Melanomas

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eventing09

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So im in the process of searching for my new horse! And come across a great connie but has a melanoma under his tail, hes had it 5 years and not grown since, the vet has looked at it and recomended the lady to just leave it. However what is everyones opinions on this? I know next to nothing on this so any help would be apprciated!
 
My mare is coming 12yrs old and is grey. I very, very nearly didnt buy her as she was grey, in fact the only reason I did buy her is that I couldn't not :D I fell head over heels in love with her on the basis of a picture of her. Shes also the mother of my rising 2 yr old who I adore,an ex JA mare, bombproof quiet, moves nicely, is ideal for me to ponce about doing dressage on, and will do for my niece to hack about on, a really easy breeder and will then return to breeding beautiful foals once the market picks back up and the youngster is old enough to be ridden. All in all, shes bloody fabulous!

However I agonised long and hard over buying a grey that is pretty much guaranteed to get melanomas at some point. If she had any actual melanomas or signs of them I would have walked away. Horses cause enough heart break without buying something with a known issue. You can see the melanoma under the tail, you cant see the ones that might or might not be developing inside :(
 
First of all the vet that's looked at it, have you spoken to them, or is the info from the seller?

Secondly how old is the horse, apparently the younger they are when they get them the lower their immune system is to the virus that causes them? So if the horse is 7 and had this for 5 years it was young when it got it.

I would get my own vet out and look at it and speak direct to them.

Plus remember under insurance it will not be covered for anything linked or even possibly linked to growths, cancers, or warts etc, you would have to foot the bill of any vet treatment that maybe needed one day as it is a pre-existing condition.
 
One of ours had a melanoma under tail (size of a 5p) when he was around 10 or 15. Vet removed it (don't know why this vet wouldn't have, not exactly a big job) and no problem - he's now well into his thirties. You could probably have it taken off by your vet if you preferred but I'm not sure I would have been happy to leave it for 5 years if it was a 'melanoma' (cancerous) and not just some other, unexplained, lump. Of course you can't know for sure without out a biopsy (hence taking it off!). But then, I would have thought if it's not done anything for five years, this makes it more likely to be something benign...
 
I think you will find that it is sarcoids not melanomas that may be related to lowered immune systems. Melanomas are purely to do with the grey gene. My rising 21 year old hunter has huge melanomas under her neck and under her tail, also on her udder. She has had them about 10 years and they have been growing steadily. They are now really horrible and are starting to cause problems. I would be loathe to buy a horse with melanomas but might do so if it was otherwise perfect and very cheap. My previous hunter was PTS with suspected internal melanomas age 20. Her son, also grey, apparently has none so far (age 10) but I am concerned about him getting them. My vet told me not to touch them and that the drug available is expensive and doesn't work!
 
Melanomas are not cancerous growths and cannot be removed. Sarcoids are cancerous growths although they come in many, many different types, some of which are non-invasive and may even fall off by themselves.

I bought a horse with tiny melanomas under his tail, eventually he had to be PTS as they had spread everywhere and were causing recurrent laminitis, HOWEVER that was after 8 fantastic years together, so if I got the choice I would definitely buy him again. He was 16 when he was PTS which is not terribly old, but not terribly young either. Horses suffer from many, many problems, he could have had to be PTS for many, many other reasons and 8 good years is a great bargain in my book!
 
The horse is 12, rode him today and loved him, have two welsh d's to try tomorrow, then have to choose! Thankyou to everyone for your input! Very much appriciated :)
 
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