[Gvrider]

Hi there. My horse has been diagnosed with an ear sarcoid. Curious if anyone has had this issue? Lasering it off has been advised after trying her on equioxx for 60 days. Vet says equioxx has shown to help Sarcoids. Would appreciate any input. Thanks

 

[trailscout]

One vet suggested $2,000 and a trip to a hospital with no guarantees. Another old time vet tranquilized him in a stockade and carefully removed the sarcoid right up against the ear. Then he used some sticks with silver nitrate on the ends to cauterize the area that was cut and scraped to remove the sarcoid. He used maybe one or two dozen of the sticks that resembled long match sticks except the knot on the end of the stick was gray, which was the silver nitrate,.

The sarcoid was sent to a lab to confirm sarcoid, which it was, at a cost of only $70. The vet wrote me a prescription for something to hopefully prevent it's reoccurrence, a product that can be very painful to the horse.

I decided not to use it as the horse was already very reactive with his ear being touched. A bridle had to be modified to even be able to bridle him. So I decided if it came back, I'd have an entire hole cut in his ear.

It has not came back after several years. The vet's bill was $30. You read that correctly. Only one zero there. A vet that cares about both people and animals.

The horse continued to be reactive for some time afterwards until he figured out his ear did not hurt when being handled anymore. Now fingers may be inserted in his ear without a problem.

The appointment with the vet was made 2 days after I received ownership of the horse who I still with me .

Good luck and fingers crossed.

 

[QtrBel]

The vet advice in my case was not to remove but to treat the inflamed, bloody, pussy mess caused by flies and no see ums as well as use a bonnet until it healed. Then, keep the bugs off and away. That has worked. Sarcoid is still there but we stay on top of applying something to deter the flying irritants and keep the ear clean.

 

[trailscout]

Sarcoid is still there but we stay on top of applying something to deter the flying irritants and keep the ear clean.

He allows his ear to be handled? Not sore?

 

[QtrBel]

At this point no. The first 3 months of putting a cream and the bonnet, yes. We don't do anything with it except wipe out gently when we ride or handle in the winter and use swap or something thick like Desitin in the buggy months. Then we wipe and reapply on a regular basis. No bonnet at this point. This has been going on for years with no messy mess created by bites from flying insects.

 

[trailscout]

Interesting. I had suspected that Keno's former owners had been physically manipulating it harshly which caused the reactiveness.

I also read at the time that harsh physical manipulation could cause it to spread to other parts. Also read that once a sarcoid horse, always a sarcoid horse. But so far not the case, in Keno's case.

 

[QtrBel]

She had one large mass. After the vet treated and swelling went down it became obvious it was three lesions. All have reduced in size. Two have disappeared. It has not spread on her but another horse developed one after we brought this one to our property. Vet said flies can spread them. We treated second horse the same. Hers has never gotten as ugly as the first horse we have with them.

@Gvrider I would clean, go ahead with the antinflamatory and see what happens. Bonnet or use something to keep flies and their friends out. If it doesn't look better and isn't less reactive after a bit then look into all available treatments. Get a second opinion if all this vet offers is laser and go with what you are most comfortable with after researching your options.

 

[trailscout]

Yep, I've also read that if there is otherwise no problem, to just not mess with it other than what QtrBel mentioned which is what I would have done if my horse had not been so reactive to any touch at all and so tender.

 

[Gvrider]

One vet suggested $2,000 and a trip to a hospital with no guarantees. Another old time vet tranquilized him in a stockade and carefully removed the sarcoid right up against the ear. Then he used some sticks with silver nitrate on the ends to cauterize the area that was cut and scraped to remove the sarcoid. He used maybe one or two dozen of the sticks that resembled long match sticks except the knot on the end of the stick was gray, which was the silver nitrate,.

The sarcoid was sent to a lab to confirm sarcoid, which it was, at a cost of only $70. The vet wrote me a prescription for something to hopefully prevent it's reoccurrence, a product that can be very painful to the horse.

I decided not to use it as the horse was already very reactive with his ear being touched. A bridle had to be modified to even be able to bridle him. So I decided if it came back, I'd have an entire hole cut in his ear.

It has not came back after several years. The vet's bill was $30. You read that correctly. Only one zero there. A vet that cares about both people and animals.

The horse continued to be reactive for some time afterwards until he figured out his ear did not hurt when being handled anymore. Now fingers may be inserted in his ear without a problem.

The appointment with the vet was made 2 days after I received ownership of the horse who I still with me .

Good luck and fingers crossed.


View attachment 1109857

Thanks so much.

 

[jaydee]

Ive no idea why equioxx would do anything for sarcoids but who knows!

The biggest problem with sarcoids is that they aren't all the same type and messing with some of them, even a small biopsy - can make them accelerate and spread. Ive seen cases where that's happened so its made me very cautious.

That's why a lot of vets would rather leave them alone if they don't appear to be bothering the horse, growing or spreading.

We had one mare treated because the whole area (on her chest) was a mess where she was getting irritation from flies and then rubbing at them.
We had those removed with the cryosurgery method, they never came back in all the years we had her and when we remained in contact with the person we sold her too

A horse we have now had a large sarcoid on her neck that was spreading, we treated that with a cream supplied by our vet that I think is salicylic acid based - I probably still have the exact details in my horse file - it worked 100% and the sarcoid never returned

 

[gottatrot]

My vet gave me Xxterra for my horse's ear sarcoid. It is a salve made from the bloodroot herb. The sarcoid grew angry and fell off, never to return.

A friend also treated one on her horse's chest with vitamin E oil rubbed on daily. That also grew angry and fell off. Both horses' hair grew back over the site with no scar.

 

[QtrBel]

I've heard toothpaste will do the same. I just hate to think of something I use daily being caustic enough for that purpose.