Sarcoid nightmare

Tammytoo said:
Sorry, my bad!
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No problem, it's got practically everything else in :) !

I checked them out one by one when I bought it, and many of them have proper clinical trial reports for stuff like tumour suppression in humans and animals.

My horse's main scar, on his face, continues to get smaller and grow more hair and he's been on it for six months now. None of his forty or so others have regrown. I'm very lucky, I really love his quirky character and I'd hate to lose him now.
 
My 3 year old was treated with the irradiated wires for one above his eye, hugely expensive but it was effective and at the time the insurance covered it. However, he also had a load of them on his sheath these were treated with acyclovir cream from the vet (same stuff as Zovirax) the key with this cream is very frequent applications daily over a long period of time. This cream doesn't have the same side effects as some of the Liverpool creams. The sarcoids on his sheath have now gone. He has a small one between his front legs but it hasn't changed in 3 years nor has he got any others that we have found but we don't look too hard to be honest. We now have a policy of "benign neglect" if they don't bother him we don't bother with them. My vet was determined that she needed to get her laser out and cut holes all over the pony but I was equally determined that this wouldn't happen. I suspected at the time it was to do with an immature immune system and subsequently this may well have been the case. Some sarcoids will just disappear on their own therefore I do wonder whether some of the non veterinary products/treatments do work or whether they just coincide with the horse's own immune system dealing with them.

Either way I would always take advice from a vet but the cynical voice in my head says it is in the vet's financial interest to treat so although I may seek advice I will also weigh up carefully what the advice is and what is in the best interests of my horse. I'm so glad I didn't put my pony through extensive laser surgery and all the pain and trauma that goes with it. If the sarcoids become a problem in the future then I'll consider the options but if they don't bother him then they don't bother me. I would have sold this boy but he is effectively "unsellable" due to his sarcoid history unless I virtually give him away but the good news is I now have an absolutely cracking pony to have fun on so everyone else's loss is actually my unexpected gain.
 
Hi,

A bit of positivity for you.

My mare had sarcoids on her chest as a two year old. They were treated cryogenically, which has left a scar that isn't too bad. She still has a successful showing career.

She will be 14 in 2016 and has not had much of a relapse. She has what I think is one on her chest, which is TINY (5mm max) and appeared last year. Noone has ever noticed it and I don't endeavour to treat it as it's not doing anything.

So despite having sarcoids so young, she has gone on to live an almost sarcoid free life.
 
HipoH said:
My 3 year old was treated with the irradiated wires for one above his eye, hugely expensive but it was effective and at the time the insurance covered it. However, he also had a load of them on his sheath these were treated with acyclovir cream from the vet (same stuff as Zovirax) the key with this cream is very frequent applications daily over a long period of time. This cream doesn't have the same side effects as some of the Liverpool creams. The sarcoids on his sheath have now gone. He has a small one between his front legs but it hasn't changed in 3 years nor has he got any others that we have found but we don't look too hard to be honest. We now have a policy of "benign neglect" if they don't bother him we don't bother with them. My vet was determined that she needed to get her laser out and cut holes all over the pony but I was equally determined that this wouldn't happen. I suspected at the time it was to do with an immature immune system and subsequently this may well have been the case. Some sarcoids will just disappear on their own therefore I do wonder whether some of the non veterinary products/treatments do work or whether they just coincide with the horse's own immune system dealing with them.

Either way I would always take advice from a vet but the cynical voice in my head says it is in the vet's financial interest to treat so although I may seek advice I will also weigh up carefully what the advice is and what is in the best interests of my horse. I'm so glad I didn't put my pony through extensive laser surgery and all the pain and trauma that goes with it. If the sarcoids become a problem in the future then I'll consider the options but if they don't bother him then they don't bother me. I would have sold this boy but he is effectively "unsellable" due to his sarcoid history unless I virtually give him away but the good news is I now have an absolutely cracking pony to have fun on so everyone else's loss is actually my unexpected gain.
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I totally agree with every word of this. I to have a cracking horse because of his sarcoids, I would never have paid full price for him.

I have no idea if the sarc-ex is a pure coincidence of timing, but I also find it interesting that many of the ingredients are for immune support and gut support and not actively for fighting tumours, so I think you have a strong point there.

I also agree that there seem to be an awful lot of sarcoids which would never cause a problem in the horse's lifetime being surgically or chemically removed 'just in case'. But having said that, I always remove them in case I want to sell the horse in future . In the case of single sarcoids which aren't near tack or the eyes and aren't changing at all, I suspect the best policy is leave alone but keep a watchful eye.
 
Just as a quick update on my youngster. He is currently in Glasgow with Prof Knottenbelt who has already carried out laser work under standing sedation on all his upper body sarcoids. On Tuesday he will have a GA and all the lower body sarcoids will be lasered. This hopefully will give us a clean playing field for the future, so that any others that appear will be new ones.

I've been very lucky to be able to have a long chat with the Professor, and my mind is a lot clearer now. We now have a course of action for the future which hopefully will secure him a few more years of healthy life. The intention is to employ 'benign neglect' on any others that grow after this very invasive treatment. Fortunately it appears that of all the treatments, laser is the least painful, and this seems to be accurate as he is now languishing in the Weiper Centre's very impressive stable block having a luxury holiday whilst he awaits further treatment....which of course I'm paying for.

It better work this time!
 
HelenS said:
Just as a quick update on my youngster. He is currently in Glasgow with Prof Knottenbelt who has already carried out laser work under standing sedation on all his upper body sarcoids. On Tuesday he will have a GprOA and all the lower body sarcoids will be lasered. This hopefully will give us a clean playing field for the future, so that any others that appear will be new ones.

I've been very lucky to be able to have a long chat with the Professor, and my mind is a lot clearer now. We now have a course of action for the future which hopefully will secure him a few more years of healthy life. The intention is to employ 'benign neglect' on any others that grow after this very invasive treatment. Fortunately it appears that of all the treatments, laser is the least painful, and this seems to be accurate as he is now languishing in the Weiper Centre's very impressive stable block having a luxury holiday whilst he awaits further treatment....which of course I'm paying for.

It better work this time!
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I have all my fingers and toes crossed for you.
 
I'm another that has had success with global herbs sarc-ex. It's relatively inexpensive so I think worth a shot as a preventative measure once your horse is back. Good luck.
 
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