Recurrent hives-all help appreciated

[mariaandefe]

Hi,
I am writing from Turkey about my horse. Horse has recurrent hives for around 3 months now. He was competing and came back to his current barn in October, he then had a break and then went to a dressage clinic.

Upon coming back, I made a small change to his feed and he started breaking out in small hives which got worse over around 2 weeks. He had a couple dex injections which did not resolve the hives. Vet suggested an immunomodulator (Zylexis - if anyone knows) - went through the course of Zylexis and the reaction only got worse. We then tried ozone therapy which also made the reaction worse. By this time, I had done a bunch of elimination tests (feed and bedding) and hives still persisted. He then went on human liver meds and prednisolone in small doses. The hives persisted but they were not as serious.

Fast forward to 2-3 weeks ago, i scheduled a gastroscopy to check for ulcers, he didn’t eat anything for 24hours and the hives magically disappeared. For the next 5 days i slowly introduced everything into his diet and the hives started coming back on the 5th day of being ‘hive-free’. He has been off prednisolone for 2-3 weeks now, but I am going to put him back on them because the hives have gotten very bad now. So from what I can see, I’m assuming it’s something in his feed/hay. I will now list what I added to his diet after the hives magically disappeared.

Hay:
Meadow hay, the only hay we have in Turkey except alfalfa hay.
Feed:
Red Mills Oat balancer mix
Beet pulp
Supplements:
NAF omega oil (soya + linseed oil)
corn oil
rice bran oil
Mervue lab probio forte
YeastCell
Hemp seed
Vitamin c and e

I have gotten him tested for parasites, no parasites. And I’ve done a mane and mineral test which hadn’t shown me much (no toxic metals etc).

Anything Anything will be appreciated.
edit: I will get him allergy tested, his serum is currently in the vet clinic awaiting to be sent

[Bogey2]

I had a horse who dealt with hives his whole life (32) and I never really got to the bottom of what was causing them. Some years were worse than others. Tests showed it was the molasses but honestly when I dropped the feed with molasses he still got hives.
So take out all but the hay and see if he stops getting hives is where I would start. Then add back just grain for a week. Do it scientifically!

adding that it could also be his bedding or environment…one of my horses could not handle Florida and always came down with something that caused hives when he arrived for the winter.

[mariaandefe]

I changed his bedding from shavings to straw, and he still broke out in hives.

Could be the environment, but I when i moved him up north to another province, he also broke out in hives (smaller and less) but it was due to insects biting him.

If I strip his feeding regime just down to meadow hay and the hives persist would this tell me that it’s the hay causing the hives? Because I find it weird; that the day he didn’t eat anything for 24hours his hives magically disappeared.
A vet mentioned to me that if i strip him down only to hay then he could possibly start to colic due to the fact that he will be without grain? Is this a myth? (sounds like one).

Thanks!

[Bogey2]

Hay is most important …I have never had a horse colic because he didn’t get grain.

[mariaandefe]

yeah it sounds very stupid but an international vet stated that to me. So I will just keep him on hay water and grass? Hopefully he has no allergy to grass or hay as that would be an absolute nightmare…He loves going out so much.

[MapleFarm]

Stopping grain won’t colic a horse, it’s very common for horses to not eat grain. Hay and grass (and importantly, chewing, which they don’t do with grain in the same way) buffer stomach acid and are what they actually need.

If you have enough grass, I’d put the horse outside on just grass and water and eliminate hay and grain + supplements for a few days and see if you can get rid of them. Then start a journal literally adding one ingredient per day (ingredient meaning: stall, bedding, hay, grain, supplement - literally one at a time) and keep a detailed log of what time he gets each thing, and if/when hives reappear.

[mariaandefe]

grass is very awful here and not that high quality atm. So i’ll probably keep him on water + hay + grass for a few days and see how he reacts. Can horses even develop hives from grass?
Thanks!

[MapleFarm]

Anything is possible with horses! But I would be much more questioning of random plants in a pasture or bordering a pasture. Same with hay - less concerned with the grass in it, more with what might accidentally be included

[mariaandefe]

I did see him snacking on a yellow plant (can’t remember the name, a very common plant though) and another purple plant (also common). We get our meadow hay from the same man everytime, however I have no clue what grasses are included each time which is annoying. Also we cannot change our hay as meadow hay and alfalfa are the only types of hay present here unfortunately

[cilla1]

I second the hay+grass+ water diet for a while (and no, taking off grain can’t lead to colic). I would suggest also to check your water source (maybe some polluting agent?). Do you have stall mats in your barn? A friend’s horse suddently developed hives from stall mats rubber

[mariaandefe]

Water has no toxins I think. Yes he does have rubber mats, they can be allergic to rubber?

[cilla1]

My friend tried everything, changing hay supplier, bedding, taking off grain, horse was tested by vets about main allergy sources…nothing. She took off stall mats (certified product, I have them too ) and horse was fine the next day

[mariaandefe]

Mine is stabled indoors with windows, everyone around him is stabled on rubber mats too. Would this be a problem?

[cilla1]

I don’t think so, her horse is stabled together with 3 other horses and they all have stall mats. The barn is very airy anyway

[NaturallyHappy]

We had one w hives…,couldn’t figure it out. We finally put him on cardboard bedding out of desperation (no idea if you can get it there) and the hives went away. We did that for about 6 months and then went back to regular bedding. He was fine. Good luck! Hives can be so mysterious.

[OzarksRider]

@mariaandefe

he didn’t eat anything for 24hours and the hives magically disappeared.

This makes me think he’s allergic to something in his diet. Like others have suggested, I would take him off everything except grass and hay for a couple of days. If the hives go away, start adding in the other things one at a time every couple of days. If the hives don’t go away, he might be allergic to either the hay or something in the grass. I also wonder if he really needs all the supplements you’re feeding. My horses’ diet is 99% grass and hay. They get 1 pound of balancing ration with about 1 cup (8 ounces) of feed oats, a small scoop of flax, and a few peanuts and pretzels for dressing. I also throw in extra vitamin E in the winter months.

[mariaandefe]

I swapped him intro straw for a few days and the hives didn’t go away. I attempted looking into paper bedding/cardboard bedding but as you mentioned they don’t produce this here unfortunately. He was rugged in the winter and he still had hives which makes me think it might not be the bedding. No clue!

Thanks!

[mariaandefe]

Hi,
Yes most likely it’s something in his feed. However, it’ll be a nightmare if he is allergic to something in his hay or grass.
He had a very unbalanced diet and he was lacking in fats and vitamins so a nutritionist recommended these. Also, our Turkish production of feed is very bad quality and lacking in basic nutrients and minerals and vitamins a horse needs. It’s absolutely hell in here as we have 6 feed brands to choose from the best being RedMills and KER and Saracen. However, most of these feeds are so high in sugars and starch and the KER ones don’t meet my horses requirements (who is a showjumper stallion who before his hives was in heavy work).
Thanks for your help!

[NancyM]

Could the hay have been sprayed with something? There are a variety of possible things to consider. Can you try hay from a different source?

[LCDR]

Are you using fly spray? I had one with recurrent urticaria which finally was tracked to be a reaction to an ingredient in a very common type of “green” fly spray. And the urticarial reaction would also happen due to mist drifting onto him when other horses nearby were sprayed.