pics - manky Mouse skin irritation

joosie

joosie

lifelong sufferer of restless brain syndrome
Oct 28, 2004
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New Zealand
Last summer Mouse got some patchy bits around his eyes, but wearing a fly hood stopped them getting any worse. I assumed it was just that the flies were irritating the skin around his eyes as it was a bit sensitive. He'd stopped wearing the hood by the end of October as the flies went away and the hair grew back very quickly.
This year they started to show signs of reappearing in late May, so out came the fly hood. He kept removing it (headcollar and all) and the patches got a bit bigger, although not worse, and I started a daily application of aloe vera gel which seemed to get those patches under control. However after that it started spreading around the base of his ears and he also started to lose hair in a patch beneath his forelock.

These pics were taken 1 month ago.

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It was just limited to his face to at this point. The patches at the very top of his neck started appearing about a week later, this was when I bought him a fly rug to make sure it didn't get worse. Needless to say it has got worse anyway :frown: - these are the pics I took today.

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His mane has thinned considerably too from both sides from the irritation down his neck. What I find odd about the irritation on his neck/crest is that it appeared AFTER it was being covered up by his fly rug. As did the patch on his flank below.
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So that's what it looks like, any ideas what it might be? Various things that have come to mind... Sweet itch firstly - but I am convinced this is NOT sweet itch, the skin shows no bumps or signs of irritation before the hair loss, and he doesn't appear to be overly itchy (he is rubbing the top of his tail, but so are his fieldmates, there are LOTS of flies around at the moment). If not sweet-itch then ust a general over-sensitivity to the flies? (we have all sorts, midges/gnats, horseflies and all the bog-standard ones too). Photosensitivity of some kind... could it be the UV? cos that could affect him through a non-UV fly rug couldn't it?... but surely if he was that sensitive to the sun he would have shown something on his muzzle, he hasn't had any sunburn there or any other irritation. Could be a reaction to something in the field - but he was in all our different fields last summer and didn't have this problem. Someone suggested pinworm, but he has had a worm count done and is fine. Could also be lice/mites etc but he's had skin scrapings and mane/tail hair samples taken and nothing showed up.

In the meantime I'm trying to keep him covered up and globbing on the aloe vera gel twice a day. The gel seems to stop the irritation from getting worse, and when I pick off the scabs the skin is smooth underneath, the hairless patches don't seem to be itchy although they are sensitive to the touch. Have got some aloe vera shampoo coming in the post and hoping bathing him once / twice a week will help relieve the irritation. Any other ideas what to put on it to stop it getting worse? I am really loathe to use chemical / insecticidal stuff as he's so sensitive I'm worried he'll have a nasty reaction to it.
 
I immediately thought "mange" or some kind of skin parasite. The rug could be making it worse - helping keep it nice and warm for them. If that was on one of mine I'd have the vet out. But I am a bit of a vet caller rather than a manage it myselfer!

ETA - rain scald/rot would make sense too - the fly rug would make conditions next to the skin marginally more humid than without it, which would explain the accelrated growth of the bacteria after a day in the rug.
 
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Thanks WH, we have already had the vet to take skin scrapings & hair samples and there were no mites or parasites there - which tbh I found disappointing, because at least then I'd have known what I was dealing with!

Do horses get rainscald in the summer though? We had a VERY wet winter and Mouse was living out naked, so I would have expected it to show up then, not when the dry weather arrived. It's not been particularly humid either... we've only had a handful of warm days since the autumn!
 
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If you can find my old threads... have a look - remarkably similar.

Im certain that a combination of grass, sunshine, flies and molasses and alfalfa cause madams issues - along with the auto immune stuff separately.

I use the snaggy hoods on her (on sale now!!!) and I have sewn a heavy density mask over the eyes. I then use a cotton sheet or heavy duty canvas type rug such as rambo SI hoody over the top - these block the sunlight out and really stop the flies - even through a proper fly rug she gets eaten alive - cotton sheets are much more effective IME.

I find aloe vera gel really helps to cool it, the problem with allergies is that the more exposure they have to the allergen, the worse the allergy becomes sadly - takes less and less to cause a reaction.

Global herbs skratch plus might be worth a try if you can get it - nightmare to feed but has significantly improved madams itching
 
joosie said:
Thanks WH, we have already had the vet to take skin scrapings & hair samples and there were no mites or parasites there - which tbh I found disappointing, because at least then I'd have known what I was dealing with!

Do horses get rainscald in the summer though? We had a VERY wet winter and Mouse was living out naked, so I would have expected it to show up then, not when the dry weather arrived. It's not been particularly humid either... we've only had a handful of warm days since the autumn!
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yes, you can get it anytime of year. To be honest i've seen more with it in summer then in winter now you've mentioned it though. It is thought to be catchy too so it might be he has just picked the bacteria up rather then had optimum conditions for it.
 
Hmm... so he could be carrying the bacteria all the time but it only has visible symptoms when they're triggered by the weather?
 
joosie said:
Hmm... so he could be carrying the bacteria all the time but it only has visible symptoms when they're triggered by the weather?
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sort of yes, could be for lots of reasons.

to put it in another context most people carry staph bacteria on their skin and in most people it doesn't cause any problems/nothing visible but in some people at some points for some reason it shows as a big red ugly blistery rash, then it gets treated and goes away again, some people once treated never have a flare up again others do.

I imagine that rain rot is similar - the bacteria for it is always around but whether it causes a problem or not is down to a lot of other things. Incidentally i think it is a similar bacteria to what causes mudfever and again that affects some but not others doesn't it.
 
Charlie has a patch at the side of the dock and a patch on bum area, got some cream from vets- so hibricrubing once a day and cream on - its looking much better and hair growing back - looked similar to pics but thank god nothing like as bad .

We put pour on from vets last weekend which is helping with the flies.

Tess has a small patch either side of neck, suspect though that is Charlie, nipping rather than grooming her - shes getting cleaned and miracle cream - its covering nicely again now - but he keeps aggrivating it - warm weather and flies not helped.
 
If you have seen your vet I guess they would have told you, but it might be what my vet called a "wet eczema" - Ziggy got this on his face last Spring. It was treated with a steroid lotion and cleared right up.

Poor poor little Mousey. Poor boy. Does it bother him much?
 
Wet exzema or hot spot is more often than not caused by a bite of some sort.
Steroids clear it up along with antibiotics.
Poor pony, hope you can get it figured out. I have a labrador who gets unknown allargies and change of diet plus herbal lotions and potions seem to help him.
 
joosie said:
Do horses get rainscald in the summer though?
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Yes!

Our Chloe has had a touch of it - I was shocked but then again, it has been a wet winter and wet spring and summer. I have been using Seleen shampoo on it - and it has worked up to a point. Tbh, when it dries up it seems to get a lot better. However, it is nothing like your Mr Mouse has - that looks pretty sore. I'd be a bit wary of (like you already said) using insecticide shampoo or anything harsh, simply because it might sting or hurt more.

I think personally, I'd try something like very mild unscented shampoo and then try and keep dry (not easy I know). Hard to decide if a rainsheet makes it worse - because of rainscald etc thriving in a warm sweaty enviornment.
 
Just wanted to add; sending gentle healing vibes for Mr Mouseman. I know you mentioned Aloe Vera - have you tried Aloe vera gel? I found it quite soothing on Chloe. Not sure if it actually helped a lot, but It looked like it was soothing and chilled.
 
Thanks all. It is so overwhelming how many things it COULD be it's just so hard to work out what to do first! I think I am more bothered than he is tbh, for worrying about him - I have NEVER been a worrier when it comes to horses, after working with them for almost 8 years but isn't it funny how differently you feel when it's your own!!

Trewsers, yes, I have been using a 90% aloe vera gel from Aloe Pura. I use it on myself for sunburn and itchy fly bites and it's definitely very soothing. I've ordered some of their shampoo which also contains chamomile and lavendar oil, think I'll bathe him maybe twice a week for a few weeks and see if it gets any better. Probably try an antibacterial shampoo if it gets worse but I want to stick with the natural option for now.

Jane&Ziggy said:
Poor poor little Mousey. Poor boy. Does it bother him much?
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I think, thankfully, not that much, it looks worse than it is. It's sensitive to touch (as in ticklish) but when I'm putting the aloe vera on he's perfectly happy to let me do it, he doesn't mind me picking the scabs off either & he doesn't seem to be particularly itchy or uncomfortable. He is far more bothered by the flies on his legs and belly, and the fact that he keeps getting his snuggy hood stuck over his eyes and has to stand around in the dark waiting for mum to rescue him :giggle:
 
My boy Zeb looks much the same during summer.

Had biopsy last summer which came back as Granuloma Dermatitis caused through bacteria entering through fly bites.

Had vet out early this year as he was in a state with it, steroid injection got it back to a mangeable condition. It started before flies this year, I think because it was hot here early in the year and he still had winter coat, he started scratching and set the whole thing off.

I use a mix of neem and almond oil on non sunny days, Nettex summer fly cream on sunny ones.
 
updated pics

Little update - I *think* we have found a cure :dance: Someone came to look at a horse last week, it was my day off and I happened to be on the yard with Mouse at the time, she saw his sore patches and said it looked fungal, had we tried treating it with Imaveral? You know the stuff for ringworm? So I dosed his dodgy areas with Imaveral 3 times at 3-day intervals... and see what it looks like now...

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It's looking better, much less sore and the hair is already growing back. He's stopped rubbing and it doesn't appear to be as itchy as it was before. Feeling really positive now I know what works :smile: Got another treatment to do in 10 days, meanwhile I'm dosing it with aloe vera gel twice a day and next week he is going to have a BATH and a thorough scrubbing with aloe vera jojoba shampoo. Poor thing has hardly got any mane left, it's all thin and straggly, but hopefully once the skin down the crest starts healing the mane hairs will begin to grow back.
 
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