Melanoma advice

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sallyellis

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Hi, I have a grey mare who is aged anywhere between 14 and 20 nobody is quite sure although she is 11 if you go by her passport but that was done at a sale, we have had her 3 years and I love the bones of her....she is usually a very good doer but has lost weight quite rapidly lately, she still looks well but not as big as normal, yesterday I found two lumps under her tail and also beside her vagina, and noticed a bigger swelling lower down today, I have booked the vet but was wondering if anybody had any advice from when their horse had one etc .....
 
cimetidine (a POM) can be prescribed to try to reduce melanomas. its a human drug. apparently works well, but didnt work for my horse! now i just try to ignore the lumps as horse is really well in herself and still competing etc to her full ability. the joys of a grey!
 
Melanomas on the outside don't usually cause a problem unless they block the windpipe/anus etc.
It could be that she has some inside though that are causing problems.
I think the general advise for melanoma's on the outside are to leave well alone
 
Thanks I am hoping for the best, we dont know exactly how old she is or any of her history before we got her only that she had a hard life her feet were a mess and she is petrified of men but she and I have a bond and I cannot bare to think of her in pain. Has anybody heard of using green tea powder as an antioxident to help?
 
Ill keep my fingers crossed for you. I lost my old boy to internal melanomas and there is really nothing you can do. He was on Cimetidine for a year (years before he died) and it made no difference.

Hopefully the weight loss can be explained another way.
 
My first pony (grey/white) went from being a chubster to slight in the space of 6 weeks. He was 21 at the time.

He did have melanomas, but I think his sudden weight loss was more to do with his pituitary gland as he showed signs of cushings and metabolic syndrome. Blood tests were done, but the vet didn't think there was much wrong. Note: stopped using that vet after misdiagnosis on other pets.

Had a difficult balance to keep sufficient weight on him without him getting laminitis for his remaining years.

When he was 28 he began to have minor colics. These became more frequent, and he was put to sleep as vet speculated that the melanomas were causing problems in his stomach.

Good luck with your horse
 
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