Sheath problems, Please help, any suggestions would be greatly received

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molliemoo

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I have a 19 yr old, 16'2 ID/TB came down with laminitis, EMD, diabetes, end of June last year, he was boxed for nearly 7 months, fitted with hearbars then limited to 1 hour turn out, then his bone pedle bone dropped through his soles on both fores, imprints fitted for 2 lots of shoeing, now back in heartbars and doing really well now on 5 hr turn out, but during his stay his box he managed to pick up a vice where he has been traumatising his sheath, i dont know how he manages it but he sits like a dog and bites at it, he kicks it and sits in his stable and rubs it, vet has tried numerous things such as cortizone cream, anti biotics, even gel and paste for switch itch but he is still traumatising it, both the vet and i am at a loss of what else to do, i did think being turned out for 5/6 hours would probably cure it as i thought it was a boredom thing, but he does this in his paddock too, Please if there is anybody that has been through this please get in touch, im desperate this needs clearing up before the spring, manythanks
 
Oh poor thing. My boys sheath gets swollen if he's in for a few days at a time and not getting ridden and he does kick it a bit. As soon as he gets walking about in the paddock it goes back to normal size and he doesn't bother with it.
Sorry can't be of any help.
 
Thank you all, although i think the rug bib may help with the biting, thank you, he is still sitting down and rubbing, its is very swollen and sore it has been bleeding, looks very ulcerated, i have to try and keep it clean with warm water and i have resorted to the vaseline as it does tend to dry up and scab, which is when i think it may irritate him more, he had it cleaned thoroughly by the vet a few months ago but she seems reluctant to keep cleaning it, i am really at a loss of what else to do for him, he has always been in work and active up until the onset of lami, although i am now back in the saddle, 10 mins a day in walk at the moment thinking this may break his day up, but he is still at it.
 
I would be concerned that there is a large smegma bean (or something else) up on the inside that is bothering him - causing him to behave this way. If you haven't been up there "fishing" OP, did the vet get out a smegma bean? He might need sedating with ACP to hook it out.
 
Yes, he was sedated and a large smegma bean was removed a couple of months ago, is it possible there could be another? so soon? The ulceration seems to be around the edge of the sheath and in the creases on one side, it is very very dry and scabby, am i doing the right thing by trying to keep it soft with vaseline, i dont know :(
 
We do need to be very careful what we put on such a sensitive area.

Personally, I wouldn't choose to use vaseline there, because the vaseline is sticky enough that it might actually encourage more stuff to stick there, instead of acting as a barrier.

My choice is just to use KY jelly to loosen any general gubbins in that area and then rinse off with warm water. I wouldn't really want to use anything more than that, not least because you don't want to risk disturbing the balance of the natural bacterial flora there.

I only tend to do my guys once a year, but I do pick off any bits of gubbins I spot inbetween times when they are relaxing and have dropped. I wouldn't want to do it very often, but it sounds as though your boy definitely has something which is bothering him, so I'd opt to have another look now.

Will he let you clean it yourself rather than asking the vet? Just thinking that as the owner you may be able to spend a bit more time building his confidence with being handled there, and that you might be able to spend more time having a very thorough feel around.

Sarah
 
Hi Sarah, he is happy enough to let me get in and have good clean but thats as far as it goes, i have used the ky before, i shall ky it today and leave it for a bit before i give it a clean with some warm water, the ulcerations are bothering me more than anything as this is what i think is causing him to itch it, i need to put something on to keep it from scabbing up which is the biggest problem, im really concerned as i dont want any flies on it, not that that is a problem at the moment, but it will be another problem if i dont get this cleared up :(
 
just found this webpage, which talks about selfmutilation in stallions, and I thought it might be of interest.

I've no idea whether it's the sore areas you describe on the surface of the sheath that are causing him problems, but if you find it's not that, then this link gives an alternative route for you to look at:

http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=14305

You have to scroll down or search for stallion self mutilation on the page. It doesn't specifically mention biting at the sheath, but when I read it, I just thought of how you'd described your boy and wondered if it could be a similar cause.

Sarah
 
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i would get your horse onto a sugar free diet (where possible) and i would clean the sheath with a dilute vinegar rinse to get the ph back to normal. half a bottle of brown vinegar to i bucket of water. make up and bottle the rest. if any sores visable i would treat with human canestan!
 
I too would recomment caneston. You have to tel lthe chemist its for you! Still its very soothing as well as good for thrush and so on and it doesn't harm the ph.
 
i wouldn't use dilute vinegar, this even when diluted will blister the tissue. I would suggest a warming the sheath with a hot flannel and then making an ointment of vaseline, cornflour, 2 teaspoons of ketchup and a tube a daktarin (athlete's foot cream) and smearing it onto the sheath. This will kill any yeast infection.
 
Thank you for all your advice, since posting this problem, i thought it better fr my boy to be turned out back with his friends instead of being in a paddock on his own, although he had horses fenced off around him, it obviously was something he was missing being in a paddock with others, he has been in a large paddock with two others now for 2 days, the swelling has on the sheath has reduced considerably and he (touch wood) hasn't rubbed or bitten it, he was in his own paddock for his own safety with his lami we didnt want him (bombing around) but turning back out with others was obviously what this boy wanted, so when you think your doing the right thing to protect them, sometimes you just have to take the plunge, i should have realised that it was his friends companionship that he wanted, i know it is only early days yet but he seems so much happier in himself, so thanks again for all your suggestions , i hope this is going to work for him now :) :)
 
Poor baby boy, it's not funny when you got hard to reach itches driving you mad, glad he's on the mend. It might be psychological then, that's his anxiety displacement activity and now he's set up a vicious circle

My boy always has a dirty sheath and flaky willy and I'm told it's right not to clean it too often as that will just make it worse.

Anyone got any instructions as to how to look for/remove the bean? I don't want to go fishing and push bacteria in

Also what cleaner/loosener does everyone use and is there something that can be put on weekly to prevent both buildup inside the sheath and flakiness on the shaft. You cant pull the flakes off as they make it sore.

Great subject eh - not!:o
 
Achinghips said:
Anyone got any instructions as to how to look for/remove the bean? I don't want to go fishing and push bacteria in

Also what cleaner/loosener does everyone use and is there something that can be put on weekly to prevent both buildup inside the sheath and flakiness on the shaft. You cant pull the flakes off as they make it sore.

Great subject eh - not!:o
Click to expand...

http://www.equi-sense.com/articles/sheathcleaning.html

A good squirt of baby oil will loosen any flakes that need to be removed, you can do this over a few days to get it all nicely loosened before removing.
 
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