weird cresty lump

[SEL]

For once this isn't my horse!

My lovely friend had a bad 2015 when she lost her new horse to cancerous tumours in the gut and so when she fell head over heels for a horse this year I was so happy for her. The horse is from a polo background and of argentinian breeding. We believe it has laminitis in the past and she manages it as if it has.

In the past 48 hours the horse has developed a weird lump on its crest. If you imagine the nice slope of a muscled crest but then add in a camel hump as you come up from the withers then that is what we are seeing. It goes about 1/3 way up the crest.

Vet has taken bloods for cushings, but the mare has no other symptoms (she's about 16 so the right age bracket). I do know cushings can lead to strange fat deposits, but do they usually come up this quickly? Its not a small lump either!

 

[HufflyPuffly]

Could it be an abscess or hematoma?

Doodle came up with a big lump on her bum that appeared overnight, we were betting an abscess but it was just a very large hematoma, probably from a kick.

 

[ester]

What Alex said is there any heat in it, seen a couple of abcesses there from bites

 

[SEL]

Bloods back - negative for Cushings.

I had another look at the lump this morning and there's no heat in it - it really does feel like a wobbly crest.

Odd

 

[HufflyPuffly]

Very odd, doubt its a hematoma as Doodle's was rock hard and sore. Did the vet stick a needle in? Thats what we did for Doodle's lumpybutt :lol:, but not sure what else could be going on?

 

[ycbm]

I've seen one on a horse that was massively insulin resistant. Has it been tested for that?

 

[SEL]

Very odd, doubt its a hematoma as Doodle's was rock hard and sore. Did the vet stick a needle in? Thats what we did for Doodle's lumpybutt :lol:, but not sure what else could be going on?

I've seen one on a horse that was massively insulin resistant. Has it been tested for that?

Apart from bloods, nothing else was done at the time. It hasn't gone down and given we've been told the horse has had laminitis before I think IR is a good thing to check. The owner was away for 2 weeks and in that time the haylage was put out in the field so I'm wondering whether it is something like IR that has been triggered by additional feed and no exercise. For all we know she could always have developed a strange crest in the run up to laminitis.

Vet visit #2 is on the cards.

 

[Meredith]

Just a thought... I know the weather has been cold but could it be a sting. My pony had a huge swelling between her front legs a month or so back. She was never lame and neither the vet nor I could decide what caused it. It went down slowly and after about 10 days had disappeared. It may have been caused by a sleepy wasp.

 

[ester]

I can't get my head round the body managing to generate a fat deposit in 2 days

 

[fourshiresrambler]

It is rare but it can happen that fast. I found that Lamin-aid helped with mine. He does have Laminitis, but I got 4cm off his crest in two months, so it might be worth looking into to get rid of it?

 

[SEL]

Quick update - the lump has reduced in the week the horse has been in, but it's no clearer as to what it is. The horse is going back out tomorrow so if it's haylage related we'll soon find out.

If it wasn't for the fact we can't find heat in it then bite /kick / sting would be most likely I think. Perhaps it just isn't obvious.

The other thing is fit of rug because she had a HW on outside and has been in a different rug inside. So if the HW has been tight then maybe she's developed a bulge - prob straw clutching here!

If we ever get an answer I'll let you know...

 

[Meredith]

Glad the lump seems to be getting better. My pony's swelling wasn't hot either. We decided it must have been a sting because nothing else made sense.