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  Discussion on Serious case of hives
Author Message
New Member:
dustee

Posted on Thursday, Mar 5, 2009 - 11:17 am:

I own an 11 year old, 16 hand, chestnut quarter horse mare, and I need your help. I have generally thought of her as "normal" within equine standards.
We moved to Fernandina Beach, Florida about 18 months ago. The first farm I had her at, on occasion she would get a few hives, but they would disappear within a few days. It got my attention, but they would leave quickly. The farm was within three minutes of the ocean, and people would tell me they were sand fleas, and everyone dealt with this.
The beginning of December, 2008, I moved her to a farm another three miles inland. I felt I would be more comfortable there, as it is out of the "immediate" hurricane threat for tidal surges.
Since arriving at this farm, my horse gets violent hive reactions to something. I am having to give her 8cc's of dexamethazone every week to keep her looking normal.
Without the dexamethazone, she progresses to more hives, larger hives, and then her throat begins to close down. There are no "heads", no weeping, no crusting, and within 8 hours after a shot, she looks totally normal again.
Someone told me she looks like a horse at another farm where they did allergy testing and concluded that horse was allergic to soil mites. I like this idea, as opposed to having no idea at all.
I do not want to continue to keep my horse on steroids. Has anyone got any ideas about this. The stall my mare is in was never used by another horse before. This farm does not use mats, stone dust or clay as a base. My mare was put into the stall with some green sawdust over soil. (Green sawdust has been an issue before with her) I bed with regular bagged shavings over the top, and depending on the temperature, I will normally have anything from a very light fly sheet to a mild winter blanket on her, to keep her body from touching the floor of the stall.
I would LOVE to hear your thoughts and experiences. One person suggested a base heavy with lime, another stall mats.
In case your ideas do go towards food, she is on Purina Horse Chow 100 pellets, coastal hay, and 2 flakes of peanut hay daily. She gets some canola oil, Multiflex joint supplement, and some flax seed. When I bathe her, I accentuate the hive reaction, and the hives blossom.
Thank you in advance for your help!!
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Mar 5, 2009 - 6:43 pm:

Hello Dustylin,
A frustrating problem for sure. From a medication stand point it is impossible to beat dexamethasone but if you wish to try an alternative I recommend trying antihistamines. Note that many of the histamines commonly labeled for horse are not effective. For a list of recommendations and dosages see the article.

But to treat the problem you have to identify the allergen and find a way to keep your horse from being exposed. I have no idea if the changes in footing would help... I would note it seems most horses do in time adapt and such severe problems improve with time.
DrO
Member:
frances

Posted on Friday, Mar 6, 2009 - 8:11 am:

Hi Dustylin

If I understood you rightly, your mare has still got green sawdust under the shavings in her stall? Perhaps removing every trace of it would be a good place to start at least if, as you say, she's had reactions to green sawdust before. Even though the bagged shavings are theoretically on top, there's likely to be some mixing.

Good luck - allergies are so tricky.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Mar 6, 2009 - 10:07 am:

I think LL has a good idea for a start in removing exposure to possible allergens. If this failed consider returning to the former farm or at least moving out of the barn for a while to to see if the problem resolves. It will take such trials to pin down the problem.
DrO
Member:
erika

Posted on Friday, Mar 6, 2009 - 10:18 am:

Dr. O, is there such a thing as allergy skin testing for equines?

I had testing as a kid for eczema, and at least I learned what to try to avoid. Poor horse has my sympathies!
Member:
dres

Posted on Friday, Mar 6, 2009 - 10:43 am:

dustylin, I have a mare that broke out with hives very lightly as a three year old.. I figured it was the shavings becus up to then she had lived outside.. So we put her in a paddock for training and that brought the hives down hugely..
Next year she broke out when heated up .. a cold hosing helped arrest that.. Then the next year full on hives , she looked like bubble wrap.. Nothing seemed to work in getting them arrested..
Finally this past year she has had small break outs but nothing that has lasted very long , each time she has a break out , i move her to another location on the farm.. It seems to work..
Good luck HIVES are very frustrating...

On the first day God created horses, on the second day he painted them with spots..
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Mar 7, 2009 - 10:06 am:

Erika, skin testing as done in horses is very iffy in horses with low specificity and low sensitivity. So far it often identifies non-allergens as allergens and misses the actual allergen. There appear to be differences in the way humans and horses react to such tests.
DrO
New Member:
dustee

Posted on Saturday, Mar 7, 2009 - 11:36 am:

Dr. O and LL: Thank you for your input. I think my brain turned into scrambled eggs for a bit there, and you both helped me to put things back in order. I was listening to people who, in fact, do not know my horse, and kept suggesting that I was wrong, and didn't understand the area down here. I will take her off green sawdust, and put her onto bagged pine shavings only. I will post again in a couple of weeks so we may have some closure to this matter!! Thank you again. Dustylin...
Member:
dustee

Posted on Saturday, Mar 7, 2009 - 11:40 am:

Ann: I am sure you are very correct in stating your mare looked like bubble wrap. That is exactly what mine looked like, until it progressed more...very good description!! Thank you, too, for your input. Hives are very, very frustrating!! Dustylin
Member:
frances

Posted on Sunday, Mar 8, 2009 - 9:00 am:

No problem, Dustylin . Just something that struck me - I'll be happy if it helps!
Member:
dustee

Posted on Sunday, Apr 19, 2009 - 7:24 pm:

This is an update on my hive situation with my mare. I am at three and a half weeks now with no outbreaks. The barn owners where my horse is stabled, and my husband all agreed that I should eliminate the Peanut hay that she has been getting. I did not think it could possibly be that because it was a staple for her at her last barn and she LOVES it. Much better to her mind than alfalfa. It is highly nutritional, similar in protein to alfalfa. I decided to humor everyone and remove the peanut hay for a month. I substituted alfalfa. I decided I was too "close" to the situation to see it clearly. She has not had an outbreak since I removed it. I will tell you, I was sure they would all be proven wrong.....oops. But, it is interesting, because as wonderful a product as it appeared to be, it still had a "peanut" base to it. This mare was a mess! And when I go to the farm now to ride her, it's almost wierd because I expect to see hives....and there are none. I appreciate all of your prior input. Dustee
Member:
mrose

Posted on Sunday, Apr 19, 2009 - 8:18 pm:

Very Interesting! Evidently horses can have allergies to peanuts like humans. Who would have thought? Thanks for the update. I'm glad she's doing better. I know first hand how frustrating it can be trying to figure out hives.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Apr 20, 2009 - 7:59 am:

Let's not get ahead of ourselves, this is the normal course for undiagnosed hives, they come and they go and we don't know why. The skeptic in me says it is 50/50 it is not the peanut hay.

Your mission Dustee, if you choose to take it is, is to reintroduce the peanut hay and see if it comes back, then remove again. At that point I think you can say with some confidence this is the problem.
DrO
Member:
dustee

Posted on Monday, Apr 20, 2009 - 8:46 pm:

I still have some peanut hay, and I know I have to do it. I would rather hold off another week or two to feel more confident about this. I was feeling good until your "reality check". I am sure you are right...but I think I need to enjoy what has happened so far for a bit longer.
Member:
kpaint

Posted on Saturday, Jun 13, 2009 - 1:40 pm:

So, what happened? Did you reintroduce the peanut hay?
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