Photos: Vets not 100% whats going on with this one. Thoughts?

GingerTrotter

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A very rare poster here but an avid reader on a lunch time at work :)

Thought I'd post this one up as its a bit odd and would be interested to hear if anyone has any thoughts.

A bit of the back story:
I bought this horse just under a year ago. 6 year old Clydsdale cross quarter horse. He wasn't flu vaccinated so I immediately got him started. The first time he had it he actually got the flu but recovered nicely, the second dose brought on a slight cough which didn't need vet treatment just a couple weeks field rest and then 3 weeks ago he had his annual booster.
2 weeks ago he got a swelling behind his shealth (which I now know there are lyph-nodes there) and then a very swollen willy - he got steroids into the vein and then a coarse of oral steroids which immediately brought his willy back to normal but the lyph-noded have stayed swolled (about the size of an apple cut in half). last week he had another coarse of oral steroids and anti-biotics which have all finished over the weekend - no change in swelling.

Vets now want to leave it and see what happens as they suspect an allergic reaction to something but not the flu jab in this case.

The horse is lethargic on the lunge (currently unridden and has been for a few months as I'm pregnant) and only manages about 10 mins before hes not going forward at all. with the occasional cough immediately after his first trot then no further coughing.
He is very relaxed and happy in himself and shows not other signs of illness to the vets are happy with him overall.

He has been known to have a nasty allergic reaction to tick bites and flies so has garlic and filly-no-mates (herbal supplement) in a daily chaff feed which thankfully this summer means he's had no bites at all that have swollen up and caused him any discomfort.

He is mildly overweight due to the lack of exercise - he's put on about 30-50kg over his ideal weight so now is off grass during the day with access to hay and then allowed into a small(ish) grass paddock at night which has been well grazed down - I changed him to this a week ago when I realised his weight was going in the wrong direction!

So all in all a bit of an odd one - anyone have any ideas whats wrong? Has he just got lazy due to the lack of ridden work and a little chubby so that's causing the lethargy? am I reading too much into that side and the swollen lymph-nodes are just a random thing that will settle soon...??

Thanks for reading!

Photos attached of his current weight.

xx
 

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GingerTrotter

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hes on a hardcore area electric fenced off along the top of 2 of the fields with access to a field shelter with a hay ring.
 

Melody Grey

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Have you tried him off the garlic? I understand why you’re using it for the bites, but I’ve heard a few people who cut it out and coughing improved? Could be a coincidence obviously!

Is it pollen? Have you considered antihistamines?
 

SEL

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A friend of a friend has a horse which has had an awful reaction to its first flu jab - laminitis. Turns out the horse had Lyme lying dormant and it seems to have overloaded its system. Not suggesting yours had, but you mentioned a tick and it got me thinking ......
 
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GingerTrotter

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Have you tried him off the garlic? I understand why you’re using it for the bites, but I’ve heard a few people who cut it out and coughing improved? Could be a coincidence obviously!

Is it pollen? Have you considered antihistamines?
Worth a try for sure. Only having him for one full summer we are still learning about him
 

GingerTrotter

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A friend of a friend has a horse which has had an awful reaction to its first flu jab - laminitis. Turns out the horse had Lyme lying dormant and it seems to have overloaded its system. Not suggesting yours had, but you mentioned a tick and it got me thinking ......
The tick reactions are a small localised swelling that then ooze yellow and go crusty. They live him! But since going on the filly-no-mates he's not had one. But lymes has been on my mind since his bad bites last summer. 😕
 

GingerTrotter

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I've just done so many weight calc and body scoring apps I'm so paranoid about him getting fat! I'm blaming my current lack of riding guilt and pregnancy hormones! Lol
 

Twohorses

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Well this is really interesting --- because one of my horses has three lumps ranging from the size of a walnut on the tip of his sheath, to the size of a plum beside his sheath, to the size of a pear directly behind the sheath.

They weren't there Saturday AM but they were there Sunday AM.

I can see a spot on two of them that look like bite marks but the standard center hole a tick always leaves is not there. That means I'm going with spider bites. Since Inlive in the SE United States, I'm putting the blame on a Black Widow.

If it wasn't a spider, I did chase a big deer fly from his nether areas yesterday.

I have been putting cool water on the lumps then slathering hemorrhoid ointment on them and it seems to be keeping the swelling down.

I really hope I don't end up needing to get a vet out. I spent $500 U.S. last week on the other horse and I just had 200 bales of prime rib grass hay put in the barn -- I am flat broke for awhile----- Annnd DH had two tires separate on the big trailer due to sun damage so there was four new ten ply Good Year tires that weren't cheap. Yep -- broke ----
 

ester

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Please stop the garlic, it causes as many issues as it might resolve.

I would want bloods pulled for my own peace of mind.

I'd wonder with the history whether he has a rather over active immune system for whatever reason, though immunology is not my science.
 

GingerTrotter

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Please stop the garlic, it causes as many issues as it might resolve.

I would want bloods pulled for my own peace of mind.

I'd wonder with the history whether he has a rather over active immune system for whatever reason, though immunology is not my science.

Absolutely going to try him off the garlic
It's the filly-no-mates I've added this summer which seems to have stopped the bitas anyway so we'll keep him on that - link below for ingredients, I'm no herbalist so is be interested in opinions.

https://www.theneemteam.co.uk/filly...PX6gklQlY4f8TZmOzCWehjUxnoDIS8nC_JlW81Qi6R4ls
 

GingerTrotter

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It's nice to have a mix targetted at that without garlic tbh! Not a herbalist either but also less aghast at those ingredients. The main issue with garlic is it's a potent antimicrobial which isn't great for the gut flora.
Really good to know. Thank you
 

Fransurrey

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Neem has a steroidal action, so do wear gloves if you're up the duff!

It sounds like he has a granuloma caused by a bite. Occurs from ticks and horse flies. I would push for the bloods, as they'll show if there's a high eosinophil count (type of white blood cell), which would indicate low level or latent infection.
 

GingerTrotter

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Update:
The vets did blood test and a biopsy which all came back clear. The biopsy showed that the swellings are fatty deposits. Hes not overwieght, and even the vet agreed with me on that one. We did a cushings test (despite him showing any other symptoms) and the result came back as 31.8, it should have been 30 or below but a 100% positive for cushings is 50 or above. So we are doing a more sensitive test for that this week.
So still a bit of a conundrum but the horse appears healthy and happy in all other aspects.
 

DD

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does sound like the beginings of cushings or EMS i'd get a second opinion from another vet.
 

ester

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Can I just check the lumps that came back as fatty tissue where did they come from? where they the ones behind his sheath or I have missed it?
 

Zuzzie

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Did they test for EMS? Equine Metabolic Syndrome is linked to being overweight and causes lethargy. My horse had a negative Cushings test but was put on a trial dose of Prascend and this has transformed him but he also tested for EMS positively and at the time was well overweight. A strictly controlled diet of less grass (muzzled), less hay and only fibre cubes has got his weight right down. He looks and feels great now. Whereas before he was barely putting one foot in front of the other, now he is being a bit of a monster to hack out and is full of himself.
 

ester

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In your pics he doesn't look particularly metabolic so I wonder if that is a bit of a red herring.

Is he still lethargic?
 
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