Ouch! Laser! £££

[SpotsandBays]

I don’t have any experience with lasering, but I was given a rough quote today from my vet.
So my horse has a pea sized wart in the corner of his mouth. I hoped it was something that could be whipped off when he had his wolf teeth out but oh was I wrong! Vet sent a picture to a specialist. They said best COA would be to have it lasered off, which will cost approx £750. I mean I knew it wouldn’t be cheap cheap but that seems like a lot of money for a literal pea sized lump! We don’t have to rush to do anything yet as it hasn’t changed over the past few months (I check it regularly). Does this seem Expensive or the norm?

 

[Goldenstar]

Difficult place it’s not a straightforward job

 

[SpotsandBays]

Difficult place it’s not a straightforward job

Yeah I understand. It’s a tricky one. I’d like to get him started next year and don’t want to bit him with it as I’m sure the bit will sit on it. Bummer!

 

[ycbm]

I'd ask some other vets for quotes, that seems extortionate to me. I know someone who was quoted less than £500 to laser off a bigger one very close to an eye, May this year.
.

 

[SpotsandBays]

I'd ask some other vets for quotes, that seems extortionate to me. I know someone who was quoted less than £500 to laser off a bigger one very close to an eye, May this year.
.

Yeah I think I will. A friend has said that she’s had laser treatment from her vets and it wasn’t at much as that at all. Also was done at home? My vets said I’d have to take him to horsey hospital. Sounds scary for something so small!!

 

[Becc]

Mine had a lesion on his hindquarters that was lasered off and that was in the region of £500. It was in a fairly straightforward area so I guess in a more difficult area it might cost more.

 

[SpotsandBays]

Mine had a lesion on his hindquarters that was lasered off and that was in the region of £500. It was in a fairly straightforward area so I guess in a more difficult area it might cost more.

Interesting! Can I ask how big the lesion was? And was it done at home?

 

[ihatework]

I’d get other quotes. Sounds extortionate. I had a horse laser hobdayed for less!!

 

[Goldenstar]

Defiantly need him to be in hospital .

 

[Becc]

Interesting! Can I ask how big the lesion was? And was it done at home?

It was done at an equine hospital and it was a removal of a mast cell tumour. The lesion itself wasn’t that big, maybe 1-2cm diameter, but the area lasered was much bigger to make sure it was all removed. The wound isn’t pleasant initially as it left quite a hole, but within a few weeks it had filled in and healed over.

 

[SpotsandBays]

I’d get other quotes. Sounds extortionate. I had a horse laser hobdayed for less!!

Thank you, I will definitely contact some other vets!

 

[SpotsandBays]

It was done at an equine hospital and it was a removal of a mast cell tumour. The lesion itself wasn’t that big, maybe 1-2cm diameter, but the area lasered was much bigger to make sure it was all removed. The wound isn’t pleasant initially as it left quite a hole, but within a few weeks it had filled in and healed over.

Thanks for the info! Yeah I did think it might leave a hole!

 

[SpotsandBays]

Defiantly need him to be in hospital .

Ok! Wasn’t sure what the norm was with these, never had anything like it before!

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

My friend is having 2 small sarcoids lazered off...one inside the thigh and one at the back of his sheath...vet has quoted just over 300

 

[Gloi]

Has it been diagnosed as a sarcoid?

 

[ycbm]

Defiantly need him to be in hospital .

Why GS? There's not going to be any huge haemorrhage risk with that and it's a nice fleshy place that's easy to grab with the horse heavily sedated.

I got fed up with how quickly vets with hospitals want to whip horses into hospital. I now use a vet with no hospital because I trust that vet. But the added advantage is that he isn't trying to take the horse out of my control just because it's got a nasty cut, needs a lump taken off, etc.

 

[SpotsandBays]

My friend is having 2 small sarcoids lazered off...one inside the thigh and one at the back of his sheath...vet has quoted just over 300

I much prefer that price lol

 

[SpotsandBays]

Has it been diagnosed as a sarcoid?

No diagnosis. I kind of assumed they would take a sample for biopsy but they’ve just said that it’s best to remove. I don’t actually know what it is. I was hoping a juvenile wart and that it would just drop off but I don’t think that’s the case!

 

[Goldenstar]

Because there’s no way I would want a vet lasering near my horses mouth unless the horse was completely out of it on sedation with catheter in so it could continually topped and in a set of stocks .
Have you ever seen lasering of a lump going on .

 

[SOS]

I had a horse which has sarcoids lasered off under heavy sedation in stocks as I guess yours would be. They did ‘laser clinic’ days and it was £300... no matter whether they did 1 or 100.

 

[SpotsandBays]

I had a horse which has sarcoids lasered off under heavy sedation in stocks as I guess yours would be. They did ‘laser clinic’ days and it was £300... no matter whether they did 1 or 100.

Yeah I don’t believe that my vets do this, but a friend says that her vets hire a laser and then group together so going to enquire with them and see how much they are charging. ?

 

[SOS]

Note the excision site is quite large so not sure what the healing would be like in that area... I think if it’s was me I’d be interested in FNA sampling first to see if it needs removing and/or best course of action. I think lasering has best results in low mobility, flat areas, which don’t come into contact with food or bedding... which the mouth unfortunately is not!

Heres one of my horses sites... the sarcoid was about 1x1cm and the excision about 8x8cm. This was between the front legs so fairly low mobility but took a while to heal as bedding kept getting caught in it.

 

[SpotsandBays]

Note the excision site is quite large so not sure what the healing would be like in that area... I think if it’s was me I’d be interested in FNA sampling first to see if it needs removing and/or best course of action. I think lasering has best results in low mobility, flat areas, which don’t come into contact with food or bedding... which the mouth unfortunately is not!

Heres one of my horses sites... the sarcoid was about 1x1cm and the excision about 8x8cm. This was between the front legs so fairly low mobility but took a while to heal as bedding kept getting caught in it.
View attachment 56562

Thank you, that’s really interesting to see! So vet thinks that it won’t heal so well if it is “cut out”, and if it is some form of cancerous tissue then it is more likely that bits will be missed rather than with a laser. If it wasn’t right where the bit would sit then I would leave it alone and just keep an eye but I don’t want it to become irritated/sore/worse when I start bitting next year so whatever it is it needs to come off ideally.

 

[Gloi]

I would like it to have a few cells taken to check it is some form of cancerous tissue before lasering. There's a chance it could be simply a scar/proud flesh from an injury there and if that was the case then the lump could just be removed without a large boundary around it.

 

[Trouper]

Even prices for castrating round me vary widely - definitely worth shopping around as long as you are sure what type of operation is needed for a successful outcome. Need to be able to compare like with like.

 

[Sprat]

i'd shop around. I had sarcoids lasered from my mare, one very sizeable, another smaller and then a suspected sarcoid removed and sent for biopsy. She went to the vets, went under local and in stocks, that cost £800. £750 for removal of one wart sounds pricey.

 

[ycbm]

I've been musing overnight. That is an incredibly unusual place for a sarcoid. What fly could bite there? How likely is it that there was a wound there and a fly landed on that wound for long enough to infect it?

I'm with the people who would want that biopsied. It might be possible just to slice it off and leave only a tiny wound to heal. I wouldn't want to see a wound the size left by lasering in that location unless itwas absolutely unavoidable.
.

 

[SpotsandBays]

I would like it to have a few cells taken to check it is some form of cancerous tissue before lasering. There's a chance it could be simply a scar/proud flesh from an injury there and if that was the case then the lump could just be removed without a large boundary around it.

Yeah I agree. I’ll speak to other vets and see if they give me any other options

 

[SpotsandBays]

I've been musing overnight. That is an incredibly unusual place for a sarcoid. What fly could bite there? How likely is it that there was a wound there and a fly landed on that wound for long enough to infect it?

I'm with the people who would want that biopsied. It might be possible just to slice it off and leave only a tiny wound to heal. I wouldn't want to see a wound the size left by lasering in that location unless itwas absolutely unavoidable.
.

So vet said that cutting it out was an option, but that she would prefer the lasering in case it is cancerous (but I do wish she’d taken a sample for biopsy so we actually knew what it was). But then I’m like what if it is just a skin tag? Ugh. Why can’t horses be simple ?

 

[Goldenstar]

I do think OP needs to understand what it is that the vets think they are removing and I would want specialist advice before proceeding .