Sarcoids

Clarkie

Clarkie

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Hi, this is my first post.
My horse has a small flat sarcoid about the size of a 50p peice on his inner thigh area, he also has some small lumps on his sheath. The vet has seen them and advised to leave them alone.
Was just wondering if anyone else has had experience of sarcoids, do they go away without treatment or will they eventually get worse? In the 6 months I've had him the main one hasn't changed in size at all.
Also, I've read that they can be spread by flies, but that interfering with them, i.e. by rubbing fly cream on, can make them become more aggressive.
Any advice/experiences greatly appreciated.
 
No, no, no NOT aloe vera (despite what a well known firm selling aloe vera products will tell you). Sarcoids are a form of cancer i.e. out of control cells & aloe vera stimulates cell growth. Read this website http://www.sarcoids.co.uk/ and listen to your vet. Tea tree should be avoided for the same reasons.
If you had skin cancer would you go to your GP or slap on random substances as recommended by strangers on an internet forum?
 
i would leave them well alone... one of ours has them in a similar area on the thigh, growing at a very slow rate... they have never caused her any problems.
one thing i would say is if it does grow, the vet can knock it off as it basically stretches the skin and will end up falling off, this has happened to ours about twice- shes 18 and has had them all her life, very slow growth rate.
but don't cover it in stuff, listen to your vet!
 
hairycob, I am very reluctant to put ANY substance on the area. My plan was to leave well alone apart from maybe putting some fly repellant around the sarcoid.
Just looking for anyone's experience/opinions or if they've had a sarcoid treated successfully. As far as I've researched the treatment is very aggressive and not 100% effective.
My worry is that somewhere cdown the line the sarcoid will change or grow and I should have done something at this early stage.
 
Go by what your vet recommends.My boy had one surgically removed as it was bleeding and getting bigger.One of the smaller ones dropped off before the liverpool cream arrived to treat the two others. There has been no signs of regrowth or any others growing.
Flies are a nuisance , use a fly rug in the summer and fly repellant but don't spray on the sarcoids !
Ets: If you are still worried about them get your vet to send some pictures to dr knottenbolt at Liverpool university. He is the expert on these and he will say if they need treating or not
 
Archie has one as described on his inner thigh and also a couple on his sheath. I don't do a thing, just keep an eye on them. The couple on his sheath are quite crumbly if touched so seem to keep themselves under control (oh, I hope I'm not tempting fate). My vet is not worried in the least and to be honest I am not over worried either.

Just keep an eye on them and fingers crossed they will not present any further problems xxx
 
A Prof Knottenbelt says the only predictable thsing about sarcoids is that they are unpredictable. I have a mare who has loads (I stopped counting at 30). One was confirmed by biopsy as my old Vet thought it was something else - don't know why as I now know it was a classic nodular sarcoid. It's response was to grow massively very quickly then the skin split & it fell off - there are now several small fibroblastic sarcoids at that site. Two other nodular sarcoids have come off with no intervention & so far no regrowth.
I have had 5 treated - all with Liverpool Cream. 2 healed up really quickly & had disappeared in a few weeks, 2 took about 6 months to heal & the scabs come off, the last one had the last treatment at the beginning of March & I am still waiting for the scab to come off although I think it is close as it's only clinging on in the middle now.
There are lots of treatments - none of them work for all sarcoids, type & location will influence the decision whether & how to treat but if you make the wrong choice you can make them worse (as in my biopsied sarcoid) so it's best to take the advice of your Vet - at least it's an educated guess then. If you spend long enough with google (& I have) you will find recommendations for everything from Crest toothpaste to Angel Therapy which gives a clue about how awkward they can be to treat.
If you've got a horse that is prone to sarcoids it's a good idea to look at your fly defences. Pickle wears a full neck fly rug in summer & is fed garlic from early april until the autumn. I get through gallons of fly repellant as well so make my own (saves £££) but leave tea tree oil out of my recipe because of it's cell growth stimulant properties.
 
Thank you to all for the excellent advice. Fingers crossed nothing changes but I must say I am so paranoid now. I must look at the thing every day expecting it to have become horrendous.
Much appreciated. x x x
 
<font color="blue"> aloe vera </font>

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Nooooooo!

Sarcoids are SERIOUS! Mess with them at your peril. Once you start interfering they can go mad and you need a vet with knowledge and a plan of action. Otherwise leave well alone.

They can be a sign of a compromised/weakened immune system so attend to the wellbeing of him by all means - just leave the sarcoids to an expert.
 
I know from a friends experience to leave them alone. They put Sudocrem on a small lump which then grew and spread. Then followed long painful treatment and recovery - still ongoing. I really just wanted others' experiences as I don't want my boy to go through the same thing.
I'll carry on doing what I'm doing - nothing!
 
My Welsh D gelding had sarcoids which were treated by Liverpool cream several times (and one surgically removed). Some remained after the treatment and I was concerned about his long term future (this was when he was between 5 and 7). He had one on his face, near his eye, which was quite unsightly.

We are on the south coast, near Mark Elliott, who is a traditionally trained/qualified vet who also practices homeopathy. He prescribed a homeopathic treatment for my gelding. Over about a year the sarcoids got smaller and smaller until they disappeared. He has a patch of thinner hair on his face, which is all that remains of the sarcoid.

Now this may be coincidence and he may have got better on his own, but I am happy! I would recommend trying a homeopathic vet as you can be sure you won't be aggravating the problem and it may help.

He is now 12 years old. I was looking at some pictures of him today when he was 6 or 7 and noticed several things which also suggest his immune system and general health are much better now. I'd forgotten how he used to get irritated skin in the summer on his face and rub bald patches, and also how his coat used to fade much more then than now (he is black/brown).

He lives out now and despite being exposed to more sunlight, he definitely stays much blacker! He is also a healthier weight (slimmer!) and is now a very reliable, sensible horse who really looks after me. I'm sure his mental and physical health is much better than it was.

If possible, I think you need to think holistically about health problems, so diet, lifestyle etc. all come into it.
 
Toto had a single one a couple of years ago on his bottom which is very rare apparently?! They are best if you leave them well alone unless the vets have given you some thing to treat it with. We left it alone for a while but it ended up getting bigger and bigger. In the end it was successfully treated with bloodroot ointment *I think* which we got from the vets. Its a similar sort of treatment to liverpool cream but a lot cheaper! And fingers crossed it won't come back!
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RPM, that's very interesting. When I first got my boy he had signs that he'd had ringworm and also he suffered from infected fly bites. I wonder if this is all to do with a weak immune system? What can I do to generally improve that? I think he's probably had a poor start in life.
 
Hi again,

I've used Global Herbs Restore quite a lot over the years. If I think he needs a boost for any reason, I will feed him a course or two, and always use it when his coat is changing in the spring and autumn.

Also I try and ensure he has all the vitamins and minerals he needs. As a good-doer, he has Allen &amp; Page Fast Fibre and Hoofkind. The Fast Fibre has linseed and vitamins and minerals and is low sugar/starch.

This year he has worked about 5 or 6 days a week (apart from the bad weather) and I also give him a half dose of Global Herbs Globalvite and a cup of Bailey's Outshine twice a day when he's working.

He's looking great and very shiny even after the horrible weather we've had. He has always had a very fine coat for a native.

I found out quite a lot about my horse's history and I think he was very stressed when I first had him, as he'd been sold on from a long term home. Soon after I had him, he had to spend two weeks in hospital after an operation on his leg, so I expect his stress levels were through the roof. I'm sure this had brought his immune system down. I noticed three new sarcoids inside his thigh when he came back from the vets (the spring he was 6).

He is quite a stressy horse in some ways (although very calm in others), and I think it has also helped him a lot living out with a stable group of friends.

Hope this helps.
 
One of the biggest problems with sarcoids is that some dodgy lumps/patches are TRUE sarcoids, some AREN'T. True sarcoids are skin cancers and need to be treated with the greatest of respect. Unfortunately, the only certain way to know if a dodgy lump is a sarcoid, rather than a wart or just a funny harmless lump is by biopsy. But the very act of taking a biopsy if it IS a sarcoid can cause it to grow much more aggressively. Catch 22. My vets say, if it looks like a sarcoid, treat it as if it IS one. Sunny had one on the side of his face and it was successfully treated with Liverpool cream (Prof K's invention). Flies are definitely under suspicion for the spread of sarcoids. As said above, it is vital to NOT apply any product that says "aids skin growth" to a sarcoid (cancer). You can make the situation a whole lot worse. Tea tree, Aloe Vera and Camrosa are all major no-nos with sarcoids. Either monitor closely and do nothing unless it becomes necessary or call the vet with a view to a course of Liverpool cream treatment.

There's a zillion threads on here about sarcoids - might be helpful if you do a search x
 
If you are worried about them, discuss the sarcoids again with your vet. However, as a general rule small sarcoids that are not changing over a prolonged period of time in a site where they are easily removed, are best monitored and left alone.

As hairycob said, the general advise is to stay away from over-the-counter lotions and potions as manipulation can make them more agressive.

If the sarcoids need treatment, there are various options and it will depend on the size, site and agressiveness of the sarcoid which is the best.

Sarcoids are caused by a papillomavirus (bovine=cows) and flies are thought to play are role in spreading them, so insect repellents can be useful in summer.
 
Derek Knottenbelt had an article in HH not long ago (I remember because my Mum saved it for me for when I got back from uni!) about sarcoids, might be worth a look. He also has a webpage dedicated to his sarcoid work, which I think has been linked to on previous threads.

Nothing really to add except to echo everyones advice re staying away from any/all products - Prof Knottenbelt has showed us some horrendous photos of what goes wrong when owners mess with sarcoids, its not pretty. The basic points of his lectures to us is always leave well alone unless it starts changing, and if you are concerned get the vet to ask for a 2nd opinion!
 
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