At breaking point, need advice - regulars pls star me if you're not sure maybe your contacts can help me?

Question

My beautiful gelding has been having sheath issues for over 18months, I have to wash it daily among other things, when it's bad it swells up so much the skin cracks & bleeds. He's seen every vet in the area inc stays at the specialist clinic, we've spent a fortune & tried everything to resolve it. The last lab report said it wasn't cancerous but was highly resistant bacterial/viral infections & all the vet said was to keep it clean & dry with natural products. He's almost 100% better in winter but if the temp gets above X degrees it gets bad again & it's just started again today & I feel helpless... For 18months I've had him under the supervision of an equine naturopath & have been feeding him all sorts of herbal mixtures, teas etc to help him naturally but nothing's working, he's 100% sound & healthy otherwise. I'm not asking for a solution, I would just love to know what YOU would do next cos I'm lost :(

My boy - http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk130/PinkSapphire79/11502.jpg

Answer 1

The fact that he is "almost 100% better in winter" is very telling, and that being that this is something caused by summer. If the sheath is chronically swollen and bleeding during the summer months then I suspect that it is caused by a condition which is very similar to habronema (summer sores). I have seen this happen and I am surprised that your vet did not suspect or consider the strong probability that this is a fly larvae problem. Fly larvae has penetrated the interior lining of the sheath, being introduced into the loose fold of skin in the sheath by eggs deposited on his p***s, and the sheath lining is now festered and ulcerated by the irritation. Surgery might be necessary to kill and remove the larvae but ivermectrin wormer paste applied topically will kill the larvae in the areas where the skin is cracked and bleeding. Try that and see if the condition improves and if it does then tell your vet what you suspect the cause of the problem is and ask his advice and instruction on how to kill any remaining larvae and to prevent reinfestation. He will probably also prescribe something if the horse has an immune response to the dead larvae and I'm sure he will recommend oral ivermectin monthly during fly season to prevent reinfestation.

Here is a photo of how serious the habronema condition can get when it penetrates the f******n:

http://www.fmv.utl.pt/atlas/ap_genital_m...

Edit Note: Don't confuse this condition with a bacterial infection or a fungal infection. And it is certainly not a yeast infection so forget the Monistat or any other vaginal douche solution that was suggested here and forget the sulfur pack too. That will only delay the inevitable course of treatment. This is cutaneous habronemiasis, habronema which has infiltrated the skin, also known as summer sores. It is fly larvae which has infiltrated the skin and it is that larvae which is causing the irritation, inflammation, swelling, and open sores. What will penetrate the sores and kill the larvae, quite simply, is an anti-parasite medication that will kill fly larvae on contact and that is ivermectin applied topically. The efficacy is well established and so there is no need to blindly grope for home remedies as some here are suggesting.

*Note to LBentforLeather: Thank you for the "summer sore" input. That's what the habronema condition is called that I couldn't recall. I edited that in to my answer.

*Bess... I would bet the ranch that is what he was trying to get at with the ivermectin oral dosing. I know that oral dosing is effective in preventing the cutaneous habronemiasis by killing fly larvae as it enters the skin. I am no veterinarian but I have seen this condition treated, not a condition as severe as the photo you posted but at least or maybe more severe than the photo I posted, and the course of treatment was both a topical application and an oral dosing with ivermectin and that in conjunction with a few weeks of oral steroids to reduce the inflammation and swelling. Examination then of the healed lumpy lesions was done about a month after treatment to evaluate the need for surgery to remove the lesions. My friend elected to have the biopsy done but to leave the lumps if it was negative, which it was. His horse is fine now and ever since then, at the recommendation of his vet, he oral doses his horses monthly with ivermectin during fly season to prevent another habronema infestation. I started doing the same but I don't have a manure pile nearly as big his attracting and breeding flies and I do real well controlling them with spray and sticky fly tapes in the barn and fly traps outdoors. But anyway, my suggestion is for you to try a topical application of ivermectin to see if the condition improves and if it does improve then you have identified the problem and you can discuss it then with your vet and probe him for advice and instruction. If you become convinced that is the problem and you don't get an effective course of treatment from him then I would suggest you find a vet more knowledgeable on how to effectively treat a 'severe' case of summer sores.

Answer 2

putts e has it right.  Ivermectin applied topically is great stuff.  It cured a summer sore on my mare's foot.  Nothing else had touched it. The next step was to biopsy it for "leaches" or swamp cancer (Pythiosis).  It was drying and gone in 10 days.

Answer 3

Wow, that is a unique one!  I hope Redials idea works -

The only thing I keep going back to a steriod type topical ointment - just to relieve swelling and irratation  but it won't solve the problem!  Good luck :(

Answer 4

Good luck, i starred you 2!

Answer 5

is it steriod cream resistant? ask your vet

other than that not sure.

will star you

good luck

Answer 6

I starred it,I hope redials idea works good luck....

Answer 7

Awe...what a sweet boy. Im sorry for your issues and have to admit that I haven't had to deal with this issue personally, my sister is a vet but Ive never discussed this problem with her. Im so sorry for you and hope that redials suggestion helps you and your horse.

Answer 8

my mini had a similar problem with his hoohaaa.

i put dry sulphur powder on it twice a day..literally packed it on, after three weeks it was completely cleared up. try dry sulphur powder

It shall remain a mystery...

Answer 9

what I would do next is to try a pine tar soap on him.  sometimes antibiotic resistance bacteria and fungus can be taken care of that way.  After a week of it if there is not a lot of improvement I would probably remove him from treatment.  If it is not curing him then why be there?  I would also try some of the other old timer recipes.  

One more thing I love modern medicine.  It can do wonders.  But every once in a while a  treatment by some of the old timers works better because the germ has built up a resistance to antibiotics but still does not have a resistance to the plant or other natural medicine.  That is why I soak a quicked hoof in turpentine.  The natural fungicides and antiseptics in there work very well.

Answer 10

A gelding we had, did this too.   And it was like clockwork with the rising humidity, temp and weather in the early summer.. then stoped just as fast as it started when the weather cooled again towards fall.

Vet tried, antibiotics, antifungals, antinfamitorys, topicals of all colors, smells and thickness's. We washed and douched him with everything known to horse kind.

Finally, the solution for him was plain old Monistat for human vaginal yeast infections,  and a home made simple vinegar and water douch.   Miconazole kills a wide range of bacteria and fungus, is safe for use on the delicate surfaces of reproductive organs.