroughly checked pouch. It's one sided. A bit of eye discharge and nasal discharge in copious amounts.
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You don't need sterile technique for scoping guttural pouches. The mouth and nose aren't sterile so that isn' t a concern when scoping. You DO need to make sure the scope is sterilized between patients however. Unilateral sounds more like a mass or recurring abscess. I would suggest skull radiographs to look for these things. Good luck!

Yes, it's the fact that the scope was pulled out of a nasty case and thrown back in the case between uses that bothered me. That is the sterility I was referring to.
Yes, rads are on the list if this doesn't do it.
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GAH! I'd have been very upset by that too. Any word on how things are going?

Yes, she cleared and started again. Now the vet has me giving her IV gentocin for ten days, then if that doesn't work we rescope and possibly head exrays. I so just want her better. The money factor does come into play butore than anything I need a well girl.
So far, they have cleared some but not totally. What's odd is they cleared the best on SMz which supposedly it was NOT sensitive to. Thanks so much for checking in on her.
On a good note, she rode really well today! Gotta do feet this week.
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Hmmm, I'm just learning about antibiotics and culturing etc. in my eq. Med class (I'm a 3rd year vet student). We're talking a lot about snotty noses and guttural pouches so I'll keep you posted on things I pick up. Also, my guy has one sided nose bleeds and snots from time to time which we have worked up every which way to no avail so it is a personal interest too. We basically think it is an ethmoid hematoma deep within the skull which can't be seen on scope.

Without bleeding though, I do NOT think that is what she has. Sounds more like an infection that is not getting good penetration of the antibiotic, which is why it will clear and then come back. As I said, I'll give you any thoughts I have as we learn more about this stuff. Glad she rode well today! At least *she* doesn't think she's sick!

I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. My vet is a great guy, highly interested to see what's in there, he's making bets on a tumor and just to type that freaks me out bc I know I can't put 1000s of dollars into surgery. I'm going to flush her tear duct this week just to be sure, feel free to come on down to help with that! :)
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Lol, I have to admit my guy is retardely good for any and all treatments (including sheath cleaning) so I'm kind of spoiled when I tell people things like "try flushing their tear ducts just to be sure" and get looks like "yeah right YOU come and do it". Don't panic on the tumor front. They aren't all equally serious and sometimes surgery really isn't that big of a deal. As in Tanner's case we're not even pursuing it because he is so mildly symptomatic and he's 20 years old. In HIS case it is likely something slow growing that we don't need to worry about as other problems will become more serious in old age than the EH.

I did think of one other thing that might be worth considering- sometimes when you culture, you're actually culturing something that is a secondary invader. In other words, one bacteria sets up an infection and then because it weakens the immunity, another one comes in and joins the party. You culture and get the second partier but not the culprit who threw the party in the first place. So you treat based on the results of the wrong culture basically. I'm sure your vet had considered that possibility but it is a reason we sometimes see these recurrent snotts.