Bens sore on his face...

Queenbee

Queenbee

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Following my thread the other day...

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?634697-Bot-sore-I-m-in-a-quandary


Here are some photos of the sore on his face. To begin with it was scabbed over but he knocked the top off while I was getting some stuff to bathe it. I gave it a good squeeze but nothing popped, indeed it felt like there was nothing too pop, it feels quite solid. It almost looks like its an ulcer or something, and I think that it's getting scarred because he keeps damaging it.


Some ideas that have been suggested are:

Buttercups/toxic plants
Bots
Ingrown hair (I can't see central point where the hair would be)
Wart/sarcoid (although its didn't seem like this to me, it just looks more unsightly now as it keeps trying to heal and he is damaging it)
It didn't start as an ulcer but it seems ulcerated now, if you look at the photos the original thing was just a circle of the scar type tissue, the bit in the middle is recent (since he was turned out 24/7 in a different field while I was away).


Anyway, its all bathed and covered in antibacterial wotsit, and here are the pics, I'd really appreciate any ideas about this. My main focus at the moment is daily bathing and treatment to get the middle bit healed.


When he came in from the field:
1379929_661486773861701_1734369431_n.jpg


After the tyke knocked the top off!
1239886_661486660528379_881336087_n.jpg


Thank you :)
 
SusieT It's not very inflamed, that outer area is like raised scar tissue :(

Amymay: I thought exactly the same thing, he has been wormed with ivermectin, I've also applied it topically (I think it was you who actually provided a link on another thread where a vet suggested this). But so many people keep saying its the wrong time of year, so I started to look for other answers, but I must admit my gut still keeps saying bot.

It's ugly, that's what it is!
 
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Thank you :) I will get some bonjella, I think half the problem is he keeps knocking the top off every night so its not able to heal... I'm considering something drying like sudocreme. He had is ivermectin last week.
 
I don't think you should really be messing about trying to get diagnoses from people on the internet, it's only getting worse, get the vet to have a look.
 
Gloi said:
Looks very sarcoid like to me.
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It isn't a sarcoid... Of that I'm very sure. And JA... I'm not messing around, I'm asking opinions, its very much something I've seen in the past on other horses and has cleared up on other horses. I'm just not 100% on the root cause and now he is knocking the top off so it can't heal, and as a result it looks unsightly. It's not infected, its not swollen, its not a sarcoid, its not anything remotely life threatening, I'm just looking for opinions, and although yours are all noted re the sarcoids, I'm sorry (it seems really rude) but I'm dismissing them, it's not, and I absolutely would call a vet if I thought it could be a sarcoid - been there, done that and got the t-shirt. The raised skin is scar tissue.
 
It's not abcessy and it has only just got swollen, but that's since he keeps knocking the top off. No vet is going to stop him doing that sadly, and he is not at all sensitive about it. I think my course of action will be to clean twice a day and treat topically with cream, if it gets worse I will of course call the vets or if its no better in a week, I will call them. I am certain that if I can get him to stop knocking the top off at night it will clear up.


It may sound pretty damned mad, but do you reckon a fabric plaster would stay on overnight? I wonder if I put a dollop of sudocrem on to dry it out and a plaster whether that would protect him, the only other option is to section off the top of the field where the hedge is so he can't go near it and is surrounded by electric fence and turn him out 24/7 so he can't scratch it on the wall.
 
Queenbee said:
And JA... I'm not messing around, I'm asking opinions, its very much something I've seen in the past on other horses and has cleared up on other horses. I'm just not 100% on the root cause and now he is knocking the top off so it can't heal, and as a result it looks unsightly. It's not infected, its not swollen, its not a sarcoid, its not anything remotely life threatening, I'm just looking for opinions, and although yours are all noted re the sarcoids, I'm sorry (it seems really rude) but I'm dismissing them, it's not, and I absolutely would call a vet if I thought it could be a sarcoid - been there, done that and got the t-shirt. The raised skin is scar tissue.
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But you don't know what it is, you don't know what's caused it, you don't know how to treat it. I don't think it's a sarcoid either btw but I have no idea what it is and if he were my much-loved horse I'd be calling in someone is professionally trained and who should know the answers and could see and feel exactly what it is. But hey, you keep guessing and we'll keep our fingers crossed for poor Ben that it gets no worse.
 
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It's obviously bothering the hell out of him if he's scratching it enough to keep it sore. I have no idea what it is, but I would say for your own peace of mind get the vet out pronto. I'm sure he'll be fine but even if it is a sarcoid it can be treated.
 
It looks really sore. I doubt a scab or plaster would stay on it as its probably the most used part of his body!

Could he have got a thorn in it or something and it swollen up with it in it?
 
jemima*askin said:
But you don't know what it is, you don't know what's caused it, you don't know how to treat it. I don't think it's a sarcoid either btw but I have no idea what it is and if he were my much-loved horse I'd be calling in someone is professionally trained and who should know the answers and could see and feel exactly what it is. But hey, you keep guessing and we'll keep our fingers crossed for poor Ben that it gets no worse.
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Don't patronise me. I've lost count of how many times I've heard one person say their vet put the cause as buttercup burns and another with the same issues say their vet advised it was a bot wound. I'm not saying I don't have faith in my vets, I absolutely do, but the opinions of vets are as much divided on these afflictions as the opinions of horse owners.

It is not a sarcoid, it is not sore, it is not inflamed... But hey what do I know, he's only my horse, and obviously not very much loved ;)
 
It's healing, itching then he's scratching, just like any normal wound. Sadly he is a beast and this is how he. Behaves whenever he has a cut :(
 
the middle bit is very inflammed hence the redness. the outer area is probably swelling/scabbed over. Regardless, it's no t abog standard lump/bump and the vets far better placed to advise espec. if they see it in person;
 
Queenbee said:
Don't patronise me. I've lost count of how many times I've heard one person say their vet put the cause as buttercup burns and another with the same issues say their vet advised it was a bot wound. I'm not saying I don't have faith in my vets, I absolutely do, but the opinions of vets are as much divided on these afflictions as the opinions of horse owners.

It is not a sarcoid, it is not sore, it is not inflamed... But hey what do I know, he's only my horse, and obviously not very much loved ;)
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I'm not patronising you! You make my point very well, that you keep hearing people saying this and saying that - none of them are medically trained and none of them have seen it in the flesh.

Vets opinions are divided on many things but they at least have the training to have an educated opinion.

Read my post, I have no doubt your horse is very much loved, I do doubt the wisdom of keeping on guessing what might be wrong with him.

However, if you really want to dry it up without getting proper advice, try high fluoride toothpaste.
 
Does he have a haynet?

Where it is it will get rubbed while he grazes or nibbles on his net. Maybe leave him in a few days with hay on the floor to allow it to heal. Other than that ignore, and certainly no squeezing ;)
 
SusieT: The middle bit is not very inflamed, he'd just nicked the top off and it was bleeding... That's why it was red.
 
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Buds_mum said:
Does he have a haynet?

Where it is it will get rubbed while he grazes or nibbles on his net. Maybe leave him in a few days with hay on the floor to allow it to heal. Other than that ignore, and certainly no squeezing ;)
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Nope, he has a hay hutch, he has done for the last year or so. But thanks for the idea :)
 
jemima*askin said:
I'm not patronising you! You make my point very well, that you keep hearing people saying this and saying that - none of them are medically trained and none of them have seen it in the flesh.

Vets opinions are divided on many things but they at least have the training to have an educated opinion.

Read my post, I have no doubt your horse is very much loved, I do doubt the wisdom of keeping on guessing what might be wrong with him.

However, if you really want to dry it up without getting proper advice, try high fluoride toothpaste.
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High fluoride toothpaste... Another sarcoid dig? Hey ho. If I'm treating it to dry up, I will use sudocrem thanks anyway :)
 
Willow had them as a yearling. common conclusion was bots. She was wormed with ivermectin, moved onto clean pasture and left alone they went away. I got the vet to have a look, he had no idea and had never seen them before... :/

I didn't put anything on, or clean them at all. Just left them alone and they were healing in no time. ;)

She's never had them since and is now 3. Never seen them before she had them.
 
You said on your other thread that the lesion first appeared in May, which leads me to go with my initial instinct when I saw the picture and say that it is a sarcoid. Occult sarcoids can look just like a dry bit of skin and not like a regular sarcoid, until they get disturbed when they can look identical to this. I would definitely be getting the vet to have a look at that if he was my horse.
 
I've no idea what it is but following the logic of my wonderful husband 'if its wet keep it dry and if its dry keep it wet' I would tentatively suggest wound powder, i dont think it could do any harm
 
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