You Have Got to Be Kidding Me ... Again

Monday I go out to the barn after doing some yard work and bring Axel in to work on his scabs. I get him hooked up in the cross ties and I notice his face is swollen. He has a big welt on his left check. First I thought it was from falling over and maybe hitting the stall door but that was the other side. Then I notice his throat latch is swollen and under his chin. Seriously? It was like 7pm and I didn't particularly want to pay for another vet visit. I took his temperature and he didn't have a fever. His eyes were clear, no lumps anywhere else, no snot, attitude was fine, he had been grazing and happy. J&J didn't have any ideas so I called the vet and left him a message. He called back just a few minutes later and couldn't give me a snap diagnosis from the symptoms but thought he'd be fine if we just watched him a few days. One idea was swollen salivary glands. Upon further investigation I found something called "grass glands" which is swollen salivary glands due to possibly an allergic reaction.

So last night I went back out to check on him and go back to work on his scabs which I neglected then since we got sidetracked with the swollen face. His swelling is mostly still there, kind of spread out a bit, maybe a little lower, hard to tell. I poked at him to make sure it wasn't tender and he seemed just fine. I set to work on grooming and picking scabs. I did end up getting a lot of scabs off and scrubbing him with the chlorhexidine. There are still some scabs left but I'm hoping to get them all off gradually.

J said she'd leave Axel in a stall overnight to see what happens. Apparently if the swelling is "grass glands" then it should get better overnight when he's not grazing and then get worse after a day on the grass. It won't really change anything I don't think but we'll know we're probably dealing with an allergy. I'm hoping it'll go away as he gets used to the grass or whatever it is he's eating goes away. From what I can find on the internet is another sort of common ailment that you just put up with. It doesn't seem to bother him so far but I haven't tried working him or riding him yet.

I had been neglecting Cody so I groomed him and then took him for a walk down the road. He was even more calm than the time prior so I think tonight maybe I'll try and ride down the road and see how he does. And I need to get Axel lunging again but at least he's moving around more in the pasture. His knee is a bit sore lately which I assume is from increased movement.