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  Discussion on Photosensitivity ideas
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Member:
nito

Posted on Wednesday, Jan 19, 2011 - 10:31 pm:

I have a horse that has been diagnosed with photosensitivity. Its the primary form since blood tests concluded his liver function is fine. SO the thought is that its is something in his hay since he is on pasture through out the summer during the day and only gets hay at night. Surprisingly I didnt have as much of an issue with it this past summer but once fall came and he was off pasture getting hay both morning and night even with the limited amount of sun that comes with fall he broke out or burned very severely around his muzzle and neck spots (he is a paint). Now with winter in full force he has very very severe flaking, cracked skin on his nose and neck. I am at a dead end because since I am assuming we have the problem in our hay, our only source of hay is what I am feeding as of now. What do you recommend I could substitute for hay or forage? Doing so may allow me to figure out if it is any of the photosensitive causing plants our hay. Thanks, Jamie
Member:
kpaint

Posted on Thursday, Jan 20, 2011 - 9:03 am:

Jamie, clover caused photo sensitivity with my paint mare (bald face/pink skin/blue eyes) on her face, particularly lower half of face/muzzle. She burned last spring and peeled!

I eliminated the white clover in the pasture. She eats orchard grass hay with no problem. Wearing a full face sun screen mask helped a lot. Bright sun on the snow around here could cause a burn (think of all those tanned faced folks who ski), so maybe the fly mask/sun screen mask might be a good idea.
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Thursday, Jan 20, 2011 - 9:11 am:

Here is an interesting thread on this subject:
https://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-223415.html
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Jan 20, 2011 - 2:03 pm:

Hello Jamie,
You could use hay cubes if you cannot find hay not contaminated with weeds locally.

I wonder if you have not confused toxin induced photosensitivity with simple sunburn a common problem in pink skinned horses. The timing of getting worse after the summer is a bit inconsistent but if the sunburn was allowed to go on up to the fall then it may worsen with continued exposure despite the sun becoming less strong. As to the wintertime problems persistent sunburn can result in damaged skin that continues to be inflamed, flake, and peel.

We have discussion about this in the article HorseAdvice.com » Diseases of Horses » Skin Diseases, Wounds, and Swellings » Hair and Coat Problems / Itching / Irritated Skin » Overview of Hair Loss & Irritated Skin.
DrO
Member:
nito

Posted on Friday, Jan 21, 2011 - 5:29 pm:

No it is photosensitivity... He has to wear a full fly mask in the summer and I lathered him with desitin for the zinc oxide other wise his pink skin turns red cracks, peels, and oozes... He was diagnosed by 2 different vets for it. There is not a season that goes by where he doesnt look scuzzy. Its an all year problem. I have owned him just under 5 years and managing it has been a pain. I bought him from a couple who kept him in a stall most of the time then turned him out now and then because of their pasture situation and the number of horses they had. They didnt know he had the problem. I have a run in shed for him and my other horses so its hard to lock him in during the day. I was told it is either red clover, st johns wort or buckwheat... But trying to truly find exactly what has been almost impossible since we bale our own hay and its difficult to find hay that is of good value. During the summer he may burn in just a short time if i dont put the mask on him right away or keep the desitin on but in the fall his symptoms get really strange. His neck spots cover both sides of his neck and with in these white hair areas he gets large patches of dry cracked flaking skin. The flakes are very large and never stop they seem to be in layers (after some start peeling another layer under is already peeling and flaking.) Also on his face he had what i thought to be dew poisoning (at first it had a gray scab and if it was picked off deep red lesions were underneath... it was very painful for him) it cleared up after I put an antibacterial salve on. I believe it was a secondary infection because after that cleared up what is now present is layers of thickened dry skin that cracks open and bleeds or is raw and red. I am not sure what to put on it other then vetericyn and fungasol salve.

This past fall I had two skin cultures done on his nose and neck. They did a bacterial culture and a fungal culture... both turned up negative. That is when I had a blood test done to check his liver function which was normal. The vet said he had never seen anything like it and told be to treat it with the broad spectrum antibacterial salve on his nose and in the spring (it is below zero here now) use some anti dandruff rinses on his neck.
I'll post some pictures... sorry they arent that clear but you might get the general idea. The pictures with just the white coat are of his neck... its kind of blurry but all the specks are all large flakes of skin... they get so matted up in his winter coat. https://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb364/slideanturn/
Member:
nito

Posted on Friday, Jan 21, 2011 - 5:31 pm:

https://s1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb364/slideanturn/

looks like I Cant get it to work... just copy paste the link to see the pics then click on each pic to enlarge. There are 4 pictures.
Sorry,
Jamie
Member:
nito

Posted on Friday, Jan 21, 2011 - 5:58 pm:

+++ jpeg +++ 371729 +++ +++
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Friday, Jan 21, 2011 - 8:30 pm:

I would look closer at anything that is in the hay or pasture and also anything being fed to or put onto the horse.

Your profile doesn't give me a clue as to your location so I don't know if there would be any winter weeds popping up in the environment or just below the surface that the horse could be digging up and ingesting.

Some weeds in the pasture or in the hay are just as bad (sometimes worse) when dried.

Hope that you can solve this. It sounds like a miserable situation.
Member:
nito

Posted on Friday, Jan 21, 2011 - 9:52 pm:

Thanks for your reply! I live in wisconsin and my horses are in a dry lot during the winter months so a grassy mix of hay that has a very little amount of timothy and alfalfa in it and grain is the only things they are getting fed.
Member:
kpaint

Posted on Friday, Jan 21, 2011 - 10:10 pm:

clover and alfalfa have been the culprits in my barn for photo sensitivity. Even a little bit of it. ?

What does the nutrition label state for the grain?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Jan 22, 2011 - 4:31 pm:

Jamie, your arguments are semantical not necessarily medical. A horse that has sensitivity to exposure of the sun, whether this is an inherent trait do to lack of pigment and thin hair coat and other possible factors (some causes of allergic/autoimmune skin disorders are exacerbated by sunlight) or caused by a as yet undefined toxin I could be said your horse suffers from photosensitive. Despite careful looking, you as of yet do not find a primary disease process causing the sensitivity. I concur with everyone above that you should continue to look for that cause but until a cause is found that when removed the horse looses this sensitivity you should assume this is a primary problem that has only one treatment: the horse needs to be kept out of the sun.
DrO
Member:
silver

Posted on Saturday, Jan 22, 2011 - 4:43 pm:

I have spent an awful lot of time looking at rugs - would something like this not be your easiest solution?

https://www.bucas.com/buzz.php

While it is not pleasant to wear a rug in summer (or cheap!) it saves the worry for you, and suffering for the horse.

I suspect even a full neck white cotton summer sheet would be sufficient to keep the sun off?
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