swollen legs, lethargic ...

[lkc80]

My friend has a 19y.o ex racehorse. He has suffered all summer with lumps that appear all over his body & if left end up seeping. The vet has been & given steriods to treat the condition. he thinks its some sort of allergic reaction but no idea what to.
His feed, bedding etc have all been changed.
He has not had any lumps for about 4 weeks now since the last injection (they were coming back after 1 week).
However now he has very swollen legs, often with a bit of heat in them. He is very lethargic & not himself. Being a TB he doesn't hold weight well. he has a good appetite but doesn't seem to be putting on any weight despite feeding him 3 hard feeds a day & ad lib hay when out & ad lib haylage when stabled.
Lately he has been sweating more than normal aswell. A few mornings he has been sticky under his rug. He has a fairly thick coat & has a trace clip. He has been wearing a medium weight rug so cannot be too hot!
Any ideas what might be wrong?
His temp is normal.
Thansk

 

[be positive]

Try a detox, either Global herbs restore or NAF both can help with skin irritations and reactions and should do no harm.

 

[AmyMay]

He has been wearing a medium weight rug so cannot be too hot!

Unless he has a temperature, clearly he is......

Have bloods been run at any stage??

 

[thundersprite]

i would get a blood test done to check his liver function

but also my mare a few weeks ago had all 4 legs swollen we though he liver failing again as one of the symptoms but it was a virus and she was very lathergic bloods showed her white and red count were all over the place

 

[lkc80]

thanks, will suggest that. I had suspected cushings but he doesn't have & has never had laminitis.
The sweating seems more like a stress thing rather than a heat thing as it never happens when he's in the field no matter what rug he has on. The other morning he was sticky under his rug & there were 2 holes dug in his shavings. I thought that showed signs of having coliced overnight.
He is getting a lot of hard feed with an extra one at 9pm (none of its heating all fibre based).
His internal temp has always been normal.
He is sweating more than normal when ridden.
His legs are swollen all the time but go down when ridden.
Laura