All right you all, I really need any advise, ideas or anything you can help me with here.Unfortunately, I cannot keep my horses at home and have to board. I went out to the farm last Thursday and noticed that Feisty-my app. mare- had some round sores under her left eye and it looked to be a rash below it. The folks who turn her in and out each day said that they just noticed it the day before. They thought that it was caused by fly bites. I doctored every day with flys-off to keep the flys away and it help it to heal. Instead of it getting better, it seems to be spreading. It starts out as a rash that scabs over then when you pick off a scab it leaves a round hole. I took her to the vet this afternoon and he took a biopsy which is being sent to Michigan State Vet School. I will take pictures of it and post them tomorrow. He thinks it could be blastomycosis, cryptospiridiosis, or histoplasmosis.All of these fungal infections are normally found in the Missippi river basin. The literature I have found so far says that the horse will show wasting, lung symptoms and the granulomas are internal.Feisty is not wasting or any of the other things that it said in the Merck. Have any of you had any experience with a weird rash like this? He also said it could be cancer. She is an awesome, honest,19 year old mare that has really taken care of my kids in the show ring and on the trail. I hate the thought of having to put her down, but at the same time I can't afford to put thousands of dollars into her treatment.Any and all information is very welcome.

Could it be Sweet Itch? Take a look at this site with pix and what she did to cure it.....
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/nevinm2/page18.html

Keep in mind that a lot of horses have oe form of cancer or another and still live happy fulfilling lives. Most people don't even realize that the horse has cancer. As long as it isn't interfering with her quality of life, I wouldn't jump to put her down if it is cancer.

Dear M.B. we are still really not sure what it could be so it could be ANYTHING! I appreciate all suggestions. I noticed that the sores from the sweet itch was on the legs and underside. This is only on the face. I have posted a couple of pictures.

I also appreciate the heads up about cancer not necessarily being a death dentence. I sure hope it isn't!

What are the stitches from? Were these needed because of the sores or did she have an injury? If the injury came first could the sores be from some type of infection?

Hi Kalo, the stitches are from the biopsy that the vet took. I just got back from the farm and she is looking better. There is still some swelling above the biopsy site but it doesn't seem to be spreading anymore. All the vet gave her was a whopping shot of penicillin. Needless to say I will be getting a second opinion.

We have a diagnosis!

There is no cancer or fungal element to this, but the MSU Vet clinic said that there were a lot of eosinophils present. They called them eosinophillic granuloma syndrome and said that it is a hypersensitivity to some type of either parasite or even fly bites. The suggested treatment is with either systemic corticosteroids. The vet wants to try topical steriods mixed with DMSO to aid in penetration of the steroid. Thanks for your ideas!!!

Congratulations on the good news.

Sounds like some good news! Relief is spelled eosinophillic granuloma syndrome, now pronounce it!

Happy to hear the news!

Thanks you all, you are the best!

You know what that actually looks like... It looks exactly like my friends paint mares when the sun burns there pigmented skin. The hypersensitivity could be simply to the sun or the hi wattage light bulbs in your barn. We just let them go as it doesn't really start to bother them until mid July when the scabs and peeling gets really bad and then all you can do is wait until octoberish when the sun isn't so bad and the burns heal and you can cover that part of the face (not that the covers will stay on for more than a few minutes). Ask your vet if it may just be a severe sunburn. Or does Michigan, Minnesota, have sunlight like we get out here?

Hi Rafter,
Well, I don't know if our sunlight is as strong as yours out there or not, but the vet sent a biopsy to Michigan State Vet Clinic and they found a lot of these eosinophillic cells which is usually a response to some type of foreign body--parasite, bug bites, etc. I don't know if they would consider a sunburn as a foreign body, but I will ask. Did your friends mares scabs leave a hole in the skin? I mean a deep hole, not just a little superficial round mark. A hole that would be about 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch deep?

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Originally posted by Mustang Blue:
Could it be Sweet Itch? Take a look at this site with pix and what she did to cure it.....
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/nevinm2/page18.html

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