Help - haemotomas & very itchy

rolocandy73

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20 February 2009
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Hi all,

I often lurk but rarely post but am hoping that there may be someone out there who has had a similar issue and can help. We (my friend & I) have a 25 year old Fjord who has always been robustly healthy. He's still in regular work (albeit no longer competing) and looks like a teenager rather than the old man he is. He has become itchier over the past eighteen months but this has only ever manifested itself as a desire to have his belly rubbed when grooming, never seen him rub himself. The past week this has got progressively worse - we had to have the vet out last Friday to look at two haemotomas on his chest that were boiling hot and red raw/bleeding where he had bitten them. He had a hot & swollen face with ulcers round the upper lip/gum and blisters/scabs around his sheath. Intensely itchy, particularly around his sheath. The vet gave him a steroid injection, suggested it was probably an allergic reaction, asked us to treat him for lice (in case) and call him this week. The haemotomas were improving and in fact had disappeared although he was bald in the area. Last night they were v. hot again and today they are re-appearing. He still has the face/sheath issues and is now intensely itchy. I agree it is likely to be an allergic reaction but have no idea to what - he's in the same field that hasn't been treated, no new horses, no ragwort in the field, no change of feed, no change of bedding. In at night, out during the day. Eating/drinking/poo-ing normally. The vet is coming back out tomorrow but in the meantime has anyone ever experienced anything similar? Or had any experience in working out what their horse is suddenly allergic to? All help very gratefully received!
 
Mine had a terrible reaction to ants last week, all over his face, he is OK now though, I think he stuck his nose in an ant nest.
 
Given his age, I would ask the vet to give him a blood test for liver problems. Itchyness, photosensitivity and self-harming are all symptoms of liver disease. It more than likely isn't that, but it is worth ruling it out and isn't wildly expensive.
 
No - the steroid jab he had last week reduced them to nothing - but then started coming back. Vet came back out today, second longer acting steroid jab, taking skin & blood samples for testing and we've got to keep him in for a week (fun). We've treated for lice at the same time, just in case.
 
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