“swelling under their jaws and throat latch area and swelling from right behind the corner of their mouth and down under their chin… “…

I have a 9 yr old mare and her yearling colt that are experiencing the same symptoms: swelling under their jaws and throat latch area and swelling from right behind the corner of their mouth and down under their chin… Any ideas on what this might be, the colt spent 4 days at Va Tech, this past summer for having some type of virus but nothing came back in any blood work or fecal culture. He was dehydrated, had high fevers, diarrhera, snotty nose and lathargic and swollen jaw glands, but no diagnosis was found can you help???

Dr. Kimberly Gryl’s Answer:

Hi Michelle,

There could be a number of bacterial infections causing these signs. The most common bacteria implicated is Strep (Strangles), but there certainly could be others that produce the same signs. Chances are they are invading the lymph nodes, which lie in the throat latch and under the jaw. When these filter out infection, they enlarge and sometimes burst and drain. This drainage should be cultured if at all possible, and preferably before any antibiotic therapy is started. You can hot pack the lumps to try and draw out infection, and apply a poultice to accomplish the same. Good luck.