mare has a cold

Question
I just purchased a mare at a sale barn, asked alot of questions to the owner one question was if the horse was up to date on all its shots the answer was yes.  I got the horse home and kept it confined from my other horses just to make sure she didn't have any illnesses, she does not like this, she wants to be with the others.  Today I notice she now has a slight runny nose,slight cough, and some discharge from her eye, I wanted to know if I could give her a shot of 10cc's of penicillian? She is eating and drinking fine and has no fever, do you think she maybe just stressed and caught a cold?

Thank You'
Elena

Answer
Hi Elena!

Congratulations on your new horse :)  Unfortunately, you only have the previous owner's word that this horse has been vaccinated ... no way to know for sure unless they were local and you could ask the veterinarian.  Plan to have her wormed and vaccinated as soon as you can.

Her symptoms could easily be from stress - new location, new feed, new hay, new water and of course now she's cranky because she's being kept in.  I really hesitate to jump right to antibiotics for what sounds like a very minor cold.  Ideally, you want her own immune system to fight this off.  If a horse spikes a temp over 103, they will usually go off feed and that's when I begin to seek veterinary advice about helping them fight off whatever it is that's making them sick.  I strongly recommend holding off the whole penicillin plan and just watch her.  It will probably take her a good week or two to get over it.  Make sure your hay and bedding isn't dusty or moldy and keep clean water in front of her all the time.  If possible, keep a radio on for her ... that helps a lot of the time.

I hope that helps Elena!  Let me know if you have any other questions ok?

Thank you
Judi