Hives

[Fionac]

I really hope someone out there can help because this is driving me mad.4 weeks ago i went to bring my 20 year old cob in from his usual paddock and noticed some lumps down his neck and round his girth area, which were obviously itchy. Called the vet and he told me it was an alergic reaction to something.He was given a steroid injection and the following day the lumps had gone.5 days later the lumps appeared again so back the vet came and injected him again.This has gone on now 6 times.We checked his paddock for anything unusual to no avail.Changed his hay to a supplier we'd used before.Stabled him for 5 days to make sure nothing in his paddock.His feed has not been changed neither had his bedding (wood shavings) Rang feed suppliers to make sure they'd not added anything new - no. We;ve not changed anything for at leats 6 months. Vet now thinks it's midge allergy.Bought rambo snug rug, cover him in benzy benzoate and sprayed his rug with a pymethrine based spray. Still coming up in hives. Can't get blood test done until he's been off steroids for a month. Googled everything and the only thing we havn't tried is completely changing his bedding. He's on a pine based dust extracted shavings which he's been on for the last 5 years.Could he have developed and allergy to this and if so anyone any ideas what i could try? I'm so desperate now because i'm not convinced it's a midge allergy.The lumps are realy severe all over his neck, stomach,face and just a few above his tail.

 

[Noodlebug]

Four horse at our yard have had the dame thing. Some were out 24/7 and some had come in. They all got it at different times and the vet hasn't a clue what it is. Lumps range from small (pea sized) to huge (soup bowl). In all the cases the vet has given anti-histamine and they have gone. Some of the owners thought ir was straw mites but this doesn't tie in as they are not itchy and some of the horses weren't in!!!! There was another thread on here about brown backed moths but I think they sting and it would be painfull. All the horses were un bothered by the lumps except one did start rubbing it's head!!

 

[lizzi2]

My horse had similar thing a few weeks ago - lumps of diff sizes all over body, (not seeming to be causing her any bother). Not sure what cause was other than laying on a lot of flies maybe in the field........... (though I do poo-pick fields, so not an exceptional number out there!).
So I put a flyrug on (was living out 24/7 with no rug) and put a good cream onto the lumps to help relieve any irritation. After a couple of days they just went.

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Couple of weeks back my mare suffered the same thing. She looked as if she was covered in hairy chestnut bubble wrap - covered in pea sized lumps all over. Spectacular! Spoke to her previous owner who confirmed she did sometimes get an attack of hives/urticaria but that it was self limiting. My mare was totally unconcerned about the lumps. She had 3 days off and by day 3 they were completely gone with no other "treatment" than watching.

I don't know over what period your vet gave injected steroids but do take great care as they can precipitate a laminitis attack. I'd rather adopt a cautious do-nothing approach and see if they disappear on their own than start giving steroid injections.

 

[Fionac]

Hi.Thanks for the warning regarding steroids.My vet did tell me about that but because the hives are so bad when they appear he does not want to take the risk of my horse going into shock and feels the benefits far outweigh the risk of laminitis.He is on a starvation paddock most of the summer anyway because he just needs to look at grass and gains weight lol.We're now treating the hives as midge allergy but the steroid injection is due to ware off by tuesday so we shall see what happens.I'm going to remove all his shavings tomorrow and replace with easibed just to see if it makes a difference.I've been speaking to a lot of other horse owners and it's kind of 50/50 that a horse at 20 year old should develop a midge allergy.Some say yes and some say no.It realy is driving me crazy and my poor horse too as even with the steroid injection it gets rid of the hives but the itch still remains.does anyone have an opinion on using antihistamines?