Hives again

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mariaandefe

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Hi,

It’s me again. My horse has yet again broken out in hives for the third year in a row now. It happens every October/November. I had him allergy tested which said he had a stage 4 allergy to a mould, and some other minor allergens. Nothing, absolutely nothing changed in his feed, hay, shavings etc. I am completely lost and I genuinely don’t know what to do anymore, they get worse with each day until I end up using dex or something similar which i don’t want to do anymore.
Does anyone know what could help?
please be kind
 
He had broken out yesterday, I cleaned under his rubber mat, added in 2 bags of shavings and had his window open at night. Today they got better, and this is a constant loop for the past week 🤦‍♀️
 
It’s possible there’s some toxic exposure, but it’s something we’re not currently aware of.
A while back someone posted about their horse getting ill, no feed change etc, but the creosoted wooden fencing/gates etc were being nibbled on, and when checked creosote is very toxic to ingest, for reasons that escape me right now…maybe a heavy metal in there.

I’ve noticed mine like to nibble more on barks of bushes and trees in the autumn - they’re on forage 24/7/365, so fibre isn’t a problem, it’s like a seasonal appetite urge they get annually. Due to this I’ve had to restrict certain toxic trees with fencing….holly bark brought out one of them in hives.
Ivy leaves they like too, and there are likely berries this time of year. Luckily most ivy is out of reach for mine and they get a stretched-neck handful of leaves during summer growth if they really try! But in high amount they could be toxic. The berries more likely than leaves.

With any suspect toxin/hives as a precaution to help their gut/immune signalling the hives, I’ve fed charcoal/green clay to absorb poisons (outside of times feeding minerals in feeds) and milk thistle for liver help. This helped bring my gelding through a severe hives reaction after 2 feeds/days. Feed these powders into a sloppy beet pulp mix so the powders are easily mixed and wetted. Tablespoon of each powder. The clay can be hydrated before use as that drinks a lot of water, mixed into a soupy texture, then added to the beet. Tastes bland. But if short on time/facilities mix in as a powder and make sure the beet is very sloppy wet.

The mare gets hives with topical equine sprays. That’s her Achilles heel. Any perfumed bedding would be a no for her. Even rugs would have to be stripped of any soap residue etc. I make my own fly spray for her due to this.
It’s incredible how they differ in hive producing sensitivities, but the sensitivity can be quite hard to spot and nail for a while.

Did you clean your stable with a strong disinfectant/bleach that he could have licked/breathed-in? Used any topical treatments? Seen evidence of wood bedding eating? Rape straw was terrible for both mine eating it and subsequent hives/lami.
Is anyone able to access and feed without you knowing….ignorant Jo public feeding a sausage roll with herbs or something?!
As owners we get forced to think of absolutely every possibility!
 
PurBee said:
It’s possible there’s some toxic exposure, but it’s something we’re not currently aware of.
A while back someone posted about their horse getting ill, no feed change etc, but the creosoted wooden fencing/gates etc were being nibbled on, and when checked creosote is very toxic to ingest, for reasons that escape me right now…maybe a heavy metal in there.

I’ve noticed mine like to nibble more on barks of bushes and trees in the autumn - they’re on forage 24/7/365, so fibre isn’t a problem, it’s like a seasonal appetite urge they get annually. Due to this I’ve had to restrict certain toxic trees with fencing….holly bark brought out one of them in hives.
Ivy leaves they like too, and there are likely berries this time of year. Luckily most ivy is out of reach for mine and they get a stretched-neck handful of leaves during summer growth if they really try! But in high amount they could be toxic. The berries more likely than leaves.

With any suspect toxin/hives as a precaution to help their gut/immune signalling the hives, I’ve fed charcoal/green clay to absorb poisons (outside of times feeding minerals in feeds) and milk thistle for liver help. This helped bring my gelding through a severe hives reaction after 2 feeds/days. Feed these powders into a sloppy beet pulp mix so the powders are easily mixed and wetted. Tablespoon of each powder. The clay can be hydrated before use as that drinks a lot of water, mixed into a soupy texture, then added to the beet. Tastes bland. But if short on time/facilities mix in as a powder and make sure the beet is very sloppy wet.

The mare gets hives with topical equine sprays. That’s her Achilles heel. Any perfumed bedding would be a no for her. Even rugs would have to be stripped of any soap residue etc. I make my own fly spray for her due to this.
It’s incredible how they differ in hive producing sensitivities, but the sensitivity can be quite hard to spot and nail for a while.

Did you clean your stable with a strong disinfectant/bleach that he could have licked/breathed-in? Used any topical treatments? Seen evidence of wood bedding eating? Rape straw was terrible for both mine eating it and subsequent hives/lami.
Is anyone able to access and feed without you knowing….ignorant Jo public feeding a sausage roll with herbs or something?!
As owners we get forced to think of absolutely every possibility!
Click to expand...
i use limestone cleaner under his rubber mats. otherwise i havent disinfected his stable for quite a while now.
no topical treatments as of now, except tendon relief on his ligament
i have never seen him eat shavings, except possibly when he eats his hay he could accidentally eat one.
saturdays and sundays at the stables is a nightmare, but he has a ‘don’t touch me i bite’ sign outside his stable so people don’t come to him, but you never know!
 
For some horses even flies biting can bring them out in hives. Have you used the antihistamines recommended by the other posters? On an another thread you are in turkey and I imagine you get some whopping flies all year there. No matter the cause, allergic reactions are very much helped by antihistamines as it’s the histamine allergy response in the body. Piriton is completely proven - get the chlorphenamine version which is stronger than certirazine which is the anti-drowsiness version (Piriteze).

Try that first, second step is steroids from the vet but whenever I have used piriton in a hives horse for three days it’s normally gone
 
Does the hives come on at a certain time of day

I had a mare with hives but only in the evening, bought in before 6 pm no hives

Certain insects are active at different times of day

You could try fly spray fly rug

Some of these allergies are very alarming but recede rapidly when the horse is brought in
 
mariaandefe said:
Hi,

It’s me again. My horse has yet again broken out in hives for the third year in a row now. It happens every October/November. I had him allergy tested which said he had a stage 4 allergy to a mould, and some other minor allergens. Nothing, absolutely nothing changed in his feed, hay, shavings etc. I am completely lost and I genuinely don’t know what to do anymore, they get worse with each day until I end up using dex or something similar which i don’t want to do anymore.
Does anyone know what could help?
please be kind
Click to expand...
mine did that. Once I got him tested and treated for cushings with prascend it was good bye to the hives and very quickly. I have heard of others who are similar.
 
Same as Paddy. Mine had hives on and off for about 2 years. I tried everything. Then I had a hunch and tested for cushings. Positive - she was only 9. Since starting pergolide, no more hives.

With it being an autumn thing this could possibly link to the seasonal rise as well. Definitely worth a test, especially since it's free.
 
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