worst case of sarcoids??

farrierswife

farrierswife

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Just wanted to share a few photos of my mothers horse who has suffered with sarcoids since she bought him as a 2 year old (the odd one or 2, now 15 years old) as you can see they have multiplied a lot! We have tried a variety of creams, lotions and potions on them. Luckily at present they do not interfere with his tack or his way of going when being ridden.

Just wondered if anyone else has seen any as bad as this?

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Every now and then, just the odd hack around the village in walk. He is so good with us prodding and poking him with creams, lotions and sprays bless him. We have tried everything on the market for them, hoping there will be a breakthrough with a vaccine!!
 
Have only seen one that bad and with a Boett for the past few seasons only 1 or 2 sarcoids ulcerated each summer. Apart from that they ae all nodular. This mare is older and they have gradually got worse over the years.
 
Is it just me that find this offensive and distressing???? Are you seriously telling me that this poor horse is not suffering with all those open and festering sarcoids?:confused:

So very glad you are still able to tack the horse up and ride it occasionally!:mad: Dear God give me strength and the understanding to deal with complete and utter idiots!:rolleyes::(
 
grumpyoldmare said:
Is it just me that find this offensive and distressing???? Are you seriously telling me that this poor horse is not suffering with all those open and festering sarcoids?:confused:

So very glad you are still able to tack the horse up and ride it occasionally!:mad: Dear God give me strength and the understanding to deal with complete and utter idiots!:rolleyes::(
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If you had read, we do take great care with this horse and have tried everything on the market to help with them. He is covered in cream twice a day, fly rugs on and fly spray to stop any irritation. They have not once got infected and he is very happy within himself. I merely posted on here to see if anyone else has had to deal with this sort of thing, NOT to be attacked. We are not complete and utter idiots and we care for our horses dearly. I'm sorry you find this offensive but open your eyes, there are a lot more things in the world more offensive than this!
 
I have to be honest I was surprised to hear you still ride him,he does look at best uncomfortable and I would have thought any exercise could potentially cause either rubbing or sweating that could irritate.

Anyway sorry that wasn't what you asked,just musing aloud.

I am assuming you have tried all the usual freezing,banding and other vet treatments like liverpool cream??

What about bloodroot,have heard really good reports about that,although you would have a mammoth undertaking treating that many externally I should think TBH.

What does your vet advise?? Lot's of people have head results with feeding supps like sarc ex and tablets like thuja,maybe an internal approach would actually help if it is an immune system failure.

I think I would be making some tough decisions if this lad were mine,but your mum obviously loves him and fair play to her for trying to manage him.Holding a good thought for you all and hope you find a solution.

Cases like this are what make me very wary of sarcoids.I know some people say they are nothing to worry about,but this highlights what *can* happen and it's too much of a risk IMO.
 
Thank you Devonlass, he is only ridden very occassionally for a gentle stroll around the village, nothing more than what he would do in the field. Mum has just started using bloodroot ointment along with a supplement (can't remember the name of it) and she is finding quite a few of them are dropping off, hence the open sores. After having this horse we would steer well clear of buying any horse with any sarcoids at all.
 
In my experince sarcoids are not contagious, although I know there are some theories that they are. He has been in the same field for 13 years with 10 other horses and none of them have caught any from him. He always goes out with a fly rug/mask on, creams on the sore sarcoids and doused in fly spray.
 
Have you looked into laser surgery? Not sure if this would be an option but worth a try. I think the website is called sarcoidsurgery.com
 
Our vet has said it is the worst case he has ever seen. I will take more photos of them in a couple of weekends when I visit my parents and send them up to Liverpool to see what they say about them. I think my mother did this a few years back but an updated view on them would be useful.
 
we have one who was nearly bu not quite as bad as this, mainly round his groin and underbelly with the off couple here and there. We ought him like this. None were in the tack area so riding wasnt a problem. we tried homeopathi treatement but no change. wwe trained him and ran him once (won best turned out too complete with sarcoids) We got him fit healthy and happy and they started dissapearing... he still has some but no where near as bad as they were. Flies dont bother them and no other horsehas caught them fro him. we fed him seaweed in his feeds...i like to think this helped.
 
But technically they are contagious the herpes virus that causes them is exposed in open sarcoids and all it takes is a fly and another horse with a open wound or nick in the skin.
 
pc2164 said:
Have you looked into laser surgery? Not sure if this would be an option but worth a try. I think the website is called sarcoidsurgery.com
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My horse had laser surgery for his the wounds where over a cm deep nearly two in the middle there's no way you could laser such a large area.
 
farrierswife said:
Our vet has said it is the worst case he has ever seen. I will take more photos of them in a couple of weekends when I visit my parents and send them up to Liverpool to see what they say about them. I think my mother did this a few years back but an updated view on them would be useful.
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I think your vet has to refer to Derek Knottenbelt's department - not sure you can do it yourself. It will be expensive to treat them properly, and from reading his site probably quite difficult as the more attempts to treat that fail the harder they are to get rid of.

http://www.liv.ac.uk/sarcoids/

This page is pretty definitive.
 
Bedlam said:
I think your vet has to refer to Derek Knottenbelt's department - not sure you can do it yourself. It will be expensive to treat them properly, and from reading his site probably quite difficult as the more attempts to treat that fail the harder they are to get rid of.

http://www.liv.ac.uk/sarcoids/

This page is pretty definitive.
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Thank you for that link ( I think !!!!) very scary.
 
Certainly the worse case I've ever seen. They look very uncomfortable and not sure if he should be ridden or not although, presume your mum also takes advice from her vet.
 
Horse at my yard had extensive sarcoids between her front legs and around her back legs and udder. She had them lasered off and I couldn't believe how extensive the wounds were, saying that she has made an excellent recovery.
 
springtime13 said:
Horse at my yard had extensive sarcoids between her front legs and around her back legs and udder. She had them lasered off and I couldn't believe how extensive the wounds were, saying that she has made an excellent recovery.
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Yes I was shocked to and the smell was off putting while they where doing the lasering but mine made an excellent recovery too.
 
Years and years back, we had one on our yard who was actually worse than your chap - same areas affected but much more densely. Fox was a ridden hunter and used to do very well out competing(!!!). This was in the days before Boett rugs and potions and laser surgery, so his owners made do with homemade fly spray and keeping him out of the flies as much as possible. From what I recall, he was a bright, lively, energetic lad who loved his work and was never unduly bothered by his sarcoids, no matter how unsightly they were. The vet's advice then was to carry on working etc until the horse indicated otherwise. I think he was about 15 when his demeanor changed and he started fretting in the field, getting agitated by the flies, generally being grumpy and unhappy. I don't know whether the sarcoids had worsened, grown inside or what it was, but he was gently pts then. I hope that you can find a solution for your fella - good luck!
 
worst ive seen - my boy developed sarcoids and i had them treated with liverpool cream they were in same places on chest as yours but not on back and face , who knows if they are painful ? otherwise horse looks well.You may have to use a varied treatments one useful tip id say is does your horse rub himself on his hooves , etc ? i did notice my boy as a three to four year old lay down alot lazy so and so , and he was fully shod, i did notice he was catching himself with shoes in doing so and the flies got in and they developed from there - my answear was no rugs and no shoes he was treated with liverpool cream every day for a week and this was only uncomfortable time i seen him hes still barefoot, and they never came back i agree the flies are !!!!!!!!!!! cover with cream to avoid the flies this will help garlic feed helps keep flies away it stinks , please keep us posted this is quite intresing and good luck
 
farrierswife said:
If you had read, we do take great care with this horse and have tried everything on the market to help with them.
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I've seen worse - and bought the horse (very cheaply) after Prof. Knottenbelt cured him. His were as large and extended from the groin all the way down the inside of the back legs - he scratched them and they were all ulcerated and bleeding. I have to say that when I saw him (just before he went to Liverpool) I did enquire why the owner was wasting diesel - as I was sure he needed PTS! Prof. K. DID want him PTS - but the insurers wouldn't ok it so he used an experimental treatment which worked 100%. The horse has been sarcoid free for 9 years!

The total bill for his treatment (most paid by the insurers) was £3,000 - the treatment involved completely knocking out his immune system with some rather expensive drugs. He was clear in less than 6 weeks with virtually no scarring. It was a dangerous treatment - he promptly got Strangles when he returned to thhe livery yard as they had an unidentified 'carrier' (and had never had a case before!)

I think Prof. K. WOULD recommend PTS in this horse's case - treatment is expensive if no insurance available - with no guarantee of success - and the sarcoids will be - at best - very uncomfortable!
 
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