Allergic reaction - help!!

[kayleigh_and_rocky]

About a month ago Rock came out in hard solid lumps, all down 1leg, inside his 2back legs and all along 1side of his stomache. Poking and prodding them didnt hurt and no heat, no illness or discomfort. They didnt go down after a week so i got the vet out who did bloods and said it was an inflammotary reaction, gave him anti inflammatorys and steroids for 10days and the lumps went away.
However only 2days after he stopped the steroids (is still on vitamins and herbs that vet gave me) the lumps came back up! on same leg, then a few under his saddle and on the same side of his tummy but not as bad as last time (yet).
It cant be his feed as we removed any supplements for a while and stuff and i think it might be something in his field that hes allergic too (however no other turnout options as all one big field split into smaller fields so what hes allergic to will be in all of them!)
So now at a loss as to what to do??? Is there a supplement that boosts the immune system or acts as an antihistimine?
Has anyone else had the same experience?
Am going to ring the vet on monday and ask her advice again. They dont seem to be geting any worse, and this time around there are a lot less as well and some days there are hardly any at all if any!
Help?

 

[Emm]

Hmmm, interesting one and I can see why your puzzled. Could it be an allergic reaction to fly bites ? It's about the only thing that I can think of, although it's not really the time of year for flies to be around but they do tend to go for the inside of the hind legs and under the stomach around the sheath area. I hope that you find out whats been causing it. Please do let us know how you get on. Emm.

 

[Natalie_H]

Is he eating hay? My TB is going through the exact same thing at the moment, but I have been dealing with the allergy for 3 years so know what some of the allergens are. For example he is allergic to rye & storage mites, so although the hay is low rye content, there could be spores which are aggravating it. In addition, mites breed heavily up until the autumn etc etc. I withdrew hay last week as he has good grass & am finding that the rash has gone down, but is better in the morning when his turnout is removed & worse in the evening when he has been out unrugged all day. Steroids are pointless in cases such as these - the allergen needs to be determined as the rash comes back as soon as the steroids are reduced. PM me if you like - I have an absolute wealth of info on this subject!

 

[watcherathome]

try nettle tea and add it to his food to soak it, or bee propilis. Piriton also helps. None of this is a cure but might give some relief while you establish the cause

 

[SpruceRI]

Hi
My mare suffered a severe reaction to god knows what one January several years ago. She was covered in fluid filled lumps all over the fleshy parts of her body - looked like bubble wrap. After blood tests, vet thought she might be reacting to the Leylandii trees we had in our field, or something in her feed, so rented some grazing elsewhere for 8 weeks. Took her off all the hard feed and hay and put her on steroid injections initially, then tablets.
Basically, once we'd reduced the steroid tablets to 18 per day (from 36 ish) the lumps came back.
The woman who owned the field was heavily into homoeopathy and sent me down to the Homoeo. shop with 2 things to get (with approval from my vet). Basically, after increasing and decreasing the steroids over the course of 6 weeks, these teeny little pillules are what got rid of that urticaria.
And I can't remember what they were called! But basically she got her book out and showed me description of two herbs that counteract hives/rashes.

Never did find out what caused the reaction, and moved mare back to her field, being stabled, back on same hay and feed eventually, although we've now had the Leylandiis chopped down.

Speak to Homoeopathic vet or someone with good knowledge of the subject.

 

[not_with_it]

Round about this time last year Gin had large hard lumps on her belly. The vet came to look at another horse and he noticed them as he was passing. He had a look at them and said they were fly bites. The flies that hang around your muckheap at this time of year are partial to biting horses and due to all the dirt they pass on it causes them to swell.
As for boosting his immune system propell plus works well but it would not stop the flies from biting him.

 

[ljubb]

My T/B mare has just come out in lumps on her neck and bum...dont think it is due to being clipped as there are none on her belly. Her feed has not changed..apparently the midges were really bad on Monday..i saw the lumps monday night. The staff on the yard bring in and turn out so I am unaware as to the state of midges.

I think i will just wait and see for a bit before changing anythin as she is not uncomfortable.