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Discussion on Melanomas in Chestnut HOrses
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New Member:
Ndent
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Posted on Friday, Mar 14, 2003 - 11:40 am:
Hi. I just learned that melanomas are common in chestnut horses. I lost my grey gelding to complications from melanomas a few years ago, and recently purchased a sorrel overo paint gelding. I was hesitant to get a grey again because I knew melanomas were common in horses of that color, and didn't want to go through another tragic experience. Do I have to worry about my chestnut boy? I had never heard of the problem in chestnut horses before. Thank you for your help
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Member:
Sunny66
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Posted on Friday, Mar 14, 2003 - 11:53 am:
Hi Nancy,
Where/who was it that you heard that chestnuts are prone to get melanomas?
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Member:
Ndent
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Posted on Friday, Mar 14, 2003 - 5:30 pm:
A couple of posters on equine.com chat line mentioned it in a discussion about horse colors. That's the first I've ever heard about the problem. That's why I thought I would check with the vet. Nancy
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Friday, Mar 14, 2003 - 6:58 pm:
Well lets see, I have seen hundreds of grey horses with melanomas and 0 chestnuts. And we have more red horses in the practice than grey horses. Do they get them, yes. Are they common: no way. I recommend you stick with moderated forums, and you know which I like the best.
DrO
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Member:
Pirie
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Posted on Saturday, Mar 15, 2003 - 8:57 am:
Nancy,
you mention that your horse is a sorrel overo horse. While I too have never heard of a chestut getting melanoma I have read in a couple of places that melanoma is associated with a horse having large areas of white on them. This would include loud Overos, Tobianos and Sabinos. The bigger the patches of white the higher the risk of melanoma.
What I don't know is whether this melanoma is the same type as the one associated with the greying gene. Perhaps DrO can tell us more? (And whether this is true!)
Michelle.
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Member:
Ndent
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Posted on Saturday, Mar 15, 2003 - 11:25 am:
I'd be interested in knowing too about melanomas in horses with large areas of white. My horse doesn't have large areas of white on his body (just some belly patches and 3 high white socks), but he does have a bald face and I know I have to watch for sunburn. My friend, however, has a medicine hat blue roan overo and he is almost all white. I have read that they are susceptible to some types of skin cancer (sarcoids, I think), but I would be interested in learning more. Nancy
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Sunday, Mar 16, 2003 - 7:41 am:
I am not aware of a problem with melanomas in white skined horses so I went searching and did not find anything. I did find in one nonveterinary references the term "white or grey" horses and I think they were talking about coat color as many greys appear to have white hair.
I think you have this confused with squamous cell carcinoma which is very prevalent in the white skined areas of horses particularly Paints and Apps, for more see » Equine Diseases » Skin Diseases » Squamous Cell Carcinoma.
DrO
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New Member:
pezhie1
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Posted on Saturday, Sep 5, 2009 - 6:07 pm:
Has anyone heard of a type of melanoma that is clear in color and metastasizes throughout the body without showing any symptoms of ill health in the horse? A chestnut colored horse? I had a vet ask to do a post-mortem on my mare after losing her following a hysterectomy and when the results came back he called me and said they found melanoma riddled in her liver and muscles and there were tumors in her brain near the pituitary gland...all relating to melanoma. I never saw anything but a perfectly healthy active mare who bucked and snorted and galloped around the arena the day before her surgery. We rode her every other day and only had the surgery done because she was getting pyrometria infections following our trying to breed her and having to remove an anterior hymen from her cervix the year before. I find myself getting a strange gut feeling about what this vet has told me, and I have never seen the post mortem myself. Is there such a thing as a metastasized melanoma disease that presents no symptoms, but can possibly kill a horse from the weakened state following un-related surgery?
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Member:
erika
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Posted on Sunday, Sep 6, 2009 - 6:13 am:
Peg, I can't answer your question other than to say I have never heard of that either. Perhaps it was a different type of cancer than melanoma and he absent-mindedly used the wrong name?
The day before she died of cancer, my mother was hauling buckets of water around her yard to water plants. We were amazed that she had the strength to even get up, let alone do yard work! So it isn't surprising to me that the horse could have gone so suddenly.
Either way, you must be heartbroken, and I am very sorry for the shocking and untimely loss of your mare.
Erika
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Member:
vickiann
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Posted on Sunday, Sep 6, 2009 - 11:38 am:
Sorry to hear about your mare's sad and surprising situation, Peg.
Dr. O will hopefully have some answers about these cancers.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Monday, Sep 7, 2009 - 4:41 am:
Welcome Peg,
I am not aware of a "clear colored" melanoma.
It is possible to have melanomas in horses that metastasize. And it is possible to have an acute death from what was previously a subclinical cancer. Neither or these would be considered common however. The question you need to be asking is what was the cause of the horse's death?
DrO
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