I have an appaloosa that came to me 5 weeks ago with a severe case of rain rot. I began giving him baths with a antibacterial shampoo and used Banixx topically. The severe sore are healed but as soon as an area seems to be healing there are new patches of flaky raised skin. The vet said to discontinue the topical treatment and just give him a weekly shampoo with chlorhexidine. I’ve been doing that but it doesn’t seem to be helping as much as I hoped. Does anyone have any ideas? I’m starting to wonder if it is something else or is it normal for healing to take so long? We live in southern Missouri so it is humid but I brush him daily, use fly spray daily and he has good shelter from the bugs and sun.
What is his diet?
For long-term dietary deficiencies (low copper and zinc, low Vit A or E, low selenium) these things can take a long time to resolve.
But “patches of flakey raised skin” would have me requesting a biopsy, as that doesn’t sound like rainrot.
Equiderma has some really good products you might try, just be sure to do test spots first.
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He was in pretty poor condition. He’s on good pasture now and put weight on nicely. I do think his immune system was compromised. Perhaps I should add a supplement to his diet? Can you recommend something? I’ll also call my vet about a biopsy.
My thought was possible diet too.
Al thought my pony did not have rain rot, he had very severe sweet itch. Along with numerous management strategies, I also one by one made changes to his diet with the hope of quieting his overstimulated immune system and getting his skin more resilient. It has taken a long time, but I am happy to say it seems to have worked. The once incessantly itchy, bloody raw pony who had to be “bubble wrapped” and fly sprayed to the nines is outside today totally naked except for his daily spritz of fly spray.
Dietary changes I made that I think has made a marked difference:
Flax for the omegas
MSM for the anti-inflammatory effects
a good ration balancer to be sure he is getting what he needs that may be lacking in his hay - I use Essential K
Vitamin E (that I no longer feel he needs)
spirulina ( also no longer needed)
I think a host of our horses problems have a deficient diet at their root. Start there and you might be surprised at other benefits you will see beyond clear shin.
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I have an older gelding with sensitive skin, and have to really stay on top of rain rot when it happens. The chlorhexidrine shampoo is good (my vet recommended as well). If there are no raw areas, I also spray with a 50/50 Clorox and water mixture on a sunny day. If there are “clumpy” areas that need softening, I will spray with 50/50 Listerine and baby oil. The Listerine is milder than Clorox, and the baby oil softens the clumps so they come off with a soft curry. A good diet will help with skin condition overall, but some horses are just more sensitive and prone to skin irritations than others.
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What ration balancer do you use? I usually use Triple Crown. I do think he’s still recovering nutritionally.
We had a filly come in to the boarding barn in the middle of MN winter. She had rain rot all over her body from having a blanket without previous owner ever checking under it. Halter grown into her face with rain rot underneath. It was horrible. We couldn’t bathe her, it was just too damn cold. So improved diet, isolated in dry stall and used Eqyss Micro Tek spray. Although be careful, it has lavender and some horses are allergic to that too so spot test first. It cleared up with spraying every other day.
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I’ve had good luck with two prescription products: Quadritop and GenOne.
While I don’t think it was rain rot my mare was suddenly having small dime sized patches of flaky/ crusty like skin and very was sensitive to brushing. I thought at first it was sunburn as it was along her back/ loin area and flanks and it happened in the summer. Once I went with a RB it went away and has never come back. It has been 2 years now.
I tried Banixx on my mare and it never got rid of it. MTG is the only thing that helped her! My vet says a round of steroid shots helps but haven’t wanted to do that.
I use Essential K. Up until recently, feeding at the lower end of maintenance rate. (My Fjords are air ferns that were always fighting the battle of the bulge; way too easy keepers.) This past March, my 25 year old was acting very lethargic and just wasn’t looking like he weathered the winter as well as he always had. I upped him to the higher end of the maintenance rate and within just few short weeks he was looking so much better and acting like a much younger horse. If you want a feed beyond just a ration balancer, I’ve also used and been very pleased with Kalm 'n Easy. It kept my now departed OTTB in great shape for many years.
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This guy is very much an easy keeper so I worry about adding extra calories. Even though he came very thin he gained very easily!
Supplementing vitamin A has healed up rainrot in every foster I used it on, with no topical treatment. This is why you rarely see rainrot on healthy, well nourished horses. Buy the injectable kind for cattle, but feed 5 cc once a week for 2-3 weeks. You’ll have a happier horse, and save yourself a ton of trouble.
My horse had very bad rain rot in the spring and we had to put him on SMZs. Within days (a day?) he started to look better. NONE of the “anti-rain -rot” products I used made it better, and some made it worse.
At five weeks out, I would not be shocked at all if a severe case had not cleared up. Especially in a rescue case. Nutrition takes time to rebuild what the body is missing. I would ask for medicated shampoo to bathe with from the vet. I’ve had good luck with one called Sebozole Shampoo for Dogs, Cats & Horses
Though, I’ve experienced in rescue cases that when better nutrition starts happening they tend to go through something that looks like rain rot but isn’t. It usually happens a bit after a month of better food… I’ve always attributed it to the old hair/skin layer being removed for the new healthy layer to come in.
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I found out the rain rot is healed up, what I am seeing now is sunburn!
Try Coat Defense Powder, I’ve good success using it.
Very interesting about the skin changes following some healing and good food! I did have the vet take another look and now we’re seeing sunburn! He’s a very white with mottled spots of gray appaloosa.
Oh yes, get a good fly sheet and that should clear up. He may be a bit unhappy wearing it at first due to the sunburn. Rub a layer of diaper cream over the burns so the fly sheet doesn’t irritate them
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How about aloe?
