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  Discussion on Hives and welts on two horses as first warm weather arrives
Author Message
Member:
lsweeney

Posted on Friday, May 11, 2012 - 6:31 pm:

So as we close the Pigeon Fever case, we start on a new one. See pictures below.

My vote is no-see-um, mosquito and gnat bites. The welts on the Arab have more serum, yellow crusty spots on them. The Friesian, Nikki, have firm hive bumps, and some on the belly are huge, almost more like edema, and some have spots in the center that feel like it could have started with a bite.

Pictures follow.
Member:
lsweeney

Posted on Friday, May 11, 2012 - 6:32 pm:

This is the Arab. Not as many welts and doesn't look like she is having as much of an allergic reaction. Mostly on her belly and underneath her chest.

Member:
lsweeney

Posted on Friday, May 11, 2012 - 6:34 pm:

Here is Nikki with classic hives.

Member:
lsweeney

Posted on Friday, May 11, 2012 - 6:34 pm:

More like welts on the underbelly.

Member:
lsweeney

Posted on Friday, May 11, 2012 - 6:36 pm:

This "welt" looks almost like a pigeon fever abscess.......

Member:
lsweeney

Posted on Friday, May 11, 2012 - 6:37 pm:

I've been putting fly repellant on them, but it doesn't appear to be working. I guess I could go with a blanket at dusk, but it won't protect the belly.
Member:
pattyb

Posted on Friday, May 11, 2012 - 8:55 pm:

Laurie....my Arab/Paint is having problems with hives for the first time ever..and he just turned 9 years old. I live in Virginia where we had an unusually mild winter this year so I can only guess the bugs came early this year????

I was already fly spraying him fairly well at night, and that did seem to help...until he had his 6 way yesterday morning. The vet left me 2 additionals to give him at 2 week intervals (because of a reaction last year) but holy smokes, he had the worst case of hives I've ever seen when he came in at 5:00 for dinner! Yikes! I was given the choice of Banamine (instant paste med rodeo) or Zyrtec tablets at 1 tablet/100 lbs. He ate them right up mixed in some feed and within a few hours, the hives were much better, completely gone by morning. This was his first year reacting to the 6 way...last year, it was the Rabies/Potomac Horse Fever vaccine that sent him into the shakes about 8 hours later (my first Banamine rodeo).

I have to say here that I am totally baffled. Twenty years ago, we might have had one horse in a 40 horse stable have a mild fever reaction. This year, at my house, all 3 horses had a reaction of some type....2 went off feed, one broke out in hives. Why is this happening? Good Lord, what will next year bring? Anyone have any ideas why on this one???
Member:
lsweeney

Posted on Saturday, May 12, 2012 - 1:57 am:

I have three horses and the youngest one doesn't seem to be having a problem.

Funny, I'm starting my allergy season, and I do have Zyrtec for myself.

What do you mean by "rodeo"?
Member:
gramsey1

Posted on Saturday, May 12, 2012 - 6:56 am:

After reading and considering the article on this site, Antihistamine Use in Horses, I tried two over the counter medications. They were relatively low cost,Chlorpheniramine and Cetirizine.
Our horse found Chlorpheniramine unpalatable and it made him sleepy.
He took the Cetirizine without issue and it seemed effective in relieving his itchy nose. It did not make him lazy or sleepy. I have no idea if it would help with hives.
Member:
pattyb

Posted on Saturday, May 12, 2012 - 10:06 am:

For those following this discussion, I used 7 Cetirizine...the generic form of Zyrtec..at the dose the vet told me to give him. I saw no adverse reactions to the medication, not hyper/not excited....it just worked and worked very well. I gave him the Cetirirzine on Thursday around 6:00ish and as of this morning...still no hives, not even bug bite hives....verwy interwesting. With that, I have 2 thoughts, give him a lower dose daily to keep the hives away or, wait and see how long the dose from Thursday keeps him from getting bug bite hives again. So far, the 24 hour tablets have lasted almost 40 hours.

Laurie, I use the word rodeo because this horse is not used to having anything shoved down his throat. Since he arrived here at the tender age of 3 months, his wormers have always been the "in feed" versions...or, like Ivermectin Gold, he likes it enough to mix into his feed anyway. And it probably didn't help when he needed a dose of Banamine last year when I had my husband (who he hates) help me...or more like try to help me, get it in him at 2:00 in the morning. I had to have Eddy leave so I could do it myself...still not easy but not the rodeo it was with my...ummmm...help.

This particular horse used to be a holy terror to give shots to....until one day when I went to apply Dr.O's approach to desensitizing him to needles. I bought all different sizes and gauges to work my way up...but by the 3rd needle, I realized it wasn't the shot..it was who was giving it. When I do his shots, I don't even need a halter or leaDrOpe...send the vet and another male out there....instant rodeo. Now what we do is I have Ziggy bury his face in a feed bin while the vet stands next to me...so Ziggy doesn't know it's not me on the other end of that needle. The vet does what he needs to do for that day, then leaves me the rest to space out as needed.

And to keep in the mode of full disclosure here, Ziggy is strictly a one person horse, something I've learned over the last 32 years to be fairly common with Arabs...he's my second one to be that way. He can get along with just about anyone who doesn't trigger the "uh oh" reaction in him...but once I enter the area, he goes into full "gotta protect mom" mode. Considering the hours I spent sitting in his stall in front of a fan in August...when he first arrived and was acclimating, I suspect that is where the bonding started...he would lay at my feet napping while I sat there on a bucket reading....until the others came back in and he could see them.

I've learned that if he needs anything even remotely traumatizing.....send everyone out of the area and just leave the two of us alone and it will be done. Why he is that way, I don't know....but I've had 4 vets over the years (2 horse, 2 small animal) tell me that when they die, they want to come back as one of my pets...lol...love it.

Anyway, we're 40 hours and counting on his Thursday dose of Cetirizine, will post when I have a number for how long it lasted before I saw more hives.....
Member:
lsweeney

Posted on Saturday, May 12, 2012 - 3:04 pm:

OK I wasn't sure if you were meaning it in the way you describe or if it was some technical term that I wasn't aware of.

For what it is worth, I have a very aggressive Arab who I raised from birth. Very territorial and she will go after strangers.

She has an extremely low pain tolerance. I can ride her in a halter and raising my voice is a big deal.

The vet used to stand in the middle of an oak tree that had multiple limbs (imagine standing in the middle of a flower), and then he would dart her with her inoculations from the safety of the tree.

She is only 14.1 (technically a pony), but she has always been a force to deal with.

Back to the hives. What is interesting is that some of her welts are oozing like rain rot.

The Friesian's are either typical hives or just raised spots on the skin that are quite large.

We gave them a bath yesterday just in case there was something on the skin.

They are eating pretty rich 50/50 grass/alfalfa. But they have been for several weeks now. I'm still thinking that we are dealing with bugs that have hatched.

The hives are still there but look as if they are calming down - not quite as firm and pronounced.

If it looks like it is heading in the wrong direction, I will try the antihistimines.

Thanks for all of the input!
Member:
lsweeney

Posted on Saturday, May 12, 2012 - 3:29 pm:

This says that the Zyrtec may not help much?

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20097587
Member:
pattyb

Posted on Saturday, May 12, 2012 - 7:41 pm:

I would file that as food for thought.... Ziggy went from maybe 20 bug bite hives to well over 150 all over from his vaccination, to none by the next morning, after I dosed him as instructed 1 tablet/100 lbs the night before. When I fed tonight, still no hives and thats a good 48 hours. His problem with bug bite hives started about 2 weeks ago, definitely decreased with a good spraying of fly spray, but still not gone....then the vaccination fiasco...all of which responded well beyond my expectations after dosing him with generic Zyrtec.

Good luck and just keep us in mind, I went back and bought a big bottle to have on hand for $30.
Member:
lsweeney

Posted on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 - 1:12 pm:

The problem with this stuff is you don't know what really fixed the problem. Just like soaking an abscess, did the soaking really make the difference, or would it have done it on its own?

The hives on both horses mellowed out after a few days without doing anything other than coating them with fly repellant.
Member:
stek

Posted on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 - 6:20 pm:

Laurie if bugs, specifically no-see-ums or gnats, are the problem I have had tremendous luck with catnip oil. It is the only thing on the plantet that helped my mare that gets sweet itch. It is supposed to be a really good fly repellent also but I save it and use it just for miss itchy butt.
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