recurring Sheath infection in gelding

[jo t]

Hi
I am new to this so please bear with me My gelding who is 16 has had problems with his sheath. He has been treated by the vet since Oct 2011. We have done swabs, slides and a biopsy and all the other things (i have lost track) and we still cant find the cause of the following symptoms
Irritation in the sheath - horse kicking his sheath at times the sheath looks puffy but not all the time?
Inside the sheath its quite mucky and smelly and at its worst has a discharge.
When at its worst there are ulcsers on the inside of the sheath but the penis is clear and no problems with that.
The vet is doing a great job and liasing with the university in Liverpool as part of the treatment. He has been on anti fungal and bacterial treatment but it seems to be the steriod cream that keeps it under control.
Has anyone else experienced this we are so baffled?
There is no change in his diet and we have ruled out an allergic reaction. When we try to wean him off the steroid cream the symstoms return.
Any ideas would be great thanks

 

[AmyMay]

Are the antibiotics target based?

 

[jo t]

Hi, thanks for the reply.
He has been on oral anti biotics in the past which didnt touch the problem. He is now on creams (topical) they are for yeast anti fungal and anti bacterial (which is also mixed with a steroid)?

 

[AmyMay]

But are they target based? I.e have cultures been taken from the swabs taken from his sheath to ensure that the antibiotics he is receiving are the ones most appropriate for that infection???

 

[jo t]

Hi the swabs went offto the lab and they came back as nothing out of the normal this was when the ulcsers were horrendous? That is strange in itself. The vet took some slides and checked them and could see yeast (which he is being treated for) and bacteria so he is being treated for that. However it seems to be the steroids that are helping him as he was on all 3 treatments and the steroid cream finsished first while the other creams were still going up there and it is deteriorating? He was previously on a cream that they use for mastitus in cows (think thats how you spell it). thatw as on the advice from the liverpool university? The vet will come out and do more swabs but it seems to be some sort of inflamation rather than an infection?

 

[jo t]

Hi the swabs went offto the lab and they came back as nothing out of the normal this was when the ulcsers were horrendous? That is strange in itself. The vet took some slides and checked them and could see yeast (which he is being treated for) and bacteria so he is being treated for that. However it seems to be the steroids that are helping him as he was on all 3 treatments and the steroid cream finsished first while the other creams were still going up there and it is deteriorating? He was previously on a cream that they use for mastitus in cows (think thats how you spell it). thatw as on the advice from the liverpool university? The vet will come out and do more swabs but it seems to be some sort of inflamation rather than an infection?

He has also been treated for summer sores but its not that

 

[GreedyGuts]

Have you tried applying natural yoghurt to the area? It can be very difficult to restore normal microbes to the sheath when they are lost and that can account for type of chronic inflammation you are describing. I would discuss it with your vet as a possibility; I find it works consistently well in this type of situation.

 

[PennyJ]

I wonder if you might have some success removing all sugar from his diet? Might be worth you reading up on candida/yeast infections in humans and how to treat them, the principle is the same even if a differet species, and it doesn't sound like you have much to lose by trying to apply what you can to the feed you give your horse...

 

[muff747]

Has he been tested for Cushings?

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Sorry to put a damper on things but last summer my friend's 23yr old horse had a long battle with similar symptoms to your horse's. Antibx helped a little but as soon as they were stopped it got worse again. In the end they weren't helping much at all. Think he was on steroids in the end. Ulcers, oozing sores, the lot. And the horse was very unhappy and used to struggle to get his penis retracted after a pee which itself was clearly causing a lot of pain. Vets did a skin biopsy and the results were inconclusive although some samples showed pre-cancerous changes. In the end, it was too painful for the horse to suffer any more. The only alternative was to amputate part of his penis but his age and the likelihood of a successful outcome were against him and he was pts before it got worse. Fingers crossed for your boy x

 

[jo t]

Sorry to put a damper on things but last summer my friend's 23yr old horse had a long battle with similar symptoms to your horse's. Antibx helped a little but as soon as they were stopped it got worse again. In the end they weren't helping much at all. Think he was on steroids in the end. Ulcers, oozing sores, the lot. And the horse was very unhappy and used to struggle to get his penis retracted after a pee which itself was clearly causing a lot of pain. Vets did a skin biopsy and the results were inconclusive although some samples showed pre-cancerous changes. In the end, it was too painful for the horse to suffer any more. The only alternative was to amputate part of his penis but his age and the likelihood of a successful outcome were against him and he was pts before it got worse. Fingers crossed for your boy x

I think that this is what we are worried about really. He dosent seem to be responding to any treatment or he does when he is on it then when its stopped it comes back

 

[jo t]

Have you tried applying natural yoghurt to the area? It can be very difficult to restore normal microbes to the sheath when they are lost and that can account for type of chronic inflammation you are describing. I would discuss it with your vet as a possibility; I find it works consistently well in this type of situation.

Hi we havent ried that yet i will chat to the vet and see what he thinks anything is worth a go
Thanks

 

[jo t]

I think that this is what we are worried about really. He dosent seem to be responding to any treatment or he does when he is on it then when its stopped it comes back

I wondered how long the horse lived with the problem before they lost him?

 

[jo t]

Has he been tested for Cushings?

No he hasny yet i will suggest that to the vet
Thanks

 

[jo t]

Thanks for your suggestions as you can imagine i am desperate to find something to help my boy. If anyone knows of anything keep them coming
Thanks