The trainer/owner at the stable I board at asked to borrow my horse trailer to take a horse to the vet. The horse is a 20 month old TWH gelding in for 90 days training. He doesn't belong to anyone at the stable. He's been coughing up a smelly mucous and the trainer decided to take him in for a scan. She came back just as I was finishing up with my horse today. The gelding has an abcess in his chest on the outside of the lungs. She said that the cheap way to treat him would be to find the abcess, lance and drain it and then put him on antibiotics. Unfortunately, (for some reason) normal antibiotics can't be used and he would need to be put on some experimental drug that carries a chance of fatal reaction. The expensive way would be to surgically excise the abcess followed by a year recovery and also on the experimental antibiotics. The owner said he needs to speak with the vet but he's leaning toward euthanasia as the procedures run a min. of $3,000 plus transport and stabling at the vet hospital at Michigan State U. It's sad but I'm just curious about this if anyone has heard of or experienced anything like this.
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