My friends horse, is he gonna die?

Question

my friend has a horse and all of a sudden he has started losing fur all over his butt. well over the course of about 3 days it has spread to up around his stomach and places like that. His tail is all messed up which shows signs of itching, so we thought he had the worms, then we de-wormed him (using ivermectin) and he has since then gotten worse. Now he is getting WAAYYY worse. my friend also brought over some medicine to put on his butt, but he has gotten even worse since the medicine.

HIS BALD PARTS---where he is losing fur, it is bloody and meaty and like raw looking, and it has NO fur on it at all his tail is also all short and really messed up looking where he has been rubbing it. he also bites at it too where he can reach, and he is very healthy so we dont kno whats going on.

please help us we think that something is seriously wrong, he is losing fur ALL over now and it is becoming worse.

Answer 1

definitely a fungus. if it's that bad, and it'd make you feel better, call the vet. they'll probably put the horse on antibiotics for the bloody nasty stuff to prevent/treat any infection.

Answer 2

IF ITS THAT BAD THEN TAKE HIM TO THE VET!!! he is obviousy miserable if hes itching untill he is bleeding

Answer 3

ummm, that horse is in severe pain, and the vet needs to be called RIGHT NOW!

in fact, the horse should have had the vet come over days ago.

call the vet, get him better.

if u wait too long, he may have to be put down.

Answer 4

He needs to see a vet NOW, if you cant afford to have him come out at least call one and ask what they think it is. It sounds like some sort of fungus...rain rot perhaps? My firts horse got rain rot  and she lost alot of her hair on her chest.

Answer 5

call a vet!!! idk if thats a diesease or not, but it sounds like its causeing him pain.

Answer 6

CALL A VET!!!!!!

if it's that bad why didin't you call oe in the first place!!!!!

if your gonna have a horse you have to care for it!

Answer 7

Needs to be treated by a vet ASAP. Definately really bad skin irritation but you need to track down the cause so it can be treated properly. Could be caused from either, fungus, viral infection, bacterial infection or even lice....though Ivermectin usually kills any lice present but has to be re-treted even if that was the culprite.Could also be a sever allergic reaction to something he's ingested or even something in his environment.

Your vet will most likely put him on some heavy hitting, anti-histamines or even steroids as well as treating the skin sysptoms anf trying to find out what caused the problem initially. But he needs to be treated ASAP.

He may be healthy now but a horse under that much stress from itching & discomfort is going to go down hill fast. Remember stress is a primary cause of both colic and gastric-ulcers.

Answer 8

CALL THE DANG VET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 9

When symptoms start increasing...like this is obviously doing.  Stop with trying to fix it yourself and call the vet.  He may tell you to continue what you are doing...but he needs to be called!!

It does sound fungal to me...but I can't see it.  He's not healthy if he is losing hair, scratching himself till he bleeds, or has raw spots.  

Call the vet and get this stopped before it's totally out of control.  It sounds like it is getting out of control anyways right now.  Every day increases the risk of infection...

Answer 10

call an equine vet!

Answer 11

CALL A VET please that poor horse is suffering and if you want him to be okay and live if it really is serious - which i think it is that is his only chance

Answer 12

Oh PUH-LEASE. Are you blind? The horse is AH-viously suffering and needs MEDICAL attention. Any person that cared about there  horse enough would have called the vet a LONG time ago...like when he started losing hair. Wasn't that a pretty obvious clue something was wrong???

If your friend and u are so worried one of you need to call the ver ot animal control. What those people were saying were true it is CRUEL to let that poor horse go on like that without correct treatment. For Gods sake CALL THE VET!

Answer 13

definitely call the vet.

This could be so many different things from lice to rain rot, fungus to cushings to even an allergy to something. By trying to treat it yourself you maybe reinfecting the horse or putting any other horse there in jeopardy. Only use her horses brushes and grooming stuff on her horse do not use  ANYONE ELSE'S till she is totally cleared up. Wash all grooming stuff in alcohol or Iodine solution and do it every time she uses them. Make sure to also wash your own hands before and after you handle her.  this will help to stop cross contamination, or reinfestation.

Again this is not something you should handle with over the counter stuff. Call the vet!!

Answer 14

First of all, CALM DOWN !!! Next, you need to get your friend to get her vet out to examine the horse, and do it ASAP !!! If she won't do this, or doesn't want to spend the money, then you need to either do it yourself, or contact the local animal control officer and see that it gets done that way. Allowing something like this to go on without doing anything about it is CRUEL to the horse, who from all indications is clearly miserable right now from all the itching.

Now, with that said, I will give you some thoughts on what could be causing this. I seriously doubt this is rain rot- because I have seen too many cases of rain rot myself, and it doesn't cause symptoms like this. No, I think the most likely suspects in this case are either sarcoptic mange, or possibly ringworm, either of which can and often do cause the severe itching and hair loss you have mentioned in your question. My sister has dogs which have been diagnosed with mange this year, and they have lost all the hair on THEIR BUTTS, too- and have suffered severe itching. They are under treatment right now, and the hair has started to grow back.  Horses can also contract mange- and when I was in college, I knew a gelding that did. He belonged to one of my classmates who was on the equestrian team with me, and it took a couple of months of treatment before the condition finally cleared up.

Ringworm is yet another condition which can cause symptoms of this type- and I have also known horses which contracted this, too. Both of these problems require medication to kill the parasites which cause them, as well as anti-itch medication and antibiotics to control any underlying skin infections. In addition, every item which comes into contact with the infected horse's skin must be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before it is used elsewhere on another horse. With some items, such as brushes, it's really best just to throw the brush away and get a new one once treatment is complete and the horse has recovered. In the case of tack, it needs to be cleaned completely, and then left out to dry in STRONG SUNLIGHT for about half a day. The sun is lethal to the mites, and any which survive the initial cleaning will be killed by it. Also, all tack which is used on a mangy horse needs to be reserved for that horse ALONE, and no other- and this needs to be permanent.

There is one other possible cause of this horse's problem which I want to mention- namely, it could have been caused by an allergic reaction to something, such as a plant or something in his feed or hay. One of the more common causes of skin problems is blister beetle poisoning, caused by eating hay which has been contaminated with the beetles or their body parts during the baling and storage process. Are there any elm trees in this horse's pasture, by chance? If so, then that's yet another angle which needs to be investigated, because if a horse eats either the shoots or the bark of an elm tree, the animal can develop a bad skin infection and painful sores from it.  Black walnut trees can cause a similar problem, as can most of the members of the cherry family. There are even horses which are allergic to pine bark and shavings- has your friend ever had this horse tested to see if this is the case?  If not, perhaps she needs to ask her vet about this.

I hope this helps you, and that your friend's horse gets better.

Answer 15

Why would she wait soooooooooooooo long to call the vet?? No one on here can see it, to tell you 100% correct answer. Tell her she sould call the vet!!! If  it is as bad as it sounds tell her to call the vet!

Answer 16

I suspects there's a fungus among us.

Ringworm or rain rot, take your pick.  Get a good antifungal shampoo and solution and start treating.  You should see results soon.

He could get a secondary infection from open sores...so get the proper treatments from the vet, let the vet know what's going on.

I'd like to add that if you're established as a good, responsible client...does annual vacs, pays your bill on time, you can usually just get by with a phone call to your vet BEFORE the horse is bald and covered with sores...

Not the case if you are constantly taking short cuts, haven't spoken to "your" vet in 3 years, use whatever vet you decide to call for whatever reason...there are benefits to building the relationship that pay off exponentially in the long run.

Answer 17

ummmmmm.......HELLO CALL THE VET......don't wait around until something  serious happens.......you guy's should'nt even be owning a horse if you waiting that long........

Answer 18

The advanced nature of whatever it is that is plagueing the horse will require medication that only the vet should provide...you need an accurate diagnosis and don't use any medications on this horse until that diagnosis has been made by a qualified professional...a veterinarian.

Answer 19

Sounds like sweet itch, but it needs vet treatment regardless.

Answer 20

ivermectin has made some worms immune to it so you may need to resort to a stronger wormer in the case of pinworms.this could also be from fleas,ticks or as others said a fungal infection without seeing it in person it is too hard to tell so i would call a vet out and have them do an inspection

Answer 21

Definately need to get a vet out ASAP, should of got one the minuit you saw any signs. I'm not a vet, but it sounds like sweet itch. A mare had it on my yard and had to have her tail amputated because no one did anything about it. I hope your friends horse gets better anyway.

Answer 22

PLEASE contact a equine vet and have the horse checked!!  I am wondering how old the horse is.  If it is an older horse, it could be Cushings Disease, however, the skin would not be bloody tho.  PLEASE CALL A VET NOW>