Severe photosensitivity on muzzle.

Vizslak

Vizslak

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My poor old ponio has had a really nasty photosensitive type reaction on the white bits of his muzzle blistered and scabbed even 2 small blisters inside his nostril where its white
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So I know buttercups can cause this as can St Johns wort and ragwort (we have none of these in paddock) anyone else had a horse with a similar reaction and what caused it? The only thing I can think of that may have caused it is cow parsley as we do have a reasonable amount out there (but not loads) and he does really love it as most horses do.
Left over roast tattys and a glass of red for all helpfuls out there!
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Slap loads of sudacreme on it, my mare gets this but she now wears a mask on a fieldsafe headcollar and it has now stopped. Its brill for sunburn too, but it stops any plants that she might react to touching her muzzle.
 
one of mine had a huge problem like this years ago got very out cause it was terible and no real reason behind ie not a huge amount of sun any vet blood tested him and it came back with something to do with his liver might be worth gettting the vet
 
no, no clover either
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have sudocremed since came up yesterday but is really really nasty
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poor boy
Tattys all round!
 
oh sorry forgot to add; Yes I am a little concerned about the liver function and had half made my mind up to get him blood tested 2mrw as hes very old and has never had this problem before in all the too many years iv owned him! Over reaction? Or wise?
 
yes mine was an old boy he is sadly no longer with us (not liver related ) get blood tests done will give you an answer we didnt go any futher than blood tests as we didnt want him poked and proded around we brought him a mask type thing that covered his mussle he did improve any questions please ask
 
thanks cuffey, none of that either, i picked a few mystery herbs/flowers when i went for a scout round earlier and didnt pick any of that! but worth knowing as that's not on the usual lists of nasties.
 
relating to the cow parsley, i pulled some of that out of my old ponys mouth and the milk from it burnt my hands and became blistered i think it came off a hog weed which is like a giant cow parsley
 
hmm the problem with all those wild cow parsley type plants is they all look remarkably similar but there are loads of different ones and some are quite nasty. We dont have any hogweed, they grow like 3m high untouched, which the paddock has been for years until recently so i would have noticed. I have sort of presumed in the past that they would only eat cow parsley and leave anything else similar as they are supposed to be very nasty tasting but I could be a bit naive in that theory i think. Also I have heard of cow parsley causing photosensitivity so perhaps I should just pull the whole lot up.
 
i just looked on the net and it says that when the stalk is broken a sap is secreted which goes on the skin. and when it comes into contact with the sun it causes photosensitivity, blisters and sores.
 
Is that cow parsley? If thats the case i think thats prob what it is then poor lad. The mares fine but has no unpigmented areas on her face. It is only on his white bits. He has white socks and no sign of problems on them so cant be anything we have major abundance of that they are walking through. No sores in his mouth or lips either.
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I'm not much good at being miss marple.
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Sadly, the most common cause of sudden severe photosensitivity is ragwort poisoning. Ragwort poisoning is cumulative so the original damage can have been done years before. An added stress then proves to be more than the remaining functioning liver can handle. If you are in any doubt, have a blood test done for peace of mind. The only safe way to deal with extreme photosensitivity is is to stable the horse during hot summer days. I'd also be very cautious about applying oil based creams either ON sunburn or as a sunburn preventative. Oil based creams can actually make things worse. Factor 50+ sun block and a face mask with nose cover is far better.
 
it can be caused by loads of plants but to be on the safe side get bloods done on his liver asap and keep him out of the sun!
 
Has your pony been on Bute for anything - either now or in the last year or so? I am told by my vet that prolonged or high doses of Bute can cause photosensitivity for ever after.
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Very, very wise to get the bloods tested. If it's not really happened before I would be seriously concerned about the state of the liver.

The only time I have seen this happen suddenly was in a very poor old hunter who had been bought from market. The tests showed significant damage although he is still going now and is stable with a lot of treatment and care.

Hmmn I wonder why that horse was at the sales. The new owners thought they had a bargain.
 
Ditto what BOF said, the horse is protected now with a an extended full face mask. He still gets bits and bobs on his lips though, which are unfortunately mottled pink, so sensitive anyway.
 
thanks everyone, have spoken to vet this morning, he thinks I'm doing everything right and have it under control and has suggested waiting a few days to see how it heals before blood testing for liver function given that he is fine in himself, eating well and although obviously has a sore nose he's not in any major discomfort (oh and hes actually gained weight recently not dropped any). It is just as likely he has stuck his nose on something nasty by all accounts. So fingers crossed that his pink iccle nose returns to normal soon and I can stop worrying. TBH if there is a problem with his liver and he is about to go downhill rapidly, it will be time to call it a day while he is still happy and before winter comes. At his age I couldnt put him through any prolonged major treatments and wouldnt want to see him with a lesser quality of life for any reason. So now I need some vibes please! X
 
Oh, let's hope he has stuck it where he shouldn't have!

Agree with everything else you say though, there's no real coming back when the liver starts going
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