What IS this bump?

[DancingArabian]

I have a grey horse, and I always thought the bumps he had were just the normal bumps that grey horses sometimes get. Vet was not concerned about it. Horse had 3 of these bumps - one on either side of the neck, one on the ear. One of the neck bumps mysteriously disappeared a couple of years ago. Vet was not concerned, horse was not concerned. A few days ago, the other neck bump was shriveled up and then fell off, like a scab, and there was a tiny wound left behind that has now healed smooth.

The only thing of note is that the day before the neck bump shriveled up was that I applied Equi-Spot on my horse. I don’t think it’s particularly relevant since it’s not the first time I’ve used it on him, but that is literally the only thing that’s changed.

So…does anyone know what this bump may be? The neck ones were just on the skin - you could pinch the area under them and not feel anything. Horse was never concerned about any of them.

I can’t attach pictures but I do have some. It’s a raised bump on his skin. They are solid, but do not seem to cause him pain. They are hairless and very round.

[Horseychick87]

How big were the bumps and what color were they?

They could have been warts, but it seems unlikely in those areas.

[DancingArabian]

They were not big. The one on his ear is the largest one and it’s maybe 1/4" across. They’re all black, but that’s his skin color. They look and feel like something is UNDER the skin, raising the skin to form the bump. You can pinch under the skin, and feel like a little ball, but it doesn’t feel like whatever it is making the bump is connected to anything inside his body.

[beowulf]

they’re probably melanomas. very common in greys. some are benign, some are not.

[Horseychick87]

Yeah with them being under the skin like you described I’m thinking melanomas as well.
Maybe see if the vet will take a good look at them the nest time (s)he is out.

[DancingArabian]

Is it normal for them to just shrivel up and fall off like that?

[Horseychick87]

That’s the thing, I’ve never known melanomas to shrivel and fall off, but I try to avoid grey horses due to all the grooming requirements (talk about lazy, LOL) So I don’t have a whole lot of experience with them.

The shrivel up and falling off part got me to thinking and looking at skin conditions. It could be Sarcoids they are the most common skin tumors in horses, so there is a good likelihood that it could be sarcoids. However for them to fall off they need to have been treated with chemotherapy.

I did some digging and couldn’t find a record of melanomas falling off since they are under the skin. So now I’m second guessing myself on that one.

I’d push for a biopsy if you can, just to be sure.

[beowulf]

Sarcoids shouldn’t shrivel and fall off but I have seen one nearly disappear w/o treatment. I think it’s time to ask for a biopsy.

[Bluey]

Thinking zebras, it could be a cattle grub:

http://equimed.com/diseases-and-conditions/reference/hypoderma-bovis-spp-infestation

Your vet probably thought about this?

[melhorse]

Sarcoids maybe? They change/grow/look nasty and fall off at times.

[DancingArabian]

I considered cattle grubs but they don’t weep or anything. I took a picture from the bump on his ear. I uploaded it to my PhotoBucket to see if you guys could look at it. The ear bump and recently fallen neck bump never wept, changed size, or did anything except be a bump. He’s had them for years. The first bump could have just been an allergic reaction or something or a strange bug bite (he did have a bump on his hindquarters that turned out to be a reaction from a bug).

http://i826.photobucket.com/albums/zz183/sylvanblade/419534B4-47D1-42E5-8B41-3468B3244915_zpsbhkwanq1.jpg

Edited to add: For what it’s worth, I googled sarcoids and melanomas just to be sure I had the right visual in mind (I did). His bumps do not look like either one. The melanomas in greys are usually in clusters, and not just one singular bump, right? Sarcoids seem to be weepy and gooey and the bump is definitely not that.

[Horseychick87]

That bump could be anything unfortunately.

I know warts fall off, but it’s hard to tell if it could be. It looks almost too smooth to be a wart.

Sometimes melanomas can present as a singular bump, but for the most part they do cluster together.

[Bluey]

[QUOTE=DancingArabian;8190262]
I considered cattle grubs but they don’t weep or anything. I took a picture from the bump on his ear. I uploaded it to my PhotoBucket to see if you guys could look at it. The ear bump and recently fallen neck bump never wept, changed size, or did anything except be a bump. He’s had them for years. The first bump could have just been an allergic reaction or something or a strange bug bite (he did have a bump on his hindquarters that turned out to be a reaction from a bug).

http://i826.photobucket.com/albums/zz183/sylvanblade/419534B4-47D1-42E5-8B41-3468B3244915_zpsbhkwanq1.jpg

Edited to add: For what it’s worth, I googled sarcoids and melanomas just to be sure I had the right visual in mind (I did). His bumps do not look like either one. The melanomas in greys are usually in clusters, and not just one singular bump, right? Sarcoids seem to be weepy and gooey and the bump is definitely not that.[/QUOTE]

That looks like a little marble, does it.

I have not seen any quite like that before.

We had a bay feral horse with something like that, four of them, on the side of his mouth up his cheek on one side on a line, a few inches apart each, but they had hair over them.

Our vet excised them, sent them off and the lab came back as an aggressive kind of cancer.
He said they probably would come back and get very bad and more show up in other places.
What do you know, he never had any other bump show up anywhere for the many years he lived.

Maybe your horse will, no matter what they are, also never bother him at all.

If I was your vet, I would like to know what was in there.

[beowulf]

Melanomas are not always in clusters. I’ve seen many singles. Looks like a melanoma to me.