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Discussion on Squamous cell on outside of sheath.
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Member:
jynx2501
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Posted on Wednesday, Jan 21, 2009 - 3:41 pm:
Dr. O,
I am looking a 20+ appy. When I went to check him out, I noticed little sores on the outside of his sheath. They were a little red and irritated, but he didn't seem to be bothered by him. The owner wasn't there at the time, but I spoke to her daughter via phone and she said that several years ago (unsure how long) the vet had biopsied them and did a cryo removal. He told her that it is squamous cell but that it shouldn't come back. She says the sores open up like that sometimes and then close up again if she keeps them clean and fly free. Any ideas or suggestions?
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Member:
pattyb
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Posted on Wednesday, Jan 21, 2009 - 4:59 pm:
Jynx, please allow me to chime in here:
I had a gelding that made it to the age of 35, losing him only to cancer. We had been the route of squamous cell carcenomas on his penis, trying the cryo treatment only to have them come right back...not a good sign. The only thing we could then do, if we were still wanting to fight the disease, was a penilectomy. To put it mildly, he came home less than half the boy he used to be. They never did come back to that area but when he was 35 and went off his feed, as he lost weight, we realized his abdominal cavity was loaded with it. We only came to that conclusion when he lost a lot of weight from not eating.
In the end, he was eaten up with infection that would not respond to the hefty antibiotics we used to try to help him. When all quality of life was gone, I put him down and buried him here in the pasture.
I'm sure that Dr.O can advise you better than I can but, I wanted to share my experience with you in case it might help you make a decision. When the cryo treatment didn't work, it was a bad omen of what was to come. We thought we got it all with the ectomy but in the end, we did not.
Good luck, you are kind to even consider it.
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Member:
pattyb
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Posted on Wednesday, Jan 21, 2009 - 11:20 pm:
Hay there, me again.
While I was working today and thinking back to when I had to deal with this issue (1993-4ish), I realized I had to come back and correct something I said earlier. My horse had the tumors cut out and the remaining surrounding areas treated with the cryogenics. Even with cutting them out, they came back and that was why we went more aggressively on the ectomy on his return visit. He had this done at Dominion Equine in Suffolk, Virginia.....a super nice place with a very modern day operating room. Not only do they have the padded room for sedation and the winch in the ceiling to get them to the table, they also have an observation window so you can watch the surgery....which was a bit difficult to watch on this one. 
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Thursday, Jan 22, 2009 - 6:36 am:
Hello Jynx,
I think it is very suspicious for there still being SCC present.
DrO
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Member:
jynx2501
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Posted on Friday, Jan 23, 2009 - 12:58 pm:
PattyB and Dr. O,
Thank you for sharing your experience and for the follow up information.
He is a wonderful horse and perfect for the disabled kids we work with. Where he is now, he just stands in a barn. I think I will go ahead and take him and let him have some fun for a few years. It is going to kill him eventually, so I prefer to let him end his days out playing with the other horses and the kids.
Thanks for the help.
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Member:
pattyb
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Posted on Friday, Jan 23, 2009 - 1:22 pm:
You are very kind to do so Jynx.
Hugs to you dear person.
((((((((((Jynx))))))))))
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Saturday, Jan 24, 2009 - 9:09 am:
Jynx, if this is a early stage non-metastisized cancer it may be very treatable for more see the article on squamous cell carcinoma.
DrO
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