This is an archived Horseadvice.com Discussion. The parent article and menus are available on the navigation menu below:
HorseAdvice.com » Diseases of Horses » Skin Diseases, Wounds, and Swellings » Hair and Coat Problems / Itching / Irritated Skin » Rain Rot and Rain Scald: Dermatophilus »
  Discussion on Initial rain rot, now peeling skin with heat
Author Message
Member:
Dawn

Posted on Friday, Sep 13, 2002 - 1:02 pm:

Dear Dr. O:

I have a grey thoroughbred gelding that started to show symptoms of rain rot on his hind quarters and under his neck in early August, but whose symptoms have now changed. I live in Florida, so I am familiar with and have dealt with this condition before with my other horses by using a gentle spray product called "Mycrotec", which has Bactroban and anti-fungal treatment in it, with great results. I began treating the grey immediately and was able to "control" the situation, i.e. the heat and scabbing would disappear on the area that was treated, only to show up on another location overnight. The problem never seemed to get severe, with very little hair loss. I have continued to use the Mycrotek spray since we have been getting ALOT of rain, which seemed to lead to other minor outbreaks, with no negative reaction to the treatments. Two days ago, I noticed that the horse's skin was peeling off; this is not the typical oozy white/grey stuff that comes off with hair, but it literally looks like the horse has had a severe sunburn and is sloughing skin on his flank/hindquarter area, with a tremendous amount of heat and soreness - I cannot even lay a hand on the area - and we have not had any sun for a few days! He is not loosing hair with this and the skin underneath looks "new" but not infected. I immediately suspected an allergic reaction, but I have been using the Microtek twice daily for a month with no reaction til now. My vet advised Betadine scrub and Captan, but I am not convinced that this is normal rain rot, and my vet is unavailable until the middle of next week. Is this skin sloughing an indication of a reaction to the medication or does it indicate another problem? Any advise in regard to how I can make this horse more comfortable or other treatments would be greatly appreciated.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Sep 14, 2002 - 3:22 pm:

Yes this could be an allergic reaction of some type and this would not be typical for the common skin funguses. Funguses and many bacteria cause hair loss as a primary event. Be advised that rain rot is not a fungus: see the article on rainrot for more on this.

Primary redness, heat, and pain are common for burns, irritants, and allergic reactions though other causes for the irritation are possible and need to be evaluated. The fact that you used it for a month without reaction does not argue against an allergic response, in fact quite the opposite: allergies develop only after exposure and usually repeated exposure. I would consider hosing with cold water to remove the heat and some of the pain and would consider aloe gels (100%) may relieve some of the discomfort.

Some bacterial dermatitis's may start this way and a bath is going to be necessary to remove the past treatment, so the betadine bath makes sense and if it continues to progress and look like an infection perhaps a gentocin/steroid spray treatment.
DrO
New Member:
Jewel549

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 12, 2005 - 7:58 pm:

Dawn:

I was very interested in reading your post. I have a paint horse that is experiencing this same type of problem right now. She has scabby hair clumps that itch very much. I too have been using this Micro-Tek product and it seems to be helping, but have only been using it for about 4 days now. My question for you is: What was the outcome of your horse's skin problem? What did you do to get rid of this?

Dr O, if you happen to read this, please let me know if you have any further suggestions on this.

Thanks}
Home Page | Top of Page | Join Us!
Horseadvice.com is a BBB Accredited Business. Click for the BBB Business Review of this Horse Training in Stokesdale NC