Ringworm

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Farma

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I have noticed a few strange scabs on my horses face I haven't seen anything like them before, had a quick google and it seems that ringworm may be the culprit.
I have bought her in so she isn't mixing and will call the vet shortly but just wondering if anyone else has dealt with this before, what was the treatment and isolation process?
 
If it is ringworm (raised scabby patches, always circular) it is a fungus, and the spores can live for very long periods in fabrics and porous substances like wood. Canestan does the job for the actual ringworm, then you have to disinfect and thoroughly clean rugs, wooden surfaces etc.
There used to be an internal treatment called griseofulvin which effectively interupted the development of the fungus and meant you didn't have to ensure you treated every possible infected area of skin, but I'm not sure if it is still available. Worth asking your vet if it is ringworm and is widespread.
Isolation means ensuring no physical contact, I don't think the spores spread in air just by actual contact.
And be aware you can catch it too
 
As well as the griseofulvin you used to be able to get an antifungal wash from the vet that you shampooed them with. Not dealt with it for years but the ponies had it in the past when they had lived with infected cattle. You do have to disinfect the places that have been in contact but don't worry too much there are far worse things to have and at least it's treatable. Canestan will clear it from people too as I found out :D
 
Gloi said:
As well as the griseofulvin you used to be able to get an antifungal wash from the vet that you shampooed them with. Not dealt with it for years but the ponies had it in the past when they had lived with infected cattle. You do have to disinfect the places that have been in contact but don't worry too much there are far worse things to have and at least it's treatable. Canestan will clear it from people too as I found out :D
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Thanks for the reply, its more the annoyance that she lives out and we only have another month of that luxury, if she has to be confined to her stable she will be alone 24/7 which is going to be the difficulty!
Yes I remember years ago one of the horses on our yard having it and my sister caught it, it wasn't my horse though so I have never personally dealt with a horse having it.
 
If it is ringworm she has picked it up somewhere and so may the others she lives with, unless the other liveries object, which they are likely to because your horse will be seen as the "culprit", there is no reason to keep her in once treatment has started, you may well find the others already have it so worth getting everyone to check their own really carefully, that said it may not be ringworm there are plenty of other causes of scabby faces, one of mine has a small area where his fly mask has rubbed slightly.
 
One of mine got this from a stray cat sleeping on her winter rug. I treated it with an anti fungal shampoo and some cream (can't remember the name) It took a while to go away as well. Although the cat had been on the other horse's rugs, they didn't get it. Bloody cat gave it to me too:rolleyes4:
 
Unless the horse is young, old, or sick, it should be no problem and they will limit it for themselves. But an anti fungal cream won't hurt. I've found any athletes foot or thrush remedy will do the job.
 
be positive said:
If it is ringworm she has picked it up somewhere and so may the others she lives with, unless the other liveries object, which they are likely to because your horse will be seen as the "culprit", there is no reason to keep her in once treatment has started, you may well find the others already have it so worth getting everyone to check their own really carefully, that said it may not be ringworm there are plenty of other causes of scabby faces, one of mine has a small area where his fly mask has rubbed slightly.
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Thank you for the reply, I hope that will be the case but as you say it will depend on other liveries, she is only actually out with one other horse but has lots of neighbours she could touch - although she isn't likely to as shes a mare and not the most affectionate to other horses!
 
ycbm said:
Unless the horse is young, old, or sick, it should be no problem and they will limit it for themselves. But an anti fungal cream won't hurt. I've found any athletes foot or thrush remedy will do the job.
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Thanks ycbm, what do you mean by limit it for themselves?
 
When we had a young horse on the Yard with suspected ringworm it was treated with Imaverol wash. It didn’t spread to any other horse or any person. It’s likely the older horses had some immunity already.

Could also be just a bit of rainscald which can cause scabby areas on the face and elsewhere on the body. Treated with a bacterial and fungicidal wash.
 
My homebred mare got it as a 5yo when away at competition livery. As you can see, it was fairly extensive :eek3:.
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The vet said she must have picked up a hefty dose of it. He did prescribe an anti fungal wash, but I can't remember the name. She was fine in herself, and stayed in work, but couldn't compete til some hair grew back. She also couldn't be turned out during the day because her new pink skin was very prone to sunburn. No other horses on the yard got it at the same time, but there was a history of ringworm there. She has healed up 100% with no scarring.
 
Mine had ringworm last year. We had some calves come to stay in an old shed which hadn't houses anything since foot and mouth, must have still been around in the wood etc, all the calves got it and some inquisitive kids thought it would be entertaining to touch the calves and then not knowing what the consequences would be, went round and touched all the horses. I think about 7 altogether came down with Ringworm. Easy to fix though, we just disinfected everything with Virkon and then made sure we washed our hands and took precautions when dealing with other animals. Luckily we got rid of it and no scars left over :) good luck!
 
mule said:
One of mine got this from a stray cat sleeping on her winter rug. I treated it with an anti fungal shampoo and some cream (can't remember the name) It took a while to go away as well. Although the cat had been on the other horse's rugs, they didn't get it. Bloody cat gave it to me too:rolleyes4:
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Some people/animals seem to be more susceptible than others - when I worked on a yard that had it, the others all got and I never did, although afaik we were all doing the same work in the same conditions
 
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