Thanks!
I’m really happy to hear after the long thread that’s lasted longer than Mister did seems to have found a solution!
simkie - thanks for linking to this in my other thread. I’ve scanned it and remembered my gelding was found stocked up in the hinds one day, which I attributed to him standing in the run in too long, but now think it was related to the scabs (minor bout of cellulitis maybe?)
Anyway, can list for me, in lay persons terms (ie: brand names :D) what you used for treatment? I saw Nasacort listed in there…
Nasacort. Chlorhexidine ointment. Corona or udder balm. Layered, in that order.
”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹And the process, from an earlier post:
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Went through this with my gelding–had one tiny patch of scratches (or something) that would not heal on the pastern of his one white hoof. Had him tested for Cushing’s due to some other weird things going on (neck hair started curling when it got wet in rain, hoof wall got strange vertical surface cracks). I added 1000 mg vitamin C and 1600 iu of vitamin E to his diet, and the spot went away on it’s own. Since he was 17, I asked the vet to pull blood and check . She thought I was nuts, and was surprised when he tested positive as he had none of the traditional symptoms.
My gelding gets these. I assumed it was scratches. They don’t usually bother him but if I want to get rid of them I scrub the area with water and chlorhexidine daily (cvs wound wash 2%) and don’t rinse it off. They clear up in 1-2 weeks.
Simkie do you know of other OTC sources of triamcinolone or equivalent? Nasacort is only by prescription here. I guess that means other sources probably are too, but I’d like to check.
Where is here?
Nasacort is the only one I’m aware of.
If you have any otc steroids for nasal use, those are probably work a shot.
I’d tried your standard cortisone 10 cream before this, and didn’t find that effective, though. My horse, at least, needed more ooomph.
Just wondering if they have completely gone away? I gave up on mine for a while but they seem to be spreading. 
I can get them to clear up and almost go away but they always come back.
I’ve never seen them spread on my horse–they’ve always been in the same spot. If yours are spreading, that sounds like something different?
Prior to this treatment, I’d get them almost gone and then they’d pop back up, usually over winter, but always in the same spot.
”‹”‹”‹”‹
Everything else sounds exactly the same. Places look exactly like yours as well. Maybe he is just developing more places as time goes on. Curious if it has to be triamcinolone or do you think Dex applied topically would work? I found a little left in a bottle I was going to throw out and wondering if it would work the same.
Guessing any steroid is worth a shot. Give it a try!
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Sorry - I’m in Australia. I didn’t realise it contained a steroid - and that explains why it’s prescription only in Australia. Thanks for the reply.
Yeah, triamcinolone is a steroid. Sorry for any confusion.
Update time!
This horse did well over winter and into the early part of spring, and then small scabby horny things popped back up. Hmmm, bugs? Or maybe she’s knocking these areas in spring time snorty frolics? Who knows.
I used castor oil to soften and remove the scabs and was very pleased with the state of things–instead of ugly holes, I had something more like the pics at the bottom of page one. HUGE progress over previous years where things would maybe look okayish at the end of the summer but we’d be right back to where we started the next year.
I scurfed the snot out of this horse over the winter with chlorhexidine ointment (sigh :() so am skipping that this time. Just using the triamcinolone on the things, giving it a few minutes to dry, and covering with corona. It takes no time at all for them to improve by leaps and bounds and she’s looking really great again. Pic!
I’ve also been working on another horse’s heel … things from blowing out abscesses (like @PNWjumper mentioned earlier in this thread) and she’s also looking fabulous.
AND, good news! Costco is making a generic nasacort for less $$. Woooo! It’s definitely a staple of my vet kit at this point :lol:
Sigh, spam reported
This was a very interesting idea and read. I used to own a horse that had habronema every year on his lips. Or any open sore. Really wondering if it would work for that too? Open sore that the only way I could heal was either injected steroids in the wound or oral steroids. Wouldn’t that be a kicker, just use nasal spray and keep covered. Thankfully I have no need to try it out now!
I’ve been following along but thought I might add some input- and possibly an interesting twist.
My 25 year old IR horse has been diagnosed since 2012 and has lived with me since 2006. He has never - NEVER - had Scratches or anything resembling it.
He went on Prascend for Cushings in November, 2019.
Last month (June, 2020) he came in from pasture with a swollen ankle that had heat. I was feeling around and discovered what felt like Scratches sores. Did I say this horse has never had Scratches, much less a swollen & warm ankle to match.
I started with the cold hosing “five minutes ago”. I can do anything with this horse but when it was time to put the meds on the Scratches, he could barely stand to have his ankle area touched.
He also had what I thought was small breakout on the other ankle.
It so happened, the holistic vet/chiro was here a few days later. She did NOT think it was Scratches. She thought it was ant bites. Especially since the horse had a couple of matching “bumps” on both sides of the crest of his neck that he was rubbing the daylights out of.
I was running short on topicals so I grabbed some Cortisone 10 from the house bathroom, mixed it with hemorrhoid ointment, then covered that with 40% zinc oxide diaper rash paste, everyplace there was a scab or a bump. Diaper rash paste does a great job of staying on the skin, thus keeping the meds on longer and the flies off.
The ankle swelling thankfully went down in about five days. The sores did scab over, on the ankles/fetlock area and took about ten days to reach a point where I could safely knock them off, without any bleeding. He still has a couple of bumps on one side of the neck but they don’t seem to bother him.
I am really happy the ankle heat & swelling didn’t start to travel up the leg—- THAT would have been vet time.
My points are:
- I think the vet/chiro may have been right about ant bites (they are everywhere this year:(
- Cortisone 10 is my new friend at the barn. It seems to soothe the itch/pain while healing the horse:)
