Cleaning sheath/sheath problems!?

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welshied

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One of my horses lately had to have the vet out as he had a swollen sheath, vet said it was an infection and it needed cleaning and he was given antibiotics. The swelling slowly went down and we carried on cleaning it.
If we don't clean it every 2 weeks it swells and its always really dirty and you get big lumps of wax off it. Is this normal because none of my other geldings have this problem and need cleaning this regularly!?
 
Sounds like it is the tail end of the infection still biting tbh, I would clean it 1-2 times per week for a month to attempt to get rid of the last of the infection and then reduce it down to once a month until it looks completely cleared up.
 
This will probably spark a real debate!!! Some people will swear that their gelding lived to 58 and never had his winky cleaned and was fine.......I would have agreed until I got Monty.

His gets very stinky and the bits of crud are very sharp and have caused irritations before so his is cleaned about every 6 weeks. Other geldings I know have lovely clean sheaths and never need it.
 
Yeah i heared that if you clean them then you take something away which stops them from being able to clean themselves i don't know how much truth there is in that
 
Not had a gelding who needed cleaning, until I went to work in america, the guy I rode over there (HORSE!) had a right icky sheath, he got babywiped once a day! (but this was often due to the heat meaning lots of sweating etc)

Its not a difficult job (most men would like women messing with it! hehe
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) but its just awkward and a pain in the butt! just have a big pack of babywipes, or lots of hibiscrub or something

regular cleanings and stick at it! it will clear up!
 
It is no coincidence that I have three mares...
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What are you cleaning his sheath with? Some cleansers are unnecessarily harsh, and can trigger the body to overdo the er...secretions...as a protection against the cleanser.

Maybe try cleaning with just plain water?

S
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I've heard of people shoving all sorts up there but I think if you are going to use anything other than water, it is worth investing in a proper sheath cleanser.

I can't remember the name of mine but it is a sort of blue get. You pop it up there and it softens up all the crap so that when you rinse everything comes out without taking away the natural oils.
 
I am using a sheath cleanser can't remember which one it has tea tree in etc he never use to be such a problem but the lumps of wax are huge lol and it stinks
 
I had all this hoo har when I first got his lordship, do I dont I,
some said they never did it others did once twice a year, so I left it, he got an infection
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so had vet and had to clean it anyway, should have done it in the first place
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, worried like hell about doing it, turned out be no probelm at all, no smell just gunky, worried for nothing, can sometimes have a tug of war with his willey trying to keep it out whle I clean it which is amusing
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, I just keep an eye on it, if it needs doing I do it, if not I leave it, dont stress over it, read up on tinternet on tips on how to do it, DONT USE STRONG STUFF TO CLEAN WITH.
 
Hi... I've had a few years of sheath issues (horse not mine) too long to post on here, but ended up in 3 seperate Ops.... I have to clean every day, rotating between clean water for 2 days, 1 day a mild hibiscrub solution, and once a week a thin layer of sudocrem. Have you asked what caused the infection? I was having infections treated for a few years off and on (despite asking for tests), finally a change of vet helped and now, well, sex change!! For info, you wouldnt believe the gunk that can appear in 24hrs, lumps, allsorts. Howfar up are you cleaning - and what with? The stink is incredible, however Ped's is a smell free zone now!
 
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I am using a sheath cleanser can't remember which one it has tea tree in etc he never use to be such a problem but the lumps of wax are huge lol and it stinks

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My Tb mare is actually allergic to tea tree oil...
Maybe it would be worth trying a different brand of sheath cleanser, or just water to see if it could be allergy triggered?
S
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QR I just use warm water and baby oil to clean my boys and none of them have any problems.
Depending on what bedding is used as well ( if stabled) I have known of other people's horses getting sore down there and bleeding due to getting shards of wood shavings into the sheath and nicking their bits.
I used to use a sheath cleaner but now find baby oil and warm water is better as the smegma comes away more easily. The baby oil provides lubrication too so it makes your hands slippery too, so I feel it is kinder to the horse's skin in a tender region.
Also check for a bean of smegma in the urethral fossa as sometimes this can be very large and impair the urination process. I know when I have found an offending blob my boys have enjoyed having a nice long relaxing pee afterwards and not have it come out at force like a fireman's hose.
I also agree about the use of harsh chemicals. Hibiscrub, gosh that is too harsh. If you read instructions it says not to get into eyes or body cavities. A sheath is a body cavity in my opinion. Their penis is a very tender area of skin and I would not dream of using such a harsh antibacterial skin wash on an area such as that.
Stick to either plain warm water ( cold I find is hard to use as the smegma is naturally greasy- reminds me of the stuff you find when cleaning pipes under the sink, smells like it too, eurgh!) or water with baby oil which makes the crusty bits soften and come off easily.
 
Hi dont know if this will help you,
I recently got my appaloosa he is just over a yr now and i started noticing small amounts of dried blood on his penis it is really noticable because he is light skinned and so i am a bit obsessive and looked up everything on the net and found that apparently KY jelly is the best thing to clean sheaths with as it doesnt contain anything that could irritate for obvious reasons! i cleaned him thouroughly wich took quite a while to gain histrust! i think he may have got a small piece of grit stuck somewhere up there and it had caused a small cut that seemed to open again every time he peed its taken about 2 months but now seems to have stopped completely and he seems really clean finally! although he seemed completely fine within himself galloping around fields etc.the vet said to me also to clean it occasionally with very diluted hibi scrub but just very occasionaly due to disturbing natural ph levels causing irritations etcetc i have worked with horses for many yrs in a equestrian centre and have never had found the need to sheath clean geldings particularly regularly until i got this boy but have also found info that says some breeds and certain coloured horses are more prone toproblems with this area than others particularly .
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My gelding's got the yuckiest sheath ever. He has to be regularly sedated to be cleaned by the vet (he's had lots of lumps so needs to be checked regularly). We use baby shampoo to clean, but inbetween vet visits I treat him to a handful of natural yoghurt which he doesn't object to. The yoghurt softens any crud and give the area 'good bacteria' which helps to prevent infections. It was a suggestion from my vet and it works really well!

Sue
 
NB when I DO have to use hibiscrub, it is very diluted, and on vets destructions... - certainly agree I wouldn't use it every day! But as my boy.... well... doesn't really have a penis... well... erm... it's fine. Useful to know about the natural yoghurt though - I might give that a go too... :-)
 
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Also check for a bean of smegma in the urethral fossa as sometimes this can be very large and impair the urination process. I know when I have found an offending blob my boys have enjoyed having a nice long relaxing pee afterwards and not have it come out at force like a fireman's hose.


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i didnt even know about this till i read it on here a coupla years ago, so i had a look, and removed quite a laarge one from my old boy and, yes, he had a huge relaxing pee straight away, aaaahhhhhhhh!
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he doesnt mind me messing but my babyhorse thinks im some kind of perve im sure
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(so does OH for that matter...'are you playing with that horses todger AGAIN?!') LOL
 
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