Treatment of Streptococcus equi varies depending on the case. Antibiotic therapy may be used in cases in which the lymph nodes have not yet abscessed and the horse is in the early stage of disease. Early treatment with antibiotics may actually stop the formation of abscesses and prevent infection of the lymph nodes in horses only recently exposed to the bacteria.
If the lymph nodes have already abscessed, then the use of antibiotics may only prolong the course of the disease. Frequently, veterinarians will not administer antibiotics in these cases, unless they involve chronic illness or threaten to cause secondary bacterial infections. Since the use of antibiotics is controversial in many cases, the examining veterinarian will determine if antibiotics are required, as well as which antibiotic is best for a particular case.
Horses with strangles should be rested in their stalls and nursed throughout the course of the disease. A veterinarian will often lance abscesses that are fully developed but not yet ruptured. Applying hot compresses to swollen lymph nodes will help quicken the course of abscess formation, allowing a veterinarian to lance abscesses earlier. Horses unable to breath properly may require a tracheostomy tube, which is inserted below swollen lymph nodes directly into the trachea. A horse may breath easily through the tube. Tracheostomy tubes require a great deal or management and they must be carefully and frequently monitored and changed.
