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  Discussion on Sweating concerns/amount and patterns
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Member:
vickiann

Posted on Thursday, Jun 25, 2009 - 12:49 pm:

Dr. O, I too have been wondering about sweating patterns but am posting separately so as to not complicate the other thread today.

I have been fretting about this sweating subject, including patterns, for the past week or so, and am worrying whether some of mine are sweating too much while others not enough!

Does diet make a big difference? Taking all other factors into consideration, those on Triple Crown LITE are sweating less than the horse who is on Triple Crown Low Starch (switched over during the past month after more than a year on T.C. Senior).

I too have noted the flank area as the area of greatest sweating on my gray Arab, Lance, who in the past usually sweats the least.

What is most peculiar is that as of this morning, I noticed that he is sweating heavily on ONE flank only.

I doctored a small wound this morning and the sweating in that area seemed to escalate.

I just re-checked him and he continues to be sweating heavily in the flank area on that one side three hours after the doctoring.

On July 15, the person caring for my horses when I was out of the country began doctoring what she perceived to be a "bite wound" in this area.

It was an ugly-looking round area about an inch square size-wise, oozing fluid, and there was a very hard swelling the size of about a softball.

My Vet was out on the 17th and aspirated from the center of the hard lump and felt that the problem was due to a reaction to a minor splinter or other such irritant.

When I rode the horse last week with the lump present, he seemed a bit uncomfortable, but yesterday he was just fine.

The swelling of the hard lump has dissipated.

Two days ago the open area of the wound was almost totally closed but he rubbed it open again rather badly and I am trying to protect it from the elements.

I have been cleaning it with Betadine, applying ointment that is like Triple Antibiotic but has some kind of steroid additionally that helps a wound granulate in that my Veterinarian gave to me.

The past couple of days I have been spraying a small amount of Alu-Shield over the compromised part of the wound after cleaning and medicating.

Probably the Alu-Shield is preventing at most one square inch of skin from functioning normally, since no more than that amount of skin is covered thinly by it?

Could this be enough to cause approximately 18" of heavy sweating in all directions in this flank area?

If so, would that imply that possibly a scarred area or area of old skin injury could perhaps cause an area of some size to sweat around it?

For a couple of days prior to the Alu-Shield, I used some Blu-Lotion to try to dry it up because my Vet. had mentioned this might help close the wound in these hot conditions, which it did a very good job of before the horse rubbed it open again.

It also occurs to me to wonder whether this area of the body is continuing to try to slough out any toxins from medications that I have used or residual effects from whatever caused the initial problem?

Are there lymph glands in this location?

The horse seems to be feeling and doing fine otherwise.

Meanwhile, I am closely monitoring my oldest horse Buddy, who I had to clip this spring because he was slow to shed out. He has been sweating much less than usual for him and last Friday he had the "thumps" and it took me quite a while to cool him out on the wash rack and I was working on this even after it was getting dark. It was 99 degrees that day with no breeze.

Buddy seems okay now, but I am watching him closely so that he does not build up too much excessive heat again. He seems to be doing better with the temperature a few degrees lower, but the amount of sweating is less than in years past, however I believe he is intentionally seeking the shade and is less active as well due to the conditions.

Any thoughts about Buddy?

Thanks.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Jun 26, 2009 - 9:36 am:

Hello Vicki,
Diet does effect heat production but not in a big way. I might say very high protein diets should be avoided in the heat challenged.

And yes trauma and scarring can effect the areas ability to sweat but most often when you see patchy sweating on one side I would consider which side the sun (increasing sweating) or breeze (increasing evaporation) is coming from.

I would note you should not use sweating as a sign of overheating in a horse. If you are concerned about this, a rectal temperature is your best indicator, for more see Diseases of Horses » Lameness » Weakness, Exhaustion & Overheating » Overheating and Exhaustion.
DrO
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Friday, Jun 26, 2009 - 11:09 am:

Thanks Dr. O. Your answer helps me a lot.

Lance was sweating already on his flanks this morning, but definitely more on the side with the injury, and he had also been kicked in that hip prior to the more recent wound that I am still doctoring, which is looking quite good again. I've switched back to ointment and Desitin after cleaning so that it won't dry up so fast that it makes him rub it open again.

Old boy Buddy was sweating more normally this morning for the first time in a couple of weeks, and perhaps his body has been slower to adjust to changes this year. As of today he is now sweating more at a lower temperature than he was at a very high temperature recently. Of course, unless you know what they have been doing just before you see them, the sweating will vary and humidity is a factor as well. I've been concerned about him sweating less than usual this hot season.

If he seems excessively hot again (breathing hard, depressed and having thumps), I will take his temperature to check that out.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Jun 27, 2009 - 9:46 am:

Remember that thumps is not just a heat related phenomena but also associated with low blood calcium. I see it most often in undertrained horses on long rides in hot weather. Though calcium is not a major constituent of sweat, particularly in those adequately trained, under these conditions some horses develop it. Taking a look at the diet in your profile it looks fine but prevention is not just as easy as increasing the calcium in the diet for more on this see Diseases of Horses » Lameness » Muscle & Tendon Diseases » Hypocalcemia, Thumps & Tetany.
DrO
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Saturday, Jun 27, 2009 - 11:30 am:

Thanks, Dr. O.

Buddy has a history of doing poorly in hot weather including very slow recovery to a normal heart rate as well as a very bad case of the thumps many summers ago when he was working too much one hot week.

I will review the information and act accordingly.
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