Lumps on mare.......advice??

[Anastasia]

One of our Hanoverian mares has come out in huge lumps all over the place - all over body, legs (of which her front legs are all puffy), neck, chest, under the neck and some on the face.

She is on straw and has been getting haylege and our own mix with sugarbeet. The lumps practically came up over night and they are driving her nuts, as it she is circling her box and rubbing her whole body along the back wall of her stable.

We got the vet out, and she pulled the lumps off (which came off VERY easily), and underneath this the area was moist. So the lumps and swabs from the skin were taken and sent off, but nothing has been found.

We have put her onto baileys stud balancer only and changed her haylege to hay (as we thought that the protein may have been affecting her), and this seemed to have worked, but tonight she was just manic again!!

She hates you trying to touch any of the lumps and runs away from you when you try to feel which ones are bothering her. The is continually turning round and biting them off her stomach, so as you can imagine she is looking very fetching just now!!

I am away to put her onto Metacam to try and bring down any inflammation and we have got some wash from the vet to try on her. Because she is in foal we cannot give her any steriods and have to watch what we can give her. I just feel so sorry for her and want to help her as much as possible. Her appetite is not affected in any way.

But now I am wondering whether the straw is affecting her, although she has been on this for months now??? The top of her back and her back legs dont seem to have been affected.

Anyone any ideas??

 

[henryhorn]

I know from personal experience the best stuff for itching is aloe vera gel, preferably straight from the fridge.
If you can give her any in her feed that will also help.
I would remove the straw and put her on shavings for now to see if the itching stops.
It doesn't sound like ringworm or anything I can recall seeing before, more like a massive allergic reaction. It may be the vet will agree to some anti histamine which might stop the irritation.
I'd go with masses of aloe on the area for now, at least that should stop the itching, don't forget you need to do it every hour for a few hours to make it work effectively.

 

[Anastasia]

Thanks HH....will pop in past the Chemist on the way home.