Sarcoids advice

[Rosiejazzandpia]

Over winter I noticed my usually healthy 6 year old mare has developed a sarcoid on her chest. It's about the size of a 20p and not bothering her.
Over the past month two more have appeared on the inside of her thighs with another forming. They're not bothering her in the slightest, not sore or weeping.

Vet came today to do jabs so asked him to take a look. He suggested lazering them off or Liverpool cream. Lazering would have to be done at the vets, so would have to travel and spend the day there.
She's a terrible traveller, very stressy and anxious if we even get her on the box.

Both treatments quoted at about £500 which is something that I don't really have to spend at the moment after being made redundant and living off savings through lockdown.

I have no experience with sarcoids, never had a horse or even known a horse with them luckily enough. My mare isn't insured and I'm concerned that lazering/cream would leave open wounds that would be prone to irritation from flies. She lives out 24/7 and doesn't do well stabled.

Just looking for any advice from anyone who has dealt with sarcoids. Should I treat now or wait? Anyone tried any different remedies with success?

Thanks in advance ?

 

[Pinkvboots]

Are you not insured as they will cover the cost as long as she has not had them before.

You can try something to boost the immune system they can then just go on there own, my horse has had 2 the first one just went on its own, the other one is still there but it's not bothering him and am hoping it will just go, both were the nodule type I just put him on a good all round vitamin and mineral supplement, he gets global herbs restore every few months and have heard aloe Vera can boost the immune system as well.

 

[Pinkvboots]

He actually got these after a period of illness and a stressful time so I think they are prone when run down hence the immune boost.

 

[Rosiejazzandpia]

Are you not insured as they will cover the cost as long as she has not had them before.

You can try something to boost the immune system they can then just go on there own, my horse has had 2 the first one just went on its own, the other one is still there but it's not bothering him and am hoping it will just go, both were the nodule type I just put him on a good all round vitamin and mineral supplement, he gets global herbs restore every few months and have heard aloe Vera can boost the immune system as well.

Thank you. She's on a balancer and nothing has changed in her routine/life. No she's not insured, never has been I usually put money aside each month as an emergency fund but with covid and redundancy my finances are depleted

 

[Spottyappy]

I have used Liverpool cream and lazering. The lasering is done by our vet on site, so maybe see if another local one could do that if your girl Doesn’t travel well. the last laser we had, we didn’t need sedation, only local anaesthetic and it was £157 For a penny sized melanoma.
i would never use Liverpool cream again, btw. It is very strong, and my mare was traumatised by it.

 

[meleeka]

My horse had both laser and Liverpool cream. The first one was laser. He was at the vets for something else so it made sense to do it while he was under anaesthetic. You are correct, it leaves a big hole. He had 9 removed and they all came back and looked exactly the same as they did before removal. I then opted for Liverpool cream. That was pretty unpleasant for him but they did all go quite quickly. He was sarcoid free for a few years apart from a small flat one that nobody saw with the cream, but he now has around 5, all under the skin.
The important thing is that they can be spread by flies, so you need to make sure your horse is well protected against them. Even now I’m obsessive about fly creams and repellents because given the chance the flies will feed off them and then infect other areas of the body.
Do ask your vet about blood root cream. I believe it’s cheaper and I’ve read it has good reports of being successful (and is one of the ingredients of Liverpool cream).

 

[Rosiejazzandpia]

I have used Liverpool cream and lazering. The lasering is done by our vet on site, so maybe see if another local one could do that if your girl Doesn’t travel well. the last laser we had, we didn’t need sedation, only local anaesthetic and it was £157 For a penny sized melanoma.
i would never use Liverpool cream again, btw. It is very strong, and my mare was traumatised by it.

Thank you, hadn't thought about another vets so that's a good shout even for a second look and opinion.
I was thinking the same, my mare is sensitive and I think the whole thing may traumatise her

 

[Rosiejazzandpia]

My horse had both laser and Liverpool cream. The first one was laser. He was at the vets for something else so it made sense to do it while he was under anaesthetic. You are correct, it leaves a big hole. He had 9 removed and they all came back and looked exactly the same as they did before removal. I then opted for Liverpool cream. That was pretty unpleasant for him but they did all go quite quickly. He was sarcoid free for a few years apart from a small flat one that nobody saw with the cream, but he now has around 5, all under the skin.
The important thing is that they can be spread by flies, so you need to make sure your horse is well protected against them. Even now I’m obsessive about fly creams and repellents because given the chance the flies will feed off them and then infect other areas of the body.
Do ask your vet about blood root cream. I believe it’s cheaper and I’ve read it has good reports of being successful (and is one of the ingredients of Liverpool cream).

Thank you. Yes we are well protected from the flies. Luckily she isn't a fly magnet but has deet spray every day and thinking I might invest in a good fly rug

 

[MagicMelon]

As much as so many people seem to roll their eyes at the mention of it, I used turmeric mixed into sudocreme on a sarcoid one of mine developed. I just smeared it on twice a day and it literally shrank back to being completely flat with no scar whatsoever after a few weeks. I was shocked it worked so well but I know loads of people will think Im lying as they seem to hate the thought of something as simple as this working ahead of the bloody expensive, nasty liverpool cream The previous owner of this same horse had a different sarcoid taken off with liverpool cream and she was left with a big scar from it. Worth a try before you go down the £500 route!

 

[asmp]

Can they Not be banded? Much cheaper.

 

[Spottyappy]

As much as so many people seem to roll their eyes at the mention of it, I used turmeric mixed into sudocreme on a sarcoid one of mine developed. I just smeared it on twice a day and it literally shrank back to being completely flat with no scar whatsoever after a few weeks. I was shocked it worked so well but I know loads of people will think Im lying as they seem to hate the thought of something as simple as this working ahead of the bloody expensive, nasty liverpool cream The previous owner of this same horse had a different sarcoid taken off with liverpool cream and she was left with a big scar from it. Worth a try before you go down the £500 route!

I also used turmeric, with varying success but some did drop off. The flat ones were not as responsive compared to the raised ones.

 

[GoldenWillow]

My mare was treated with Liverpool cream successfully twice, both times the vet waited until fly season was over. With them being between the back legs they can't be covered with fly rug and I wouldn't want to be spraying or applying any fly repellent near them if you decide to go down the Liverpool cream route.

 

[LegOn]

I honestly have no experience with them so I do stand to be corrected on this one - but a lady on my last yard has a few of the non-weepy, not-sore type, they kinda looked like a wart more than anything. A vet diagnosed them as sacroids and told her to try human Zovirax cream since they werent aggressive before trying anything else. They fell off and never came back!!

 

[ycbm]

As much as so many people seem to roll their eyes at the mention of it, I used turmeric mixed into sudocreme on a sarcoid one of mine developed. I just smeared it on twice a day and it literally shrank back to being completely flat with no scar whatsoever after a few weeks. I was shocked it worked so well but I know loads of people will think Im lying as they seem to hate the thought of something as simple as this working ahead of the bloody expensive, nasty liverpool cream The previous owner of this same horse had a different sarcoid taken off with liverpool cream and she was left with a big scar from it. Worth a try before you go down the £500 route!

Nobody thinks you are lying, but there is no scientific evidence at all that topical turmeric will remove sarcoids, while there is plenty of evidence that some disappear because the horse's immune system kicks in, and also that coincidences (in this case the timing of the turmeric and the immune response) happen.



RJP, bloodroot cream has been proven to an extent and is available on ebay for about £30 a pot. It has a very powerful chemical in it, don't believe the stories of it being gentle just because it's natural.

There is some evidence for acyclovir, though in theory the virus doesn't contain the part the acyclovir is believed to affect, since it was sold to attack herpes not bovine papilloma. I don't think there's any harm in it, though, it is prescribed by vets and I use it on my horse. You can buy a much cheaper version than Zovirax, again on ebay.

Copper sulphate will also work (always, in my experience) but I recommend you not to go down that route except as an absolute last resort. It creates a wound as severe as Liverpool cream, and will scar.

It would be safe to wait and see, and only take action if they change. If they don't bother you and you won't be selling, this is what i would do, because doing anything with them can actually end up making things worse.
.

 

[blodwyn1]

If they are not bothering the horse I would leave well alone. Sarcoids do not hurt the horse but the treatments do! Unless they are ulcerating and bleeding or where the tack goes I don't interfere with them. You can feed sarc X from global herbs which can help.

 

[Pinkvboots]

Thank you. She's on a balancer and nothing has changed in her routine/life. No she's not insured, never has been I usually put money aside each month as an emergency fund but with covid and redundancy my finances are depleted

When Arabi had the first one it was tiny and on the inside of his back leg, vet gave me some Adara cream which can be applied yourself with gloves, I didn't end up using it in the end but I know someone who did and it did get rid of it.

 

[Pinkvboots]

As much as so many people seem to roll their eyes at the mention of it, I used turmeric mixed into sudocreme on a sarcoid one of mine developed. I just smeared it on twice a day and it literally shrank back to being completely flat with no scar whatsoever after a few weeks. I was shocked it worked so well but I know loads of people will think Im lying as they seem to hate the thought of something as simple as this working ahead of the bloody expensive, nasty liverpool cream The previous owner of this same horse had a different sarcoid taken off with liverpool cream and she was left with a big scar from it. Worth a try before you go down the £500 route!

The problem with putting all sorts of unprescibed things on them is they can irritate then the horse rubs them then they bleed and can then get infected and make them worse, I don't doubt that yours disappeared after you put tumeric on them but chances are they went on there own because many just do.

Prime example was my own horse I thought it was a bite initially put stuff on it he rubbed it and it bled making it worse, it's actually not bothering him and it's not got any bigger so I have just left it hoping it goes like the previous one.

 

[Rosiejazzandpia]

Thank you all, some great replies and advice here as always.
I think I'll leave them alone and keep a careful eye on them. She's not going to be sold and as they're not hurting her going to monitor and see in next few months. Vet will be back in 5 months for jabs so I will leave till then and see. If they do need treatment then at least summer will be over, flies gone and I'll be able to replenish the pony vet fund by then.
Thank you all

 

[TotalMadgeness]

My connemara gets sarcoids and melanomas. He had a sarcoid removed from the corner of his eye last year, then the site was treated with bleomycin. This year I noticed another one growing near the site. So I started to put echinacea and spirulina into his feeds to try and boost his immune system. Interestingly enough the sarcoid seems to have paused in its growth and doesn't look as bad as it did. In fact it looks smaller. Anyway vet is monitoring and if it starts to grow he is looking to remove it. I do everything I can to protect him from flies too.