HELP!!! Finn's hair is falling out!

[atticus]

I am wondering if any of you guys have seen this??


Finn is having what the vet thought was an allergic reaction to cedar shavings. He started with raised scabs ( vet thought hives) around his neck and sides (where he lays down) and the are VERY itchy. When you scratch them the scab that comes off is serum colored not blood colored. We changed his shavings and cleaned the hives we can find with Nolvosan. The vet is letting have ivermectin dewormer in a couple days sice he just got gelded.

Today he is EXTREMELY itchy (more hives have come up) rubbing out all his fur and part of his mane. His fur is coming out in tufts and if you curry him it just comes out in droves! He has scratched some areas bald. On his topline the hair that is coming off there has what looks like dirt attached to the base of each hair. He is simply going crazy itching. I have a call into the vet but he is in surgery and won't be available for awhile. Meanwhile I washed him down with sponge as much as I could (Finn is afraid of water, so he will not bathe right now) I used diluted Nolvosan and then sponged it off, and that seemed to help some, he isn't so frantic.

Any ideas??

[sophie]

I wonder if he has a fungus? Those can be itchy...

[fairazelle]

Is he on any antibiotics? Could he be having a reaction to any of his medications? Poor baby!

[penny/pals]

Have you checked to see if it is ring worm? Very itchy and it will raise like hives. my son's horse got it last year. I'm not totally sure how because none of the others horses had it but at first I was thinking it was hives and the vet thought it was too. then the hair started to come off and it was ring worm. We used Iodine baths and an Iodine suave to deal with it. Good Luck.

[lorsadoon]

Ringworm will not ooze body serum.
Ask the vet if you can try some hydocortison cream on the spots that are itching. He may need prednisone if he is having severe allergies.
Good luck.

[atticus]

Thanks guys.

Dr. Chris finally called back he is out of surgery. Finn has an infection on his back feet that is common in drafts that may be caused by mites. Well Dr. Chris thinks since we strapped his immune system with the gelding that the mites are going crazy!! I am to give him Ivermectin tonight and keep on rinsing him with the cool nolvosan bath and then if that doesn't fix it by tomorrow night then I have to give him some Vetalog (cortisone injection).

One good thing is that he has a very nice coat under the whoolies that are falling out and around the patches that he has rubbed out. I will let you know how the Ivermectin works.

[strawberryfelidos]

You makin' me itchy with all this talk about mites and fungus I need a shower... can I borrow some of that Ivermectin? Just as a preventative? ;D
*reaches for Lysol*

[caryn]

Hi Ash,
Sounds like you may have found the problem, but I am wondering if Finn has had a feed change? Does he get the same feed that he had with his original "owner"? If it is an allergic reaction and they really are hives and not mites, it's an avenue to investigate. My girl got hives and had huge bumps, filled with a honey colored serum. It was horrible, but she didn't scratch the hair off. Anyway, it was an allergic reaction to a bunch of stuff. She was mildly allergic to too much to list and hit a threshold, resulting in hives. Some of it was feed related, so I thought I'd share.

Hope your big boy feels better soon!!!

[atticus]

caryn said:

Hi Ash,
Sounds like you may have found the problem, but I am wondering if Finn has had a feed change? Does he get the same feed that he had with his original "owner"? If it is an allergic reaction and they really are hives and not mites, it's an avenue to investigate. My girl got hives and had huge bumps, filled with a honey colored serum. It was horrible, but she didn't scratch the hair off. Anyway, it was an allergic reaction to a bunch of stuff. She was mildly allergic to too much to list and hit a threshold, resulting in hives. Some of it was feed related, so I thought I'd share.

Hope your big boy feels better soon!!!

It could be an allergic reaction, we stopped the cedar bedding, then if the Ivermectin doesn't work then I am to give him some Vetalog tomorrow. Then we will look into food allergies. We have no idea what the previous owners were feeding him.

[caryn]

If removing the cedar bedding and Ivermectin doesn't work, have the vet take blood and test it against known allergies. It is worth the price and it is not that much!!! I swear, I spent more money on dexamethasone and Ally suffered so much longer than she needed to just because I was worried about giving her de-sensitization shots and looked for alternatives. If he doesn't get over it, get a blood work up on Finn as soon as you can. It doesn't mean that he'll need a de-sensitizing regime (shots), you may just need to limit his exposure to the allergen. It can save you lots of worry!!!

[halfwayhome]

we had someone go thru this last year and it turned out to be lice, or allergy to lice bites, etc. Lots of it this year.

[strawberryfelidos]

Ahh, lice, the dandruff that runs ;D Nice.

[beejoyfulmk]

I think I'm done with my bowl of rice krispies hope your guy is better soon!
Royal has some bumps too!

[atticus]

Well kids it looks like the Ivermectin is working. After being dosed with it he is less frantic about itching, now he is just normal itchy for a horse that needs a bath but won't take one and is totally blowing coat. So now we work on......The bath!