Sarcoid on sheath - what would you do?

Grumpy Herbert

Grumpy Herbert

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My 22 year old retired gelding has a smallish sarcoid on his sheath. My vet has referred it to the University of Liverpool, and they have recommended treatment with cream to be applied over 3 applications. I've read the protocol and instructions, which I've found quite alarming - it's clear the treatment will cause significant pain and discomfort.

I'm at a bit of a loss what to do next. Given my boy's age, and the fact he hasn't had the best of lives before I got him, I'm wary of putting him through a painful procedure that may not necessarily cure the problem. So, do I leave the sarcoid alone, monitor it and intervene if it grows or spreads? Or do I go ahead with the treatment, potentially causing my boy a lot of discomfort, but also potentially nipping the problem in the bud? If it was on any other part of his body I wouldn't hesitate, but it's such a "sensitive" area! I'm also worried that the inevitable swelling may interfere with his ability to pee, and that the wound will attract flies.

Obviously I will discuss all of this with my vet, but I would really appreciate impartial opinions/advice, and of course anybody's experiences with this treatment as I've never encountered it before.
 
If it's smallish, I would get your vet to write you a prescription for Efudix™. It's about £27 over the counter - and one tube will last weeks. You can put it on yourself, twice a day. After a week, if he's getting a bit sensitive, stop for a week then restart. I've had good results with this on small sarcoids on the sheath or scrotum, whereas with Liverpool Cream you'd be getting head kicked in after two applications!
 
Thanks for your reply. I got the feeling that he may object ever so slightly (!) to the Liverpool cream!!! And that's another spanner in the works - he's a nightmare to get a needle into, so sedation would be difficult too.

Will speak to the vet about Efudix, thanks again!
 
My old pony had a sarcoid on his sheath years ago, we were advised to leave it alone but once it started to get bigger the vet put a band around it and it would eventually fall off. It always came back and we would repeat with the bands. It did get bigger over the years and towards the end it would bleed when it fell off and the bleeding would last a while. We had to leave him inside during the day in the hot summer as it did attract the flies. In the end we PTS as it was obvious the sarcoid was growing inwards as well as outwards and it was huge. He could always pee though as the sarcoid was on the side of the sheath.

When this happened we were never told about any creams (not sure how long the creams have been know about) if it happened again I would be trying to get rid of it before it started growing, so I'd be going with what JanetGeorge suggests as the pain my old pony must have been in towards the end is not something I'd like to repeat :(
 
My horse had a sarcoid on his sheath when he was six and the vets went down the Liverpool cream route. This involved on the first treatment the cream being injected into the site as well as being applied to the outer area and then over the next seven days two more applications were put on the outside. He was sedated on the three occasions and by the third you could tell he could feel it, but he was still well behaved. A band had also been placed around the sarcoid to stop the blood flow. When he started the treatment the sarcoid was the size of a golf ball, because we decided to have the treatment done in the winter when there were no flies around. In a month the sarcoid had come away from the sheath and touch wood he has been clear since. I do however believe that his sarcoid developed from an infected fly bite, so I am very obsessive about keeping his sheath fly free in the summer.
 
Sorry meant to say in your case you may feel your guy is too old and if the sarcoid is only small I'd leave it. My horse's sarcoid got very big very quickly.
 
My youngster started with one sarcoid on his sheath. We treated it with bloodroot cream from the vet, and banded it. It eventually fell off, but grew back, and at the same time another crop of small sarcoids began to break out in other areas. Bloodroot had no effect and so the vet banded the one in his armpit, but it started to grow back. He then had the Liverpool Cream treatment (4 applications over 8 days) and most have gone, but one on his stomach, very close to the girth, seems to have morphed from a verucal type to a nodular type since the treatmen. And then in the meantime another crop of seed sarcoids have started to appear!

He did have several around his sheath and inner thigh. Most that have been treated have regressed/disappeared, but there are still some small ones that need management. The cream was uncomfortable and painful after about an hour following application, but only the last dose needed him to be sedated because he had truely had enough by then. The sheath swelled up and looked awful but it did not interfere with him urinating, even though he was treated on both sides and the back of the sheath.

Sarcoids are a menace, and I'm going through some seriously disturbed sleepless nights at the moment. He is my dream horse, the last of my breeding line, and everything I could wish for.....except the sarcoids!

On a more positive note, his mother had them at the same age (5/6) they were treated with the Liverpool cream and never came back. I lost her to an unrelated condition aged 18.

Good luck. I know how you are feeling.
 
HelenS said:
My youngster started with one sarcoid on his sheath. We treated it with bloodroot cream from the vet, and banded it. It eventually fell off, but grew back, and at the same time another crop of small sarcoids began to break out in other areas. Bloodroot had no effect and so the vet banded the one in his armpit, but it started to grow back. He then had the Liverpool Cream treatment (4 applications over 8 days) and most have gone, but one on his stomach, very close to the girth, seems to have morphed from a verucal type to a nodular type since the treatmen. And then in the meantime another crop of seed sarcoids have started to appear!

He did have several around his sheath and inner thigh. Most that have been treated have regressed/disappeared, but there are still some small ones that need management. The cream was uncomfortable and painful after about an hour following application, but only the last dose needed him to be sedated because he had truely had enough by then. The sheath swelled up and looked awful but it did not interfere with him urinating, even though he was treated on both sides and the back of the sheath.

Sarcoids are a menace, and I'm going through some seriously disturbed sleepless nights at the moment. He is my dream horse, the last of my breeding line, and everything I could wish for.....except the sarcoids!

On a more positive note, his mother had them at the same age (5/6) they were treated with the Liverpool cream and never came back. I lost her to an unrelated condition aged 18.

Good luck. I know how you are feeling.
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I know exactly how you feel, I inherited a young horse pickled with them which we have been treating for nearly a year now with Liverpool cream. The trick seems to be to catch them early before they've got too big. It's not a nice treatment but I would rather my horse uncomfortable for 24 hours following a treatment than covered in sarcoids. I would never knowingly buy a horse with them in the future though...
 
Join the Turmeric Users Group on Facebook. There are lots of anecdotal reports there of sarcoids shrivelling and dropping off, as a result of not only topical treatment with turmeric but also feeding it as recommended there. Usually both together but if you will struggle to apply a cream, worth a try.
Sarcoids do drop off spontaneously too - actually, some are viral warts and the immune system deal with them but my vet was saying the other day some actual sarcoids disappear on their own, so the turmeric may or may not be responsible.
 
Thanks for your replies everyone - I've had horses for many years now and have been fortunate not to have encountered this problem til now. If he was younger and also if the blooming thing wasn't in such a sensitive area, then I wouldn't hesitate to have it treated. It just seems a lot to put him through, but equally I don't want it to spread or grow bigger if it can be sorted now - it's only 2cm across at the moment. Decisions, decisions.........

Will discuss with the vet and decide after that, but it's been good to get all your experiences.
 
I have used Liverpool cream on the sheath on two different horses and each time the discomfort was not bad .
They had some danilon and where not distressed by the treatment .
 
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