Sarcoids... An idiots guide please

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candyhorse

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Hello!,

So the new horse arrived a few days ago. Then yesterday a lump was spotted high up on his leg (wasn't picked up in the 2* vetting). It looks like a bulbous fleshy skin coloured lump, and is a bit red where I think its been caught.

The yard owner said it could be a sarcoid and to keep an eye on it.

I googled sarcoids and it said it was skin cancer. Now I am very worried :( .

Does anyone have advice on what to do next? What danger the boy is in? The horse is fine for us to touch it and it doesnt seem to bother him, however he is a complete dope and isnt phased by anything.

Thanks
 
Don't mess with it at all. If it's raw you'll need to keep the flies off it in the summer - easiest and safest is just a dollop of vaseline over it or Sudocrem. Don't put anything on it that says things like "aids skin healing". Big no-nos are tea tree products or anything with aloe vera in it. That's because you don't want anything to aid the growth of cancer cells. If it gets bigger you may need to do something about it. Please please consult your vet. Liverpool Cream (only through vets) has a good success rate but if the sarcoid is in an area on soft tissue such as around eye or on penis etc then Liverpool Cream may not be appropriate. Other options include BCG injections, freezing, surgery. But be aware that any "interference" with a sarcoid can kick off a growth spurt. By and large sarcoids do not spread but flies are thought to be responsible for the appearance of new sites. Don't ever use Camrosa or anything that you wouldn't be happy to slap on your own skin if you had a skin cancer. There will always be someone trying to sell you some witchcraft option but ignore them. The problem is that bog standard warts, lumps and bumps can be mistaken for a true sarcoid. Warts etc usually drop off themselves so people think their amazing self help stuff (eg toothpaste!) has got rid of a sarcoid when in truth all it's done is make it harder for the horse's own body to get rid of a wart.

Do be aware that the occasional sarcoid can turn nasty and be life threatening. I'd recommend reading Prof Derek Knottenbelt's (Liverpool University) definitive guide to sarcoids. Can't remember link but google will find it or someone on the Forum will know it. Good luck and above all remember the Hitch-Hikers Guide To The Galaxy advice, DON'T PANIC!
 
Box_Of_Frogs said:
Don't mess with it at all. If it's raw you'll need to keep the flies off it in the summer - easiest and safest is just a dollop of vaseline over it or Sudocrem. Don't put anything on it that says things like "aids skin healing". Big no-nos are tea tree products or anything with aloe vera in it. That's because you don't want anything to aid the growth of cancer cells. If it gets bigger you may need to do something about it. Please please consult your vet. Liverpool Cream (only through vets) has a good success rate but if the sarcoid is in an area on soft tissue such as around eye or on penis etc then Liverpool Cream may not be appropriate. Other options include BCG injections, freezing, surgery. But be aware that any "interference" with a sarcoid can kick off a growth spurt. By and large sarcoids do not spread but flies are thought to be responsible for the appearance of new sites. Don't ever use Camrosa or anything that you wouldn't be happy to slap on your own skin if you had a skin cancer. There will always be someone trying to sell you some witchcraft option but ignore them. The problem is that bog standard warts, lumps and bumps can be mistaken for a true sarcoid. Warts etc usually drop off themselves so people think their amazing self help stuff (eg toothpaste!) has got rid of a sarcoid when in truth all it's done is make it harder for the horse's own body to get rid of a wart.

Do be aware that the occasional sarcoid can turn nasty and be life threatening. I'd recommend reading Prof Derek Knottenbelt's (Liverpool University) definitive guide to sarcoids. Can't remember link but google will find it or someone on the Forum will know it. Good luck and above all remember the Hitch-Hikers Guide To The Galaxy advice, DON'T PANIC!
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Thank you very much! That has made me a little more relaxed about it. If I put vaseline on it, will that prevent the flies getting to it?. Horses are too stressful!
 
My horse got treated for a sarcoid on his sheath two years ago which touchwood hasn't returned. From about this time of year until september I use vaseline on his sheath daily. It just seems to stop the flies being able to bite him in that area and possibly cause a re-infection.
 
http://www.liv.ac.uk/sarcoids/introduction/
As previous poster has said, 'DON'T PANIC', don't go putting anything on it that you wouldn't put on your own skin, definately not Camrosa or anything that promotes new tissue growth. Your 2 stage vetting tends to just check heart and eyes so i wouldn't expect it to pick up sarcoids unless they were screamingly obvious.
 
OP, yes, a raw or weeping sarcoid can attract flies that then paddle in the sarcoid material before zooming off to another area on your horse (or someone else's) and thus potentially spreading the virus that kicks the sarcoid off in the first place. A big dollop of vaseline will stop flies paddling in the sarcoid bit remember to refresh it regularly. Don't rub it in, just let it sit there.
 
Give your vet a ring too, as the earlier they're started on the treatment the more likely you are to succeed. Lots of new therapies coming through ATM, I read an interesting paper on the use of cisplatin
 
I don't know much about sarcoids, but if you have insured your new horse, do be aware that you are probably not covered for anything other than accident within the first 2 (?) weeks of owning the horse. I seem to remember some kind of exclusion like that being common.

So unless you are immediately worried about it, I'd be tempted not to discuss it with the vet until you are past whatever period it is for initial exclusions, not least because the vet will have to record when it was first mentioned to them, and the insurers can take that as the start of 12 months cover for that condition (even if you choose not to have any vet treatment for it at the time).

Sarah
 
Sorry to go against the grain here but my horse had several sarcoids across his chest and on his sheath,treated them daily with Aloe Vera gelly,took about 5 months to clear them but has been sarcoid free for last 8 years :D:D
 
Yeeharider - aloe Vera is designed to stimulate cell growth, which makes it one of the worst things you can put on a form of skin cancer. Either your horse's lumps weren't sarcoids, or if they were they naturally regressed, DESPITE, not because, of the aloe vera.

OP - the other advice here is good. Get your vet to send pics to Derek Knottenbelt (your vet should suggest this anyway) and he will be able to advise on the most appropriate treatment for the type, size and location of sarcoids. In the meantime, stay away from camrosa/aloe or anything designed to encourage cell growth.
 
we have a horse on the yard at the mo with 2 big sarcoids and next to the sheath area. sarcoids as explained by a leading vet the other day, say it's a type of herpes virus and the horses immune system thinks it's o.k to have sarcoids, and their are lots of treatments on the market to try, but heard the best so far and less expensive and not so evasive is the vet injecting the horse with T/B (tuberculous) virus for cattle, and to trick the horse immune system to kick in to fight the sarcoids. what the vet has done to the horse at the yard so far is put a few lambing tail bands on the small sarcoids, as this will strangle the sarcoid and fall off in time, and the two big sarcoids nr the sheath area, the vet sedated the horse and stitched a nylon loop around the sarcoids to again strangle them to fall off, antibiotic's and bute and to spray them every day with blue spray (Alamycin or Terramycin - which is blue and is an antibiotic spray from the vets). . I think most vet's have their own methods in treating sarcoids, and every horse is different. I personally would not put anything on them until the vet had a look :) There are many types of strain of sarcoids.
 
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Murphy88 said:
Yeeharider - aloe Vera is designed to stimulate cell growth, which makes it one of the worst things you can put on a form of skin cancer. Either your horse's lumps weren't sarcoids, or if they were they naturally regressed, DESPITE, not because, of the aloe vera

Pardon me! Just sharing my experience. My horse was confirmed with occult sarcoids in both areas. I am very aware of the action of Aloe Vera stimulating cell growth and boosting the immune system. This is why I chose to apply it to stimulate normal healthy growth and suppressing the abnormal cells which produced the sarcoid. I am not recommending a treatment,indeed I would not suggest it without consulting your vet first. Just saying that it worked for my boy. Dont believe it was natural regression as they were activly multiplying before I started applying it
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Where are you based? Prof Knottenbelt is doing a talk on sarcoids in Harrogate on 29 March. My horse had 3 small sarcoids which developed after me buying him in an emaciated state - I did have him vetted 2 stage but I know they weren't there then. Liverpool Cream worked brilliantly. Definitely take the experts advice. My concern with your situation is that your vet didn't pick this up at vetting
 
Definately get a vet to diagnose and keep an open mind on treatment. Use their advice but also do your own research too. I treated sarcoids using a homeopathic vet with great results two years ago and they have not returned. Do what you think is right from the professional advice you receive.
 
could be a fly bite. Just monitor it for a couple of weeks and see what it does.

is it high up on back leg or front?

IF it does turn out to be a sarcoid and IF you are advised to treat it now and is danger of liverpool cream rubbing off when laying down or walking around then I would 100% recommend vet injecting it with liverpool cream and preferably banding it too - that seems to be the most trusted method that vet has done to my horse (believe me, we've been there and got the T-Shirt!)

but could be a harmless fly bite :)
 
I would consult your vet about them. My horse had a sarcoid when I bought her and it never bothered her. Over the last year it did start to grow a little and was right next to a blood vessel in her thigh. Sarcoid was inner thigh. I spoke to my vet who said to monitor it and see what happens. As it grew a little we had her nodular sarcoid surgically removed in November when the files had died down.

So just speak to your vet about it and dont panic. monitor it a see what happens.
 
I would just add that make sure the Vet you talk to is a specialist equine Vet, because non specialists can do the complete opposite of what they should. I used to use a general practice - I got better advice from 5 mins with google!
I got the Vet out for a lump that had come up very quickly that I thought was an abcess - Vet said not an abcess, took a biopsy. Result was "It's a thing called a sarcoid, there is nothing you can do". That & another incident at about the same time led to mer changing to a specialist practise.
That sarcoid grew huge very quickly, then the skin split & it fell out before it could be treated. That's why you should always take the "I covered it with a cobweb dipped in colgate & chanted naked at dawn & it went away" anecdotes with a pinch of salt.
 
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