" at the time about how swollen his sheath was but was told that it was ok, "...

Hi,

We bought our horse 9 months ago, I commented at the time about how swollen his sheath was but was told that it was ok, then about 3 weeks later he started biting at his sides and bucking. If you tried to touch his sides he would kick out. He has been on various medication over the last 9 months but nothing is working to clear it completly, the vet is baffled as he has had blood tests done they were clear, his urine was checked (it showed low nitic) nothing showed up on the scan that was done but when he is off the medication for a short time he starts having pain again then the systems starts all over. We had to get the vet again last week and he has put him on medication for 15 days as he thinks that he may have cronic cystitis and hoping that the 15 days will shift it, then today he took blood the check for somthing sexual transmitted before he was gelded. But that came back clear, have you any sugestions that we could try?

Dr. Kimberly Gryl's Answer:

Agnes:

Perhaps more diagnostic testing is in order, in the form of an ultrasound on your gelding's sheath. This will be able to look at the architecture of the tissue and see abnormalities that are deep to the skin. Also, a complete examination of the penis is in order, including having him completely dropped down; I assume this has already been done.

The more you try to persist in touching his sheath region, the worse his behavior will get. This is best reserved for the veterinarian only, who can sedate him appropriately and minimize the chances of getting hurt.

Good luck.

Kimberly A Gryl DVM

"My pony has been on depo to calm him when jumping and calm him when in turnout"...

Hi Kim,

Thank you for your reply. My pony has been on depo to calm him when jumping and calm him when in turnout. When doing courses, he gets very excited. When we switched vets we did not give him depo. At that time, he injured his stifles in turnout. So for the next 3 months, while recovering, (still without depo), he injured his stifles again. While he was

previously on depo, he never acted out in turnout before - bucking, rearing, twisting and screeching. After the second injury, we put him on the generic depo, which I mentioned does not seem to be working. Just last week my daughter had to put him into the wall twice after doing a course. He then started to buck after each jump. I would love to put him on some calming product but do not know what would be good. We have had him for almost five years now and have never had a problem like this before. I don't know what to do. As I said before, he is a great pony and want to do the best we can for him so that he doesn't injure himself again or injure my daughters.

Dr. Kimberly Gryl's Answer:

I have never heard of using Depo to calm a horse. It is a potent steroid used for a variety of things, but not as a calming agent that I know of. However, part of its effect is pain relief. I wonder if your pony has a very sore back, or other region of the body that is sore, and jumping aggravates the soreness. That being the case, Depo would likely work to some degree for pain, and like any other drug, will wear off in time. It may be worth having a chiropractor examine your pony. Until then, it would be wise to not do too much riding, and maybe no jumping.

Good luck.

Kimberly A Gryl DVM

"Some of my barn-mates discourage french braiding tails as they've heard that it restricts blood flow to the tail dock."...

I live in Michigan, and this time of year the pasture gets very muddy. I often french braid my horse's tail to A) keep it from dragging in the mud, and B) to help protect it from getting damaged so it can grow stronger & longer. Some of my barn-mates discourage french braiding tails as they've heard that it restricts blood flow to the tail dock. Is this true?

Thank you for your advice!

ReannonT

Dr. Jack Sales' Answer:

Hi Reannon,

The use of French braiding of the tail might be an occasional cause of constriction of blood supply to a part of the tail, but it is not very likely unless a group of strands of hair are wrapped excessively tight around the circumference of the bony part of the tail or if things like rubber bands are used around the same area. I would not discourage you from continuing the practice.

I hope this helps.

Dr. Sales

"Is it wrong to want to know a diagnosis and why I am turning him out for 3 months?"...

I have a 9 year old gelding that has been sore on his right front leg for about 2 months now. The vet came out and blocked him from the foot to the knee. He did flexion tests and the horse was no worse. He told me to bute him for 2 weeks to see if it was mechanical. 2 weeks have gone by and he is still lame. He does not get any better or any worse. The next step the vet stated was to turn him out for 3 months. Do you have any ideas on what this can be caused from. This is my barrel horse and my season is about to start. He is lame going to the right and when going straight just a slight lameness. Is it wrong to want to know a diagnosis and why I am turning him out for 3 months?

Dr. Jack Sales' Answer:

Hi Jan,

You should expect a diagnosis before you turn him out. If your Vet is unwilling to re-evaluate the lameness and possibly take x-rays to try and determine the cause of the lameness you should get a second opinion. I hope this helps and good luck.

Dr. Sales

"My horse has recently acquired a limp in his right fore foot."...

When he walks it looks as though he is trying to keep weight off it. I stretched out both of his fore legs and the limp seemed to go away. Do you have any suggestions on what it could be wrong or what I can do about it? He is in a very muddy pasture right now - He is a Percheron/3yr old/ gelding/ 17.0 hands

Dr. Jack Sales' Answer:

Hi Erica,

It is hard to know what may be causing the limp from the description but if the horse is in a real muddy area it is not uncommon in those situations for the horse to develop foot soreness from thrush of from the feet getting packed with mud and then drying and the horse walks on the mud packs and puts more pressure than usual on the sole, and can bruise the sole. Keep the horses feet cleaned out as often as possible and try to keep him out of the mud. If the lameness continues or gets worse, you should have a Veterinary lameness exam done.

Good luck.

Dr. Sales

"the day after she was lame, no heat or swelling "...

I have a 22yr old mare called Smudge, she is fit as a fiddle, gets ridden 5/6 times a week and goes show jumping every other weeekend. She has just qualified for trailblazers championships! Anyway, a few weeks ago I took her xc schooling and the day after she was lame, no heat or swelling so I put her out in the field and she came in that night fine. Yesterday I took her xc schooling and she is lame again this morning. Again no heat or swelling so I've put her out in the field hoping she will be ok tonight. Do you think she is just stiff or has pulled something? She's pottering on her off fore leg as if she's got a stone in her foot (she hasn't). Do you think she is just stiff or has pulled something?

Dr. Kimberly Gryl's Answer:

Lucy:

Wow, good job on keeping your aging mare so fit, and what a great job it sounds like you are doing with her in the showing department. Not many 22 year old horses are jumping at all, much less showing on such a schedule. As far as her lameness, it could be a myriad of things. The two basics are either soft tissue or bone. This sounds more like soft tissue (muscles, tendons, etc), as it sounds like something she "works out of". It sounds like she's getting stiff overnight, but then after a day of moving around, she seems to recover and does fine. It may be worth having your veterinarian do a lameness work-up to try and pinpoint a problem area, hopefully while it is in its early stages, before it becomes a full-blown injury. On the flipside, you could try a few days of bute around the time that you school xc, and see if that offers her enough relief.

Good luck.

Kimberly A Gryl DVM

"I have a four-month-old colt with head and neck trauma"...

I recently started juming my horse, which puts a lot of stress on his hocks. A few days ago I noticed that he would flinch when I rubbed the curry comb on his hips. So I got a friend and long time horse owner to look at him. She pushed on both sides on his hips (she said they were hock points). He immediatly sucked his butt up under him. I've been soaking his hocks in ligament, and will give him bute for a few days (I have a horse show I'm taking him to Sunday) along with gently massaging his back.

What I would like to ask is; should I take him to a chiropractor, a vet, or a hock specialist?

Dr. Kimberly Gryl's Answer:

Hannah:

A licensed veterinarian should ALWAYS be your first choice when you are seeking any medical advice about your horse. And I urge you to use caution when seeking out a chiropractor - make sure that person is a licensed veterinarian, and NOT a human chiropractor who does horses "on the side". The two species are not comparable.

As far as your horse's back soreness, there are other reasons for it besides his hocks. A thorough lameness examination will narrow down the affected areas, and the diagnosing veterinarian will then work through a treatment plan. Jumping is hard on virtually every joint in the body, not just the hocks. It is easy to focus on those and overlook other areas which may be just as much or more painful than the hocks.

Good luck.

Kimberly A Gryl DVM

"My 20yo gelding has a growth on the outside of his sheath. It is brown, wart-like & the size of a nickel What is it & what should be done about it? "...

Dr. Kimberly Gryl's Answer:

Sher:

The only way to know for sure about that lump is to have your veterinarian biopsy it. This is where a part of or the whole lump is taken and submitted to a laboratory for testing. Either way, you should get your veterinarian involved to decide how to manage it. There is no sense in guessing and possibly taking a risk by not diagnosing it, when a simple procedure will give you the answer.

Good luck.

Kimberly A Gryl DVM

"My horse is itchy, and has been rubbing himself by his butt and between his front legs at his chest. "...

He has had fecal and blood work done and nothing and now the vet has done some skin biopsies There has been no change to his bedding, food, envirornment for the past 6 years. He has hair loss in those areas and there are a few very small bumps on the butt area and the skin between his legs is kind of leathery, along with hair loss in those areas. The vet has him on antihisamines and prednazone, to ease his ithchyness, but we have not found the cause. This started in Decenber, seemed to subside and has come back again in the last month.The horse is 23 years old. Everything else about him is fine.

Thanks

Christine

Dr. Kimberly Gryl's Answer:

Christine:

It is a bit unusual that your horse would develop an allergy at an such an advanced age, however it is not impossible. An allergy happens because the body is sensitized to the allergen (the culprit) over a long period of time, then the immune system overreacts to it, causing the allergy that you see. Allergies can manifest in a number of ways, including skin (itchiness, redness, hairloss, etc), intestinal issues (diarrhea, etc), sinusitis (more in people), eye problems, and so on. Unfortunately, because of the complicated nature of the immune system, diagnosing and treating the cause can be very frustrating at times. It is often easier (and sometimes necessary) to alleviate the signs or effects of allergies through treating them, rather than spend a lot of time and money diagnosing them. This sounds like what you have done with your horse. The antihistamines and prednisone will treat and help abate the allergies' effects, however won't do anything towards diagnosing the cause(s). Diagnosing allergies in horses is limited. We do have a blood test that can screen for a number of allergens, most of them feed-related, but some environmental. You might inquire of your veterinarian about this test.

Good luck.

Kimberly A Gryl DVM

"Yes thank you..I will take show pictures and send to you today. Aloha."...

My horse is a bay. So I thought maybe he has some paint in him. Someone tool me it could be a liver problem? But I found no information on line to help me..

Sue

Dr. Jack Sales' Answer:

Hi Sue,

Thanks for the pictures. I am not an expert but they do look like paint or pinto marks to me.

Dr. Sales