Any idea what this could be?

Bertolie

Bertolie

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When my daughter got her new horse Berti, we had trouble catching him so he was left out in the paddock with a headcollar (fieldsafe) on. About a month or so later he developed a sore area on the side of his face which we thought was from the headcollar rubbing. Headcollar was removed, sudocrem applied, but instead of getting better it got worse - spreading to his chin and cheeks. The vet was called and she took some skin scrapings, the result of which showed a high strep infection. Berti was put on antibiotics and FLamazine. It did clear up to a certain degree but keeps returning and has now spread to large areas of his face. Sometimes it is dry and flakey other times it is sore and bleeding. We are having the vet out again tomorrow so she has asked if more skin scrapings can be taken and a more indepth investigation done as to what is actually causing it. He had rain scald when she got him - not sure if that is significant or not.

Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated. Have attempted to put a pic on but not sure if it will work!!

http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x453/Bertolie/PoorlyBerti.jpg
 
Oh dear that looks quite nasty! Before I saw the picture I was going to suggest mites but looking at that it doesn't look like it. Has your vet told you to hibiscrub it?
 
We have been hibiscrubbing it and using either Flamazine or Dermoline cream every day. Some days it looks better than others but it never clears up completely. First vet said strep infection present but we dont know where or what its coming from. He is kept with my horse and he has not had any problems.

ETA - that picture was taken a while ago and since then it has spread quite a lot more. He has bald patches and dry, flaky skin up to just below his eye.
 
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I personally would stop Hibiscrub at once and just use something like Protocon, zinc & castor oil cream or aloe vera gel and keep applying it without washing it off.
By washing it off so much you are weakening the skin, doubly more so with Hibiscrub which is far too strong, would be far better with warm water and salt if you feel you must wash off.
Had a horse here once who rubbed her face on the headcollar - so I thought - turned out she had been stung and was trying to relieve it by scratching it, soon cleared up with Protocon.
 
Looks like what a horse at my old work had. That turned out to be mange!!!! The only way he could of caught it from what we could see was from a mangey fox that was hanging around. The vet treated it as mange and it cleared up in a couple of weeks.
 
Agreed hibiscrub will kill new growth as well as bacterial growth.

Washi g will also provide warm moist conditions - another favourite of bacteria!

I would get another set of skin scrapings, and use something like a rope halter for the mean time. It could be an allergy to the metal in the headcollar though it looks more fungal/bacterial.

Would probably try some anti b cream/steroid creAm (of you can get them combined?) as that should tackle dermatitis and fungal causes to some extent.
 
Thank you for all your answers and suggestions. I did wonder about whether daily hibiscrubbing would have a detrimental effect by keeping the area moist. I think I will suggest my daughter stops doing this for the time being.

We have a different vet coming out this evening and we have asked that he takes some more skin scrapings and does a more indepth investigation into what it actually is, what is causing it and more importantly, what we can do to clear it up. This is a more senior vet that is vey highly thought of and as he is coming to do some dental work with power tools Berti is going to be sedated. Hopefully that will mean that he can do a bit more 'digging about' without the horse becoming overly stressed about it. We just want some answers - plus some sort of treatment that will actually clear it up.
 
Looks fungal to me. Buy a tube of canestan and try it for a few days. It won't do any harm and will clear it up quickly if it's fungal.
 
To me it looks like a possible sting and the stings still in there or whatever started it off is still in there, splinter ? because you said it heals to a certain point then flairs up again, its like it can't heal because whatever is causing it is still there
 
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