Lumps under Chin area - any ideas???

[rhiannonboxall]

I have a pony who was left to starve in the winter of 07, she was severely amaciated and in a bad way.

She is now practically fully recovered and a happy mare.

However, in May last year i moved her to a different field. After about 3 weeks these huge lumps came up under her chin, at first hard, then soft. The vet came out thinking it was strangles, did loads of tests and it turned out its not. I gave her antibiotics which didnt seem to help. Then she moved again in September to a new field and the lumps went down after a few months.

This year, in may again, the lumps are back! Now they are always hard, not soft and they go up and down in size. They dont seem to affect her breathing or anything like that....

Just wondering if anyone else has heard of this or has any idea of what it could be?

I was leading toward some kind of allergy but really not sure

really appreciate some ideas
thanks

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

It's probably something called "grass glands" hun, and nothing to worry about. The horse's salivary glands sit sort of under its chin. Horses produce huge quantities of saliva in the course of a normal day. But when some horses are put out on lush grass - especially neds like your girl who knows what it is like to be starving - they pig out non stop! Poor old salivary glands have to go into overtime to produce enough saliva and they swell. Antibx won't help in the slightest as it isn't an infection, just glands working flat out. I'd just keep a careful eye on it but if there are no other symptoms, I wouldn't worry. Nice to know your rescued mare is a happy girl. Keep an eye out for too fast weight gain on lush autumn grass as she could be a candidate for laminitis xxx

 

[rhiannonboxall]

Thanks very much for your help with this, I've just done a bit of researching on the web and it sounds like that is what she has got.

Only a couple of things, last year when the vet came out (thinking it was strangles) she opened up the lumps and loads of puss poured out.....this year they are too hard to burst so i havent been able to do that....is that normal?

It makes sense for them to be grass glands as last winter she was stabled every night and only had very short grass to graze on during the day, plus her hay was in an overhead feeder which i think helped them go down.

Besides bringing her in, is there anyting i can do to make them go down? She is on her winter holidays now so will be living out 24/7.

Thanks very much for your help with this. I will try and post a picture of them so you can see.

My vet bill for all the tests done on her were £500, I wonder why they didnt suggest that it could be this?

Rhiannon and Prima.xx

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Are this year's lumps in the same place and same size as last year's? What was the diagnosis from last year's? Grass glands sit deep within the structure of the jaw and would be painless for the horse if you had a bit of a prod and wiggle. If it was the equine equivalent of a boil, I'd expect a prod and a wiggle to be painful for the horse. Grass glands will also go down and back up again depending on if the horse is turned out or stabled. I have no idea what it was that your horse had last year other than an infection from maybe puncturing herself on eg brambles. If you're in any doubt whatsoever I'd call the vet.