Thrush/Sarcoids/Pastern Dermatitis

[sollimum]

My new young cob arrived with the above. Sarcoid has been removed by laser. Thrush now clear in 3 feet but we are still dealing with a central sulcus in one foot with red horse hoof stuff daily packed in. Vet came yesterday and sedated him so we could clip his sore legs - he has 3 white socks and is grey and she is preparing cream for him. I honestly think he needs a skin healing supplement to boost him from within and have gone many rabbit holes trying to work out what to give him? Surely all these external problems much be linked.

 

[Highmileagecob]

Do you think he has mites? I have good results with Selsun 2.5% shampoo. Scrub the legs thoroughly working the shampoo right down to the skin, and right down to the soles of the feet.. Leave on for ten minutes and rinse well. The shampoo will remove all dead skin, scabs and skin debris that the mites feed on, and will kill adult mites. You need to repeat on day 5 and day 10 to catch any hatchlings from eggs present. If mites are present, the itching will stop within three days and lesions will begin to heal. Zinc and castor oil cream is very soothing, and any organic honey will assist healing - although once he discovers the taste.....!

 

[Pearlsasinger]

He sounds to be 'run down'. I think I would ask the vet to run some bloods to check if he is deficient in something, or has a low level infection.

 

[sollimum]

Do you think he has mites? I have good results with Selsun 2.5% shampoo. Scrub the legs thoroughly working the shampoo right down to the skin, and right down to the soles of the feet.. Leave on for ten minutes and rinse well. The shampoo will remove all dead skin, scabs and skin debris that the mites feed on, and will kill adult mites. You need to repeat on day 5 and day 10 to catch any hatchlings from eggs present. If mites are present, the itching will stop within three days and lesions will begin to heal. Zinc and castor oil cream is very soothing, and any organic honey will assist healing - although once he discovers the taste.....!

Yes I think he does - vet has given him a dectomax injection and I am going to scrub his stable today and put in new bedding. I will try the Selsun shampoo as well - thank you so much. He has never stamped or itched but when we took his feathers off we could see how sore he was. I am sure he would love the honey if given a chance.

 

[Backtoblack]

id also worm him even if his counts are clear/low. he might be fighting battles on several fronts.

 

[sollimum]

He sounds to be 'run down'. I think I would ask the vet to run some bloods to check if he is deficient in something, or has a low level infection.

The vet is out again in 2 weeks so I was thinking this, he is bright in himself but as you say must be run down for everything to attack him? He is a lovely irish gelding, cob x connie - he has moved around quite a bit in the last eighteen months (from Ireland to a dealer in Wales to his previous owners (who had him on different yards) to me). I know he went through Ballinsloe Fair at some stage as I contacted the dealer in Ireland who had bought him from there.

 

[Annagain]

My old share horse had terrible issues with pastern dermatitis. It turned out it was caused by a sugar allergy. I'd have a very close look at his diet. Monty never had the other issues you've mentioned (well he'd had a sarcoid before my friend bought him but it was removed and never came back) but they could be coincidental or it could be that he's reacting to something even more extremely than Monty did. Alfalfa is another thing that can make them react.

 

[Gloi]

I'd include a top quality vitamin/mineral supplement in his diet as well as treating the legs topically.

 

[sollimum]

id also worm him even if his counts are clear/low. he might be fighting battles on several fronts.

So vet said this as well - his fecs are coming back clear but she said in this instance to worm him for tapeworm and then blood test or worm him for encysted redworm.

 

[sollimum]

I'd include a top quality vitamin/mineral supplement in his diet as well as treating the legs topically.

Thank you - I am just trying to work out which one to use that is low in sugar and does not contain biotin.

 

[sollimum]

My old share horse had terrible issues with pastern dermatitis. It turned out it was caused by a sugar allergy. I'd have a very close look at his diet. Monty never had the other issues you've mentioned (well he'd had a sarcoid before my friend bought him but it was removed and never came back) but they could be coincidental or it could be that he's reacting to something even more extremely than Monty did. Alfalfa is another thing that can make them react.

Thank you - I have put him on honey chop lite and healthy chaff but I will ensure he has no apples/carrots etc in case that is causing a problem too.

 

[Landcruiser]

The vet is out again in 2 weeks so I was thinking this, he is bright in himself but as you say must be run down for everything to attack him? He is a lovely irish gelding, cob x connie - he has moved around quite a bit in the last eighteen months (from Ireland to a dealer in Wales to his previous owners (who had him on different yards) to me). I know he went through Ballinsloe Fair at some stage as I contacted the dealer in Ireland who had bought him from there.

Absolutely second getting blood test as a baseline. Pay extra and check selenium/vit E levels too. Selenium deficiency is much more common than people think. It can cause problems with immunity, and often manifests as poor coat quality, poor hooves, ongoing sub standard performance and demeanour. (I speak from experience).


ETA - Don't supplement without checking levels, Selenium toxicity is a killer.

 

[Annagain]

Thank you - I have put him on honey chop lite and healthy chaff but I will ensure he has no apples/carrots etc in case that is causing a problem too.

We took Monty back to nothing but grass / hay for a couple of weeks then re-introduced things one at a time with a few days' gap in between to allow him time to (potentially) react. When we added molassed sugar beet his legs went crazy.

 

[expanding_horizon]

Absolutely second getting blood test as a baseline. Pay extra and check selenium/vit E levels too. Selenium deficiency is much more common than people think. It can cause problems with immunity, and often manifests as poor coat quality, poor hooves, ongoing sub standard performance and demeanour. (I speak from experience).


ETA - Don't supplement without checking levels, Selenium toxicity is a killer.

Selenium toxicity is fatal, but I'd understood the amounts provided by a good all round supplement stay within the toxic levels.

Is selenium and vitamin E levels something that can be reliably tested in the blood?

I know some vitamins and minerals the level in the blood is not useful re deficencies?

 

[tristar]

i would give him turmeric, equine america has one with the pepper added, i used it and the sarcoid has shrunk to nothing, use as a precaution

selenavite E is a very supplement, and will put mainly things in order

for the immunity, pukka tea bags echinacea and elderberry daily soaked in warm water in the morning fed in the evening, i use it myself it makes a difference

 

[Pearlsasinger]

My old share horse had terrible issues with pastern dermatitis. It turned out it was caused by a sugar allergy. I'd have a very close look at his diet. Monty never had the other issues you've mentioned (well he'd had a sarcoid before my friend bought him but it was removed and never came back) but they could be coincidental or it could be that he's reacting to something even more extremely than Monty did. Alfalfa is another thing that can make them react.

My cob got a form of pastern dermatitis as a reaction to linseed.
Eta, she had eaten before in a balancer with no apparent problems

 

[Landcruiser]

Selenium toxicity is fatal, but I'd understood the amounts provided by a good all round supplement stay within the toxic levels.

Is selenium and vitamin E levels something that can be reliably tested in the blood?

I know some vitamins and minerals the level in the blood is not useful re deficencies?

Yes, it absolutely can. I was giving my mare Equimins Tip Top - This is her initial Selenium result:

(SELEN) Selenium 697 nmol/L (ref range: 1200 - 3200

She had had several weird ongoing symptoms, including sarcoids, a strange skin condition like rain scald on her stifles, poor feet, as well as muscle stiffness and generally being unhappy.

When you read the tiny print, Equimins Tip Top doesn't give anything like the daily Se requirement. It contains 12mg/kg. Horses need a total of 3mg Se a day. Essentially 4 days worth of Selenium per Kg of supplement powder. Equimins feeding guidelines state that 3 kg product will last 2 months. That's 36g Selenium..in other words 12 days worth...

 

[expanding_horizon]

Yes, it absolutely can. I was giving my mare Equimins Tip Top - This is her initial Selenium result:

(SELEN) Selenium 697 nmol/L (ref range: 1200 - 3200

She had had several weird ongoing symptoms, including sarcoids, a strange skin condition like rain scald on her stifles, poor feet, as well as muscle stiffness and generally being unhappy.

When you read the tiny print, Equimins Tip Top doesn't give anything like the daily Se requirement. It contains 12mg/kg. Horses need a total of 3mg Se a day. Essentially 4 days worth of Selenium per Kg of supplement powder. Equimins feeding guidelines state that 3 kg product will last 2 months. That's 36g Selenium..in other words 12 days worth...

Wow! The vitamin and mineral supplement I use provides 1mg selenium

 

[paddy555]

Wow! The vitamin and mineral supplement I use provides 1mg selenium

in fairness the equimins tip top is described only as an effective boost to essential vits and minerals.. I use the equimins advanced complete.
The difference in price probably suggests that the tip top is far from a complete supplement. The AC is more than twice the price of Tip top.

 

[Hormonal Filly]

in fairness the equimins tip top is described only as an effective boost to essential vits and minerals.. I use the equimins advanced complete.
The difference in price probably suggests that the tip top is far from a complete supplement. The AC is more than twice the price of Tip top.

I feed the advanced complete and just checked the levels of Selenium in it. 0.3mg for 60g (500kg horse) fed a day!

Asides to this, I’ve emailed them 3 times now with a basic question about their copper and zinc levels but been ignored.

I think I’ll switch to either Forage plus or Science supplements (both contain 1.5mg of selenium per day)

 

[Wizpop]

Join the Facebook Chronic Progressive Lymphodema group- also deals with pattern dermatitis-Excellent site with lots of sound advice for-feeding, treatment etc. a great knowledge base.

 

[SEL]

I've had a cob and a draft whose legs swelled up with linseed so I now feed very basic (soaked hay cobs and grass chaff) with a decent balancer.

Carol at Equinatural is great if you want to discuss a herbal boost to his immune system