Itchy, sore legs.

ClumsyPonyPF

ClumsyPonyPF

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The other day we brought our horse in from the field and saw a couple of sores on his legs, next day we went up and he was covered with them. Like he had been chewing his own legs. They are soo itchy for him and really irritating.

Wondering if anyone has ever had anything like this before. We have had the vet out and are going through treatment. It is not mud fever.
 
My first reaction when I read your post was "mud fever"...... but if the vet has eliminated that, then what does he/she think it is?? If you've gone to the expense of calling the vet out, then surely they've given you some idea of a diagnosis???

Has your horse got a lot of feather on his/her legs? Coz it might be feather mites (do a search on here, there's some stuff in the archives).

But personally I'd have said mud fever. Its endemic at the moment with this cussed weather.
 
don't dismiss mites just because the horse hasn't any feather, they are driving my horse mad at the minute, can't get rid of the blighters.
 
Hi it sounds like mites to me! does your horse stamp his feet a lot? I put Noromectin on my horses legs, its a sheep wormer, not licensed for horses but its the only thing that seemed to get rid of them, just rub it into the legs and leave it on, then repeat a few days later if there is still irritation, :)
 
Vet said he thinks it may be a type of infection within them. He has previously had mud fever, which was our first thought too. However this is more like sores and a bit different to how we have ever seen mud fever.

They are starting to clear up now, he has had to have quite a lot of prescriptions from the Vet and he was slightly concerened about it because it was quite nasty and he was worried about it getting deeper.

He is a tb with very little excess hair on his legs, vet had a really good examination when he looked at them, so would have thought he may have noticed mites or signs of mites?

We explained it to him on the phone the day before he came out in which he was quite relaxed about it, however think it surprised him when he came out.

Today it hopefully looks like it has started improving, however don't want to speak too soon!
 
well i have never seen any sign of them, just the end result of weeping sores, but if you have had the vet I sure he knows what he is doing.
 
Mine showed similar symptoms and skin scrapes revealed a fungal infection. The vet gave me Malaseb shampoo which soon cleared it up.
 
GT_02 said:
Mine showed similar symptoms and skin scrapes revealed a fungal infection. The vet gave me Malaseb shampoo which soon cleared it up.
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Ah that's the stuff that we have been given too! And the vet did mention it could be a fungal infection! How long did yours last after using the shampoo? And did you ever find out what may have started it and caused the infection?
 
Lou_Fletch said:
Ah that's the stuff that we have been given too! And the vet did mention it could be a fungal infection! How long did yours last after using the shampoo? And did you ever find out what may have started it and caused the infection?
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From what I remember it started to clear up very soon. I was told to use it every three days until it had disappeared and after the second/third application it was MUCH better. The itchiness would drive him mad but this seemed to improve almost after the first wash! Never found out what caused it though :confused:
 
My mare suffers with feather mites! She is a cob but her feathers were clipped! She had sores and lesions from them and stamped her back feet like crazy! I have finally found what works for her, insecticide shampoo and pig oil the next day!!!
 
GT_02 said:
From what I remember it started to clear up very soon. I was told to use it every three days until it had disappeared and after the second/third application it was MUCH better. The itchiness would drive him mad but this seemed to improve almost after the first wash! Never found out what caused it though :confused:
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This sounds exactly like what we have! The itchyness seems to have gone after we have started using this. His sores are still quite big, and is loosing hair around them now which is making them look bigger. Had the vet out today and he said they are really drying up which means that it is clearing up!

We are having bloods done, and maybe a biopsy monday, to try and find out a bit more about it. We are really wanting to find out what caused it to see whether it is preventable in the future. Did you have any issues with it after or again?
 
Lou_Fletch said:
This sounds exactly like what we have! The itchyness seems to have gone after we have started using this. His sores are still quite big, and is loosing hair around them now which is making them look bigger. Had the vet out today and he said they are really drying up which means that it is clearing up!

We are having bloods done, and maybe a biopsy monday, to try and find out a bit more about it. We are really wanting to find out what caused it to see whether it is preventable in the future. Did you have any issues with it after or again?
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If the scabs are drying up now then it does sound like it's on it's way out - a skin scrape should be able to confirm whether it was fungal or not. Yes, it did come back from time to time but as I knew what it was I was able to use the shampoo straight away to get on top of it. There is another shampoo that you can get from a chemist (Nizarol, I think) that is anti-fungal so you could always try that if you run out of Malaseb as I think it may be cheaper.

Sounds like the Malaseb is doing the job though, if your horse is half as itchy as mine was, I'm sure he'll be very relieved!
 
GT_02

Yes he was really itchy and he seems to be very happy we have stopped some of that! He is on pain killers and anti-biotics atm, and he is cutting down/coming off those soon, so we shall see over the next few days as to whether that has been hiding some of the itchyness/pain or whether the cream and wash is really treating it! Hopefully and I suspect that is the case!

Vet said to us it may appear again, in which it could be something more specific (will have to ask other half if he remembers what he said it was!)

You are being very helpful thank you :)
 
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