Lumps under stomach

[sweetsalute]

My horses sure are testing me lately! Pulled the 6yo in and sometime in the last 48 hours, she’s had several lumps appear under her stomach, back towards her udder. Several have what appear to be scabbed over wounds. One had what at first glance looked like blood dripping off it, but it was more of a jelly like consistency and relatively light red in colour.

Horse seems ok in general, is moving fine and demeanour is her usual self, aside from getting grumpy at me examining the area (dodging kicks is always fun).

I’m at a bit of a loss as to what this might be…horse lives out 24/7 but there’s literally nothing in the paddock to hurt herself on. Fences are electric braid with t posts, but all intact and no caps missing from posts.

My best guess is some sort of insect bite and she may have kicked herself trying to get rid of it? I’ve never seen this before.

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[Highflyer1]

They look like bug bites to me.

[sweetsalute]

That’s what I’m hoping…I’m probably over reacting lol, but between the two of them I’ve had nothing but issues and vet bills all year

Just very odd, I’ve never once seen ones like this before. This horse has been on this property for 2 years, the other for 10!

Probably irrelevant but she has had a number of sarcoids pop up that I’ve been keeping an eye on. One on her leg that’s getting to a stage where I’ll be looking at possible removal, and probably 7 tiny ones on her nose.

[nzoom13]

Do you have fire ants where you live? My boy rolled in a nest once and got about 50 bites…a few hours after it happened they looked just like your pictures. They oozed for about a day then scabbed over and he was 100% in a week or so.

[MorganMaresVT]

Or tick bites if you are in a tick prone area. I’ve found they’ve really picked up again in the last two weeks after being pretty mild most of the summer (New England). A couple of my mares have lumps like this right now, unfortunately.

[sweetsalute]

I’ve never seen fire ants in the area, but the state gov have just introduced some restrictions moving soil etc in relation to them so it’s possible.

Also never had tick issues on this property but again possible, they just don’t look like the tick lumps I’ve had in the past! Having said that, this horse is fairly sensitive skinned so may have had a larger reaction.

[VolteSomeday]

I run into this with one of my boys every late summer/fall–it’s from a type of fly (small, black) that congregates on the horses’ stomach/midline. The bites cause the raised, scabby areas, which then of course attracts more flies. My vet advised giving it a good wash and then trying to keep it coated with SWAT 1-2 times a day. Fortunately the “feeding season” for the little buggers usually only lasts about a month or two, at least in the Midwest where I’m at. So good news; it’s nothing serious, just an annoyance (for you and the horse)!

[sweetsalute]

No idea if we have those same bugs in my part of Australia! As I’ve said, I’ve not seen anything like this before (nor have any of my local friends), there’s been no weird bugs around either!

No real improvement, they just keep oozing. Horse won’t let me get close either, so about all I’ve been able to do treatment wise is wash it off and then spray some iodine solution.

Pulse, temp etc are all within normal ranges and she appears to be going about her usual daily activities with no problems, has a healthy appetite etc

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[Fiesta01]

I can’t tell how big the lumps are in the photo. If they’re not large and if they’re rather in a cluster, maybe onchocerca infestation?

[sweetsalute]

The swelling is roughly 3 inches in diameter per lump, the actual sores are up to an inch.

Im calling the vet today, a friend who lost a horse to swamp cancer a few years ago has said it looks exactly the same as her geldings did in the early stages. Fingers crossed it’s not that!

[TWH_Girl]

I don’t play guessing games with stuff like that. My horse had a rare cutaneous actinobacillus which inflammed one lymph node under his chin. Everyone of course assumed strangles but it wasn’t. I’m glad you’re having the vet look at it. Report back on what the diagnosis is please!

[Fiesta01]

OK, not onchocerca.

[sweetsalute]

Current diagnosis from the vet is habronemiasis. Treatment is antibiotics and a double dose of ivermectin now, followed by another double dose in a few weeks.

[Fiesta01]

Happy you have a diagnosis and that the cure seems easily enough done. (Hey, I wasn’t that far off with the onchocerca idea. They’re worms, too!).

The onchocerca my one mare had on her belly looked a lot like the second photo in your original post. The wounds and bumps were just much smaller and there were more of them and closer together. They were all over her belly. I don’t remember what wormer the vet gave me, but it wasn’t one of the normal ones in her worming program. They cleared up readily in a couple weeks.

ETA: This was 45 years ago, but I clearly remember cleaning the scabby tops of the wounds, lathering up her belly with my hands. One of the scabs was half off, so I pulled on it with my thumb and forefinger. A worm about 5 inches long was attached to the scab and pulled right out of her belly. Yikes isn’t a strong enough word to express my horror. Luckily, I didn’t freak my mare out, but I know I yelped a little and jumped about 4 feet back.

[sweetsalute]

Yeah the vet said it’ll get worse before it gets better and I may see some larvae

In good news at least, the vet confirmed the other mare’s eye ulcer has cleared up! Nice to have one horse to ride lol