Update Regarding Hippo's Lump

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Arizahn

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Bad news, it is indeed a melanoma. There are three more tiny ones under the base of her tail too.

The vet said our two options were as follows:

1) Remove it surgically. Hippo would be rideable. But this is likely to cause the melanoma to spread and return more aggressively, and could shorten her lifespan.
2) Leave it alone and apply cortisone cream. Hopefully, it will heal up of it's own accord and reharden to the point where she could be ridden if a very thick numnah is used.

I asked which option was best for Hippo's quality of life. Vet said option 2; he was very concerned that the surgery would have severe consequences in the long term. So I decided to go with option 2 (leave it alone and apply cortisone) and see how she is in six months. Obviously if there is a problem in the meantime she will be treated accordingly.


So Hippo is officially off work for six months. After that, we will see how she is. There is a possibility that she will never be rideable again, but overall the vet sees no reason why she can't live for a long healthy lifetime. He also suggested that if she does turn out to be permanently unrideable, we could consider breeding from her, as she is very good quality and well natured. So that's something else to think about.

I wouldn't want to rush into breeding. I'm not knowledgeable enough at the moment, so I think I will wait a couple of years and research it fully before deciding. I'm guessing there are lots of tests that would need to be run anyway, and also I would want to save up enough to do it properly. But if she can never be ridden again, then it would be nice to breed a replacement from her, if it was actually feasible.

So lots to think about...:( Whatever happens, she has a home for life.



On a positive note, she's loving her new home and has settled into the herd well. Gets her feet done on Tuesday, so I may enquire about letting her go barefoot whilst she is off work.

One of the other liveries thought she was part andulasian...I do know some of her ancestors were bred in Spain so who knows? Maybe some non-Arab blood in there, way back. I love her either way:)
 
Oh poo! :(

I really hope that the cream works.

I've never looked at Hippo and thought that she was anything except a pure arab, there are lots of arabs in Spain.

*vibes*
 
I'm so sorry to hear that, I was so hoping it was something and nothing:(
Finger crossed that the cream works for her. Either way it sounds as though she has the best owner any horse could ever wish for.
 
Thanks guys, I think it's the long flowing mane that did it Faracat! So many people seem to expect Arabs to be wee dainty things with tiny heads and stick legs! I think Hippo is just a nice solid type:)

She really looked the part the first day she was turned out at her new yard; just gliding over the field, neck arched and tail up, etc. She's put on her best "I'm a pony" disguise since then!

I had to trim a couple of inches off her mane; the fairies had been plaiting it and the ends had gotten completely frazzled up. Can't wait for it to grow back out - it's still long, just not as long.
 
oh that's not good :( sorry to hear it, love for hippo - she HAS to get rideable again so we can do the sci fi quadrille! we'll wait for her, of course :p x

eta, have a blood wine on me tonight...
 
Faracat said:
Would you sit on the lump if you rode her bareback?
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Sadly yes; it is right on the girth line where your leg rests. My knee would be brushing it - well, the spot just above my knee (inner thigh).

JFTD - she can walk in front of the Quadrille waving our team flag in her teeth! Thanks for the blood wine, btw.
 
Sorry to hear that Arizahn. Just followed up your thread in vets. She's lucky to have you and all the best for her xx
 
Thanks everyone x
:oStarted welling up at all the compliments - I'm the mean person who rations her carrot intake, lol!
 
Poor Hippo! And poor you :( Let's hope the rest and the cream works wonders. How about doing Horse Agility with her if she can't be ridden?
She is lucky to have a mum who loves her so much. xx
 
:( fingers crossed for you and hippo.

Could your saddler not help come up with some arangment where it wouldnt be touched?
 
Have you been in touch with a specialist in growth type problems? It wouldn't hurt to speak to a surgeon just in case they have a differing opinion on how easy and successful removal could be?
 
I would get a secnod opinion. There is this old fear that surgery will cause the melanoma to spread, nowadays the modern thinking is that removal is better sooner rather than later.
 
Dafthoss - I'm going to contact him about it. Maybe he could make a little harness that would hold the saddle out from her, I'm not sure how feasible this would be but it's worth investigating.

My current saddle is a dressage one and fits her like the proverbial glove. Thankfully I'd always used a thick pad along with it, so that's probably why the melanoma didn't get irritated before.
 
Well this is the second opinion - the first one being that it was nothing - and he is a very respected equine specialist. But I will talk to him further about why he feels surgery is not suitable.

He did say that it was a good solution in some cases. He seemed convinced that this was not one of them. It may be because of where it is, or because she has others already. I'm not sure. I will ask when I am collecting her prescription.

He did say that surgery was simple for these growths. I don't think he's afraid of doing the surgery. I think he merely believes it will serve to aggravate this particular melanoma.
 
If your saddler does come up with a soultion you will have to let us see.

I was thinking along the lines of making a hollow arround it so theres no pressure if it cant be kept off of it.
 
Arizahn said:
Well this is the second opinion - the first one being that it was nothing - and he is a very respected equine specialist. But I will talk to him further about why he feels surgery is not suitable.

He did say that it was a good solution in some cases. He seemed convinced that this was not one of them. It may be because of where it is, or because she has others already. I'm not sure. I will ask when I am collecting her prescription.

He did say that surgery was simple for these growths. I don't think he's afraid of doing the surgery. I think he merely believes it will serve to aggravate this particular melanoma.
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Fair enough. Please don't take this the wrong way, I just want to make sure I've understood you right, is the specialist who's seen your horse from one of the main equine hospitals who deals with complex problems as a matter of course, or just an equine vet from a local clinic?
 
Sorry to hear that. Hopefully she can be ridden again, but if not she'll still be just as happy with an owner like you.
I quite like dafthoss'es suggestion of a hollow in the saddle too.
 
Oh I'm so sorry. I was thinking of you today. I hope your dentistry had a better outcome.

It is lovely that she will have a home for life and I know there are other possibilities, including that it all gets sorted, but it must be very sad to have got your first horse, like me, after a great big wait, and then not be able to start doing anything on top of her.

Hope it doesn't feel too awful x
 
to be clear- there is no reason why removing a melanoma will cause it to come back worse. If however a melanoma is incorrectly diagnosed and is actually a sarcoid then yes it will come back worse.. That is where this perception has come from. I would ring would of the big equine hospitals tbh..
 
Flame_ said:
Fair enough. Please don't take this the wrong way, I just want to make sure I've understood you right, is the specialist who's seen your horse from one of the main equine hospitals who deals with complex problems as a matter of course, or just an equine vet from a local clinic?
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No, I'm glad you asked. He's the specialist from the main equine clinic in our area. He is regarded as being very reliable, honest, and at the top of his field.

To explain further, I'm in Northern Ireland. Not sure if contacting anyone on the mainland or over the border would be a viable course of action, but I can certainly look into it.
 
SusieT said:
to be clear- there is no reason why removing a melanoma will cause it to come back worse. If however a melanoma is incorrectly diagnosed and is actually a sarcoid then yes it will come back worse.. That is where this perception has come from. I would ring would of the big equine hospitals tbh..
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Thank you for the clarification. Are any of the recommended hospitals in Ireland/Northern Ireland? Hippo does not enjoy travel - stresses out a lot and that is over short distances. I would be deeply concerned about attempting to bring her to England...
 
ah. right. well I would just hate to think of you giving her 6months off and still having to remove anyway at the end of that without going further.
 
It wouldn't necessarily be a case of taking her to england (I agree that would be ridiculous) but of getting an expert in soft tissue surgery to give an opinion on whether melanoma removal is a good or bad idea. Not sure where that is in Ireland I have to say, sorry!
 
bluewhippet said:
Oh I'm so sorry. I was thinking of you today. I hope your dentistry had a better outcome.

It is lovely that she will have a home for life and I know there are other possibilities, including that it all gets sorted, but it must be very sad to have got your first horse, like me, after a great big wait, and then not be able to start doing anything on top of her.

Hope it doesn't feel too awful x
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Thanks bluewhippet:) I will try the cream and go from there. The lump is no longer oozing/bleeding and is flat with the skin at the moment - sort of like a halfway healed up scab. So it looks better than it did. Still painful to touch, however.
 
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