AURAL PLAQUES DIAGNOSIS TODAY ...

[charliecrisps]

Had the vet today and she diagnosed aural plaques. Said there is nothing they can do for it and it will spread, but this would not be a reason that he doesnt like his ear being touched....

This is dont really agree with though since he is fine with his other ear but hey ho!! Just wondering if anyone has issues with this and if they treat them at all or leave them?

I read it 'could possibly' be caused by fly bites.... do you put fly mask with ears on?

I was told by a friend its just a build up of skin and you can pick them off!!! ... I shant do this but am a bit confused by conflicting thoughts on this!!! ......

he shakes his head a fair bit out riding, could this be the cause one wonders...

 

[cptrayes]

Had the vet today and she diagnosed aural plaques. Said there is nothing they can do for it and it will spread, but this would not be a reason that he doesnt like his ear being touched....

.

She said what? When my horse had them the vt told me that they were EXTREMELY irritating to the horse, which was why she would not let anyone touch her ears. He said that they could be treated, but that often putting on the ointment caused the horse more distress than it was worth, and that I could end up with a headshaker. They are viral and will disappear on their own, was his advice.

I think your vet is probably wrong, it's pretty obvious from how your horse is behaving.

 

[whizzer]

Leave well alone! My horse has had them since I bought him as a 2 yr old & I've never done anything with them at all. I've seen pics when people have messed with them & they've spread to huge proportions. My horse is ear shy but he trusts me to handle them,I'm not allowed to bend or touch too much though!
I can clip & trim them,& he'll tolerate me dropping things over them such as hoods & fly masks. I've never subjected him to fly masks with ears as I think they would really upset him. He's had lots of surgery on his head over the lady few yrs but had tolerated weeks & weeks of having dressings on his head. The only thing I can never get him to accept is being bridled 'normally', I have to take his bridle apart to put it on but I'm so used to that I can put it on as quickly as if it were put on in the standard way! I really wouldn't worry as they shouldn't cause any major problems.

 

[Bess]

Sorry to read that your horse has aural plaques. I noticed some on my horses' ear a few months ago and used the 'search' function at the top right of the page to give me some idea of what was going on (the vet had already confirmed that was what they were).

 

[now_loves_mares]

My horse has severe plaques - so much so the vet asked to take photos of them as they were the worst she'd seen . However my horse is not headshy at all, doesn't mind having them touched, lets me haul bridles and headcollars over ears etc. The flies don't seem to bother them either. I have been advised to leave well alone. I've only ever heard bad things when people have tried to treat them.

 

[charliecrisps]

Yes, i think leave well alone seems to be the best advice!! My vet seems to be a bit off the mark, as he is really good with his other ear so must distress him!!!

Maybe i should adopt this 'new way' of putting bridle on as he isnt keen on that!!

Poor thing :-(

Out of interest - Do you take the bit off and do it that way or undo the cheek piece and browband .....

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

I undo cheek pieces and pop top half on and then bit half bit into mouth and do up cheekpieces.

My old vet was head man at Royal Vet College. His advice, do NOT fiddle with them or pick at them, will make them worse. It is an allergic reaction to the bites of the tiny blackfly, not a 'build up of skin'

It is definitely the reason for the ear shyness (your vet is nuts to say its not!!!!), the worst thing you can do is inflict pain on them in the ear area. It is something to work with, even with bad plaques I could very gently pop an ear cover fly fringe onto my 17hh-er with them as it helps to stop the seasonal attack of the tiny blackflies who are the cause of the problem (get a cotton one not a mesh one as the flies are tiny, and make sure the ear part if long enough and big enough not to squash ears).

The good thing - it wont kill the horse or harm it.

Edited to add, the most important thing is not to do anything which bends the ear as that is the most painful thing for them, hence why the bridle needs to be split so you can hook it loosely on and only then attach the bottom half and tighten. NB Mine is fine at having the bridle taken off as all the movement is forwards and ears stay un bent

Bear in mind Headley Britannia, Lucinda Fredericks mare who won Badminton, Burghley et al can only be bridled by splitting her bridle for exactly this reason, so it shouldnt hold anyone back )) Hers were really bad too, real cauliflower jobs!

 

[charliecrisps]

I undo cheek pieces and pop top half on and then bit half bit into mouth and do up cheekpieces.

My old vet was head man at Royal Vet College. His advice, do NOT fiddle with them or pick at them, will make them worse. It is an allergic reaction to the bites of the tiny blackfly, not a 'build up of skin'

It is definitely the reason for the ear shyness (your vet is nuts to say its not!!!!), the worst thing you can do is inflict pain on them in the ear area. It is something to work with, even with bad plaques I could very gently pop an ear cover fly fringe onto my 17hh-er with them as it helps to stop the seasonal attack of the tiny blackflies who are the cause of the problem (get a cotton one not a mesh one as the flies are tiny, and make sure the ear part if long enough and big enough not to squash ears).

Fantastic, youve been such a great help. I will have a go at putting the bridle on this way. Dont want to hurt him needlessly!!

 

[Finn]

Hi

sorry to le light this thread but my mare was diagnosed with these yesterday. They appeared last summer and I thought they were fly bites or even sarcoids but they didnt clear up,so when the vet came yesterday for her boosters I asked him what they were and he said Aural Plaques. He said leave them be and they will either dissapear on there own accord or be there permanantly. He said there is no cure for them and said they are caused by fly bites .Apparently it is some kind of fungal from the fly bite. He did say if they change shape or get bigger or form into one big one then I am to call them and they only thing they can do is scrape them out with a very sharp scapel and it is apparently really distressing for the horse, very painful and will bleed heavily.

So my vets advise was - leave them as it as it will cause more damage trying to get rid of them then it will to just leave them.