They started out small, just some bumps along their haunches where they lie down to sleep, but then they spread...
 |
| Gwen got lumps all over her back |
 |
| and the hock she likes to sleep on looked horrific |
 |
| Coriander started getting them over his shoulders and neck |
 |
| and then they moved onto his face, poor boy |
At this point I was getting really freaked out. My imagination started going and I was scaring myself thinking about them asphyxiating due to swollen shut airways and being blinded by their eyes puffing shut. I don't know about you, but when my horses don't feel good, I'm a wreak. I pretty much stop eating and sleeping and just fret all the time.
So I got the vet out to look at them and she was all "this is no big deal, bathe them and mow the pasture and they'll be fine." I bathed them (boy did they ever love that, NOT) and Mark went out the very next day and mowed the pasture (he's awesome), and thank goodness- the hives started going down almost immediately.
PHEW
While the vet was out we did vaccinations. I mentioned to her that Gwen always has a bad reaction to vaccinations, she often has lumps for months after getting the shots. Because of that we decided to give her one at a time in her pectoral to see how she reacted. She got her rabies vaccine in her chest and the very next day it looked like she was smuggling an ostrich egg in there. ARGH! Sorry I don't have a picture, I only took one with my camera so I could text it to my vet with this message: !!!! (paraphrasing).
Fortunately the swelling was gone after a week and by that time they had both recovered from their skin allergy and feeling well enough to ride. I climbed up on Gwen and it was like sitting on a firecracker with a lit fuse. I got off after about five minutes because I felt completely NOT SAFE up there. But the very next day and she was completely different, she was relaxed and wanted to explore. I rode her into the back fields away from the pasture for the first time ever and she was great, I even braved a trot!
She might make a trail horse yet- as long as I can keep her healthy...
My appy did that several years ago, on the fourth of July of all days! I was panicked like you were, thinking about him stopping breathing. My vet was delivering a foal and couldn't get out right away. He assured me that if he was going to stop breathing he would have done it before the hives appeared. Since he couldn't get out right away, he told us to open up capsules of benedryl into some grain and within an hour the hives and itching were going away. Every summer, he would break out a couple times like that so we always kept benedryl on hand. I think it was yellow jackets, they always seemed to be an issue when AJ had his outbreaks.
ReplyDeleteGood to know about the benedryl, I will remember that one. Thanks!
DeleteHoly crap, I got itchy just looking at the pictures! Those hives are awful - poor babies! I can totally understand how you would freak out that their throats might close. When the vet recommended mowing the pasture, was it because they were ingesting something (pollen?) or were they actually lying in something (thistles?) that was causing the hives? I am glad they are feeling better. And, Mark is awesome. :-)
ReplyDeleteWe think it's something that was making skin contact instead of being ingested. I could tell from the pattern that it was affecting the areas that they laid on the most before it moved to the rest of their bodies.
DeleteHives can be sca-ry!
ReplyDeleteMy JRT (jack russell terror) broke out with hives while I was looking at her on a recent evening. Lightening had just struck nearby so at first I thought electricity making her hair coat stand, but then her face got all puffy and her whole body broke out. Immediately I'm thinking omg her throat's going to close.
I jammed some benadryl down her throat and in about an hour she was back to normal. Thinking it was a wasp or spider that she hunted down.
According to COTH the equine dosage is 25mg per 100lb...
Wow, you SAW her getting hives? That's crazy, glad you caught it in time.
DeleteThanks for the dosage information, I'm pretty sure I'm going to need that...
It was like a bad horror movie. She transformed in front of my eyes. I thought I was losing it until I inspected her up close.
DeleteThat is scary! Glad they recovered quickly. All my horses seem to have bad reactions to some vaccinations so this year we did one at a time spaced a few weeks apart. The Benaydrl is a good idea and it does help. I had a dog who would get them something awful and that's what the vet recommended.
ReplyDeleteNow I'm definitely getting a bottle of benadryl.
DeleteI mentioned the company that shall not be named that you told me about to my vet and she's had bad experiences with them too. It's scary.
I read about another blogger's horse getting contact hives a few months ago. I think it was due to stinging nettle.
ReplyDeleteMy vet has recommended Benadryl, too.
Hmmm, I haven't seen much of that around but it's definitely possible. The pasture was so tall that nasty stuff could have been hiding in the underbrush. I'll keep my eyes out for it.
DeleteIs everything back to normal now? Sounds to me like something in the field - perhaps a bug attracted to a specific plant. Chopping it all down was a great idea. Hope you get a number of good rides in now.
ReplyDeleteWell they were good for about a week, but Gwen's starting showing lumps on her haunches again. Bathtime!
DeleteHives super suck!! Try mixing regular white vinegar (super cheap by the gallon) with water, like a 1 part vin to a 2 part H20 and sponge bath over, repeat. It literally shrinks and relives the hives instantly.
DeleteWorked for Laz Man last summer, like a billion times. Not a preventative, just a cheap, GREAT relief to calm the hives way down. Hope it works for you too! :)
Thank you Kristen, I will do that. I had to bathe her again this week because she was showing signs of hives again. UGH!
DeleteOH! Wow..scarey forsure!
ReplyDeleteSo sorry that gave you a fright..poor things!
We've had some body hives on the horses but never near the neck. I do have Benadryl in my locker and saddlebags for people, but never thought to administer to an animal!
Good to know.
We take "Oregon's Wild Harvest" Freeze dried nettles for our allergies..no side effects and natural Serotonin.
My sister always told me to do the inoculations one at a time ,using a different site each time + administering the homeopathic "Ledum". It's for puncture wounds.
Your Gwenny WILL be a fantastic trail horse. You are very wise to listen to her "mare-ish" communications to you, making sure to have positive outings each time!
I wonder if there's something similar to the Oregon's wild harvest for the east coast, that would be very helpful since my own allergies have been going nuts this year.
DeleteI'm also going to look up Ledum, thanks :)
My girl really impresses me sometimes, I think she's becoming the horse she was always meant to be. Smart, curious, and affectionate :)
P.S.
ReplyDeleteI'm having the same "It could be over" thoughts about the next few months...we have a Pigeon fever threat.
Oh no :(
DeleteMy first trip to Nationals, Dandy broke out in hives so bad observers said he looked like he'd been in a Mike Tyson fight, complete with eyes swollen closed. It was very scary and expensive. The only good thing about it is I no longer panic about hives.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting about mowing the pasture to deal with allergies. I have a couple reacting here and my fields do need to be mowed.
I am glad to hear that Gwen is coming along. That is very cool.
Poor Dandy, that must have been awful! Good thing these horses are worth it, right?
Delete