Oedema under belly and swollen sheath

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Blythwind

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My 25yr old gelding has a pitting oedema under his belly (from girth groove up to sheath) and a very swollen sheath. I'm after advice/any experience!

I had the vet out in August when his sheath was swollen. He sedated my horse, gave everything (sheath/penis) a very thorough inspection and clean, and said it was all fine. Vet thought it might be a fly bite reaction and gave two weeks of antibiotics. Swelling stayed up but eventually went away in about four weeks.

A week last Friday, I went to turn him out and the sheath had swollen again, there was a pitting oedema under his belly (just behind girth groove). He was also lethargic. I turned him out and went back to check him three hours later. Swelling still there and grass glands raised. Vet came out and diagnosed an allergic reaction to his hay or something in the field. Gave no treatment (couldn't have steroids as he's prone to laminitis).

Grass glands are now fine, but the oedema is getting bigger, as is his sheath. It now extends between his front legs all the way back. He is fine in himself, no temperature, gums/eyes look fine, and he isn't bothered when you touch it. I rang vet again this morning, and they want to see him again to do blood tests. He is going in to the vets tomorrow.

I just wondered if anyone else has had anything similar?
 
An older retired share gelding I had suffered something similar - he was checked and cleaned, all fine, so we were advised by the vet to walk him in hand to get his circulation going - he lived out but was a lazy sort who just stood and ate (his weight was also an issue). It took a week or so of walking a couple of times a day but then he was fine and we made a conscious effort to get his weight down after that.
 
My arthritic gelding had the same last winter. Vet thought it was probably either due to standing still for too long (stabling due to fields flooded) or he'd knocked himself with his hoof when lying down. Advice was to mobilise/exercise as much as possible for him.
 
Thanks for the replies.

His heart rate was checked at last vet visit and was fine, but I will ask them to check again. My google research leads me to heart/kidney/liver failure so I am hoping its not that.

He is retired but is turned out in the day and brought in at night. I did ask if I should try lunging/exercising him and both vets (last one that came out and the one I spoke to on the phone) said it might help it reduce but they were more concerned about the cause...

I will update tomorrow!
 
Fingers crossed it's good news. I thought the same as you when my horse had it, but my YO assured me that it wasn't that uncommon for a horse to kick themselves lying down. Vets reassured me, so hope your vet finds your boy's condition is straightforward too.
 
I'll be interested in your vet's findings - My 21 yr old gets this, along with filled back legs. More often in the summer, and it's usually related to how much grass he has and how much exercise he gets, and also, weirdly, the temperature/weather - if it's colder and wetter, swelling goes down, and hot weather makes it worse. He's been getting it for a few years now - also has become a lot more lethargic over last couple of years so it happens more often. I find feeding a supplement like Restore or De-tox really helps, (which does seem to indicate something to do with liver) along with lunging regularly. Also regular sheath cleaning helps. And I have to keep him off grass like a lami prone horse. Unfortunately my vet wasn't very helpful and said it was just his age.
Look forward to your update.
 
Hi, I would seriously suggest a blood test to look for both anaemia and liver function plus a white cell count. Often pitting oedema is a sign of either heart failure or a serious anaemia particularly when associated with lethargy. I very sadly lost a horse to aplastic anaemia with very similar symptoms. Hopefully your boy will be fine but I do think you need more tests to know for sue.
 
I thought I had started this post as my gelding has just had exactly the same problem but with associated hives. I think his was an allergic reaction to barley straw - we usually only use wheat or oat straw.
 
It doesn't sound like it's very localised just to the sheath area so maybe a broader health problem to do with his age as others have suggested but if you thought the sheath was the origin of the swelling might it be worth the vet taking a swab from up inside his sheath? If there was any strange smelling smegma or discharge could it be a bacterial infection? My gelding had a problem with a very itchy and swollen sheath a couple of years ago and it turned out to be salmonella infection due to some contaminated water in the field getting on the skin and up inside the sheath.
 
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As an update, I've had a frustrating day.

When I booked to go to vet, I did say that he was being sedated that morning for the farrier (whole other story which I can explain another time) and asked if it would make any difference to blood/urine tests. I was told no, and that it would be fine.

So we tootled off to the vets after farrier appt. He arrived still a little quiet from the sedation and i reminded them that he had had Dormosedan. They were fine with that. They listened to his heart (fine), his gut (quiet but fine), took his temp, thoroughly examined his sheath and bits, took his temp. All fine. Decided to clean his man parts again (despite saying they were very clean from the last cleaning session and saying there was nothing there of concern.

Then decided he should be wormed just in case (despite egg count being done three weeks ago and showing no eggs).

Then decided to urine test and blood test.

We came home and then vets rang to say there were a few concerns (glucose, protein and nitrite levels not where they should be) BUT that the sedative could be the cause as it affects all of those things.

There were some things that weren't right that the sedative wouldn't affect.

I asked why they had allowed me to come/why they had proceeded with the tests if it was obvious the sedative could cause false results, and exactly what have we learnt from the whole excercise. They simply said they could understand my frustration and recommended I bring in another urine sample tomorrow and if results still not right (ie comparable to today's ones) then do more blood tests.

Nevertheless, results so far are leading towards kidney infection or disease.

I'm feeling a little annoyed and disappointed - with myself as much with them for taking him on the same day as farrier. I don't know how much to read into the kidney diagnosis yet either. :-(
 
How frustrating and annoying for you. I trust that there will be no charge for re-testing then? I hope that the tests don't show anything too serious and that whatever it is will be easily managed.
 
Hi.....my friends pony had odema in exactly the same place as yours, became quite lethargic and started to lose weight.

He was blood tested which didn't show anything too remarkable. Vet was pretty sure it was a heavy worm burden despite a low egg count several weeks earlier.

He was wormed over a few days and slowly started to come round over the next couple of weeks. The problem with worm egg counts is they don't pick up the eggs of every species of worm as this proves.
Good luck with your pony.
 
A horse on my yard has massive sheath problems, try and get him walking around to get the swelling down, keep it clean as well, he ended up having cussions so maybe worth having the test, a lot of the tests are free at the moment xx
 
My old boy had the same symptoms a couple of winters ago. He was on a yard with very limited turnout and he wasn't a happy soul. The vet checked him out and he found nothing serious, so I moved him to a field living out 24/7 and the condition has never returned.

Might be worth a try?
 
Blythwind said:
As an update, I've had a frustrating day.

When I booked to go to vet, I did say that he was being sedated that morning for the farrier (whole other story which I can explain another time) and asked if it would make any difference to blood/urine tests. I was told no, and that it would be fine.

So we tootled off to the vets after farrier appt. He arrived still a little quiet from the sedation and i reminded them that he had had Dormosedan. They were fine with that. They listened to his heart (fine), his gut (quiet but fine), took his temp, thoroughly examined his sheath and bits, took his temp. All fine. Decided to clean his man parts again (despite saying they were very clean from the last cleaning session and saying there was nothing there of concern.

Then decided he should be wormed just in case (despite egg count being done three weeks ago and showing no eggs).

Then decided to urine test and blood test.

We came home and then vets rang to say there were a few concerns (glucose, protein and nitrite levels not where they should be) BUT that the sedative could be the cause as it affects all of those things.

There were some things that weren't right that the sedative wouldn't affect.

I asked why they had allowed me to come/why they had proceeded with the tests if it was obvious the sedative could cause false results, and exactly what have we learnt from the whole excercise. They simply said they could understand my frustration and recommended I bring in another urine sample tomorrow and if results still not right (ie comparable to today's ones) then do more blood tests.

Nevertheless, results so far are leading towards kidney infection or disease.

I'm feeling a little annoyed and disappointed - with myself as much with them for taking him on the same day as farrier. I don't know how much to read into the kidney diagnosis yet either. :-(
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How's he doing - has the swelling started to go down yet? Did you get a retest? I can see why you are cross! Forgot to mention I find using magnetic boots on back legs seems to help the swelling go down on my horse. Hope you can get some answers soon.
 
HI!

My boy had this some years ago - a swollen sheath then pitting oedema under belly - i was extremely concerned as it can be a sign of heart failure - but it was just a stubborn sheath infection in the end - had some strong antibiotics and it did clear up!
 
Thank you for all your replies/suggestions/experiences.

I took a urine sample in to the vets on Saturday morning (couldn't get horse to wee for love nor money on Thursday or Friday!) . They tested whilst I waited, and apparently everything now looks normal (protein/glucose/nitrite). I have mixed feelings about this - huge relief that its not pointing straight to liver/kidney/heart failure, but still concerned that we don't know what it is.

The vet suggested I could either a) give him antibiotics and 2 bute a day for a week and see how he goes, or b) give antibiotics and bute, and then have ultrasounds scans done, and possibly biopsies etc. Vet recommended that I just see how he goes, but bring him back in if anything changes in terms of the oedema but also if he is quiet/has a temperature etc. So that is what I am going to do. She also said there is a specialist coming in this week, and she is going to discuss my case with him and see if he can come up with anything that she hasn't already thought of and dismissed. I am expecting her phone call tomorrow.

Given his age, his insurance policy now only covers for external and accidental injury - so I don't want to spend a fortune and still come back with no real answers but I want to know whats causing it and whether I can do anything to help him. He seems perky/normal in himself so that's a real positive.

x
 
Has he dropped weight at all? My boy turned into a hat rack over a very short period of time. The pitted oedema then showed up and his sheath swelled. Although the vet did an almighty number of tests, as his heart rate was high and his liver failing it turned out to be leukaemia. I will keep my fingers firmly crossed for a positive outcome for you xxx
edited to add... what did blood test results show? His white blood cells were through the roof and his red through the floor.
 
feel your pain OP!

mine took weeks and weeks to resolve, so try not to panic. he had loads of antibiotics but it *did* finally shift - took around 2 weeks for the belly oedema to disappear!
 
Just done a thread re rapid weight loss - but also have noticed some swelling in the sheath, and also a little filled "pocket" just under his tummy, near where the girth goes.

Symptoms all similar to the ones you have all described above. He had bloods done after his colic, but apart from being a bit anaemic everything was OK. So he went onto red cell for a month.

Now a little worried it could be heart/liver/kidneys - definitely getting the vet out this week.
 
Hi all - in response, no he hasn't dropped any weight at all. Vet even commented that he looks good for his age etc. Red and white cells were normal.

Hexx, I hope your horse gets better soon - what did the vet say?

As an update, the oedema under the belly has reduced slightly (I think, but its difficult to tell as I look at it every morning and every evening and am sort of getting used to it!) but the sheath is still as swollen as it was. He has now finished his antibiotics. He still seems bright and perky. I have been marching him round the school in hand or leading him whilst riding my other horse, just to get him moving a bit. He seems a little surprised to be going in the school as he hasnt been in since I retired him, but he seems to enjoy it! I am still waiting for a call from the vet following her chat with the specialist.
 
Vet couldn't be very specific.

He had a temperature which suggests infection. She took bloods and a poo sample. Gave him a shot of steroids and a course of broad spectrum antibiotics. She thinks he's not absorbing proteins, so problem with the gut function. Although it could be liver. Heart sounded OK.

She was actually surprised he was eating well, considering his temperature!

Just need to wait for results and take it from there......
 
Have a look at an old thread of mine "Vet scratching his head..." 7/12/13. Sounds very similar. If you want more info on what treatment she had, you can pm me. Hope your horse is ok.
 
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