Grossly swollen sheath from ??? ** Updated **

[reefy!]

I think I'm just looking for suggestions and encouragement that the swelling will eventually go away :(

Horse clipped his front left hoof, inside, right at the coronet. Called the vet, vet came and blocked and cleaned it up/bandaged it. Horse got a tetanus booster, a shot of bute, and a shot of penicillin. Continued with bute orally. On MONDAY, his sheath was so swollen, it looked like what I'm calling 'sheathicles'. Called the vet and he suggested cold-hosing it but couldn't say if it was from one of those injections or not.

Now, Thursday, it really isn't much better despite the hosing (which is very hard to do when I'm alone which is most of the time at the barn!). Called vet again and now he has suggested using furacin to massage the mass (outside only) saying it would act as a poultice and maybe help reduce the swelling.

I question that as this is not my regular but who I could get on a Saturday afternoon. I'm not thrilled with the suggestion as you can imagine.

Has anyone had this type of swelling and had it eventually go away?? The hoof is much better, really no swelling but still on stall rest and yes, this other thing is cosmetic but it looks terrible.

Any other suggestions on how to help the swelling diminish?? For once, I won't mind being out there by myself, given what I've been instructed to do :o

[clint]

I don't know where you are located, but pigeon fever can produce some fairly spectacular sheath swelling.

[BornToRide]

Has this horse ever had other reactions to wormings or vaccinations?

[AKB]

Can you turn him out for 4 hours and see how it looks after he moves around? Does he have any fever? Does he have any other known health problems (e.g., Cushings, allergies, bad kidneys)?

[QM2]

Is he on stall rest for his foot? If yes, once he goes out it will go down.

[Bluey]

Sheats tend to swell because they are the lowest part of the anatomy, other than legs, is what our vets say.
Gravity at work there. As long as he is not hanging out from the swelling and can't retract, that is an emergency, I would not be too worried, but I would want to know more, why there is edema anywhere like that.
Heart problems or other organs not functioning well may cause edema like that, it sure bears checking out well.

Tetanus doesn't cause that, at least not in the horses I saw with it, that were affected by getting very stiff, not swelling, although that could happen.

A second opinion may help you feel better and maybe there is something else that needs to be tended to there.:confused:

[reefy!]

Yes, he is on stall rest for the foot. Massaging was out of the question :eek: No surprise there! I used just a little vaseline to touch them and the kicking commenced so I guess it must be tender.

I hand walked him instead and it did look a little bit better. The only reaction he usually has to any vaccination is rabies in the fall, his hind legs tend to stock up from that but of course it goes away as soon as he's out and moving around.

I don't think it's related to any organ failure. It really is just a foot injury and my guess is that something in the preservative of one of those shots did something to cause it. The good news is that he was walking fine on his foot, stepped along just fine which is a big improvement. I question the stall rest a little. Hand walking seems like it should be okay so I did that without approval for about 15 minutes. Hope I didn't do anything bad. Oh, and for the record, his sheath was cleaned about 4 weeks ago when he got his teeth done and he's not particularly gunky in that department.

No temp, great appetite, drinking, pooping and peeing (as I witnessed with my own eyes) so all is well, it just LOOKS really odd!!

Vet is coming to check him out again but not until Monday, to recheck the foot. If this goes past a week, I will schedule my own vet to come out and give him the once over and a second opinion.

[bit-o-honey]

My gelding once had quite a bit of swelling in that area from a tick bite. A tick bite will leave a small hard scabby lump and can cause tender areas to swell and itch.

[pattnic]

Yes, he is on stall rest for the foot.

This is what's causing it. The same thing happened to my gelding when he was on stall rest for some pretty spectacular injuries. I freaked at first, thinking it was some reaction to the sheath cleaning he got a day or two before, but I was reassured that it was just from being confined, and would eventually go down once he was out again. Indeed, it did.

[vickienme]

In my experience, I'd say it's kidneys causing the edema from the bute.
Very dangerous stuff. There are other things you can use for inflammation.
Such as flax seed 1/3 to 2/3'rd cup hydrated in feed mix, Animotion herbal
combo can help. My gelding's edema came on over 3 years time till he
founded on alfalfa hay.

The alfalfa was causing it as was his becoming IR.
Since your's just came on with his treatment and use of bute, my guess would
be the bute. You can give a horse bayer aspirin instead also. I give 10 to 12
crushed in feed to my 31 yr old mare with uveitis when she has a flareup
and it really works great, takes about 2 wks or so till the inflammation stops.

I like the herbal Animotion, it works super on my gelding as he is sore after
trims for a couple of wks and at 21 after foundering he probably has some
arthritis etc. and the Animotion has brought him back to his bouncy boy self
again.

[Druid Acres]

I'm dealing with a case of "sheathicles" myself at the moment. The vet has seen them, looked him over, listened to his heart, pulled blood, etc. Everything was normal.

Her conclusion was that it's a combo of cold weather and inactivity. My horse is turned out 24/7, but tends to park himself in front of the round bale all day and not move much. I generally don't blanket except for the bitterest days of winter, but may try keeping him warmer this year to see if that helps.

I've been instructed to see that he gets more exercise and we're trying a course of anti-inflammatory meds. I just started them so don't know yet if they're helping.

Keep us posted.

[QM2]

In my experience, I'd say it's kidneys causing the edema from the bute.
Very dangerous stuff. There are other things you can use for inflammation.
Such as flax seed 1/3 to 2/3'rd cup hydrated in feed mix, Animotion herbal
combo can help. My gelding's edema came on over 3 years time till he
founded on alfalfa hay.

The alfalfa was causing it as was his becoming IR.
Since your's just came on with his treatment and use of bute, my guess would
be the bute. You can give a horse bayer aspirin instead also. I give 10 to 12
crushed in feed to my 31 yr old mare with uveitis when she has a flareup
and it really works great, takes about 2 wks or so till the inflammation stops.

I like the herbal Animotion, it works super on my gelding as he is sore after
trims for a couple of wks and at 21 after foundering he probably has some
arthritis etc. and the Animotion has brought him back to his bouncy boy self
again.



With all due respect - Hogwash. Are you trying to freak this poor woman out?
It's not his kidneys. It's from not moving much in his stall from a sore foot. he's basically stocked up in his sheath.

and just F.Y.I. medications come from herbs and "herbal" remedies can be worse than meds because they aren't regulated.

If your horse needs bute follow your vets directions and give it.

[reefy!]

:lol: Well, I DO really appreciate any and all replies!

I don't freak out easily unless warranted :) and trainer, vet, and I agree that handwalking for a bit will help. We all think the same thing - normally active horse is now very inactive.

Obviously, if something goes south then maybe I'll freak but I am feeling slightly better that it will go down once he can get back into work.
Of course, now one of his eyes is a little swollen and goopy. GAH - I'd really like him to stop hurting himself now :no:

[Dooner]

Yes, dont freak out. My gelding encountered something last February that made his entire right hind swell, to a point high enough that some of the edema drained down into his sheath. By "some" I mean enough to leave him grossly swolen. He was feeling himself within 2 weeks and fully recovered within a month, in spite of the fact that I had people on here assuring me that he had pigeon fever, snake bite or MSRA, or some combination thereof.

Don't know what caused the swelling...still pretty sure it wasn't a rattle snake bite, ebola, or alien death ray.

[pines4equines]

Now, I'm freaking out...alien death ray? Maybe I should bring them in tonight if that's the case? :lol::D

[reefy!]

I am so happy to report that the sheathicles are much, MUCH better! They are almost back to normal size.

Course of action has been hosing them each day and hand walking for 15 minutes. I'm so relieved :)

As for the hoof, no swelling, walking well on it with no bute, so I think he's going to recover just fine. I've been lucky with very warm temps still (70s/80s) so handwalking has been no problem. That will change this week when the temps go down to the 60's (that's cool for us!) so hand walking might get more interesting but I'm optimistic :yes:

[FindersKeepers]

My best guess would be he got bit by something on the sheath, which led to kicking at his tummy, and in a clumsy move, cut his foot. That would be my guess (unless you witnessed the injury occur)

Then from standing still for a few days, it just ballooned. Glad to hear he is doing better. Typically if they are swollen there, and they are still peeing just fine, it's a kind of "stocking up". usually from not moving around enough.

[goeslikestink]

can i ask reefy if you have cleaned his sheef lately either by hands naked or rubber gloves
as this is natural for the horse and they can get contamination from your hands or the rubber or laytex glvoes horses should only be cleaned for medical reasons as they are self cleaning if needs help then you can buy baby oil put it in a spray bottle a nd spray the area then all mcuk drops off.

[gabz]

can i ask reefy if you have cleaned his sheef lately either by hands naked or rubber gloves
as this is natural for the horse and they can get contamination from your hands or the rubber or laytex glvoes horses should only be cleaned for medical reasons as they are self cleaning if needs help then you can buy baby oil put it in a spray bottle a nd spray the area then all mcuk drops off.

Sorry. Many geldings (majority) are NOT self-cleaning. Stalled horses tend to have even more build-up as the dust from the shavings builds up.. the shavings/dust sticks to any natural smegna. Here in the States, shavings are used more than straw - which might not have the same problems.

She said the horse's sheath had been cleaned 4 weeks prior.

[QM2]

can i ask reefy if you have cleaned his sheef lately either by hands naked or rubber gloves
as this is natural for the horse and they can get contamination from your hands or the rubber or laytex glvoes horses should only be cleaned for medical reasons as they are self cleaning if needs help then you can buy baby oil put it in a spray bottle a nd spray the area then all mcuk drops off.


Stallions are self cleaning but Geldings (which is not a "natural" state) are not self cleaning they do need to be cleaned once per year.

[goeslikestink]

if she cleaned him out 4 weeks ago it can be assocaited with that as the bateria from hand or glove can grow in a warm place

[reefy!]

He was cleaned out just about 4 weeks ago when his teeth were done by the vet. He's not a super gunky horse in that area and I think he was 'well rinsed' when she was done (and tranq'ed since he doesn't enjoy the process very much) :yes:

I can't figure out who replaced my horse with the sweet snuggly one living in his stall. He can be such a pill to deal with at times and since this happened, he's turned in to my snuggle bunny :winkgrin:

I really am enjoying his stall rest, which sounds weird. I think he is, too! Here's hoping it stays as nice as it has at 1.5 weeks.

[vxf111]

As my older horse ages, his propensity to stock up on stall rest seems to increase. Last year that included some stocking up in the sheath. Cold hosing helped and once he was moving and off stall rest, the sheath returned to normal. So your horse isn't the only one who has had this happen. I have noticed that when it's humid/hot the stocking up is worse.

I have seen where my horse's penises go (Shane goes around dangling a lot, to my chagrin, and lives to roll in godawful crap). My hand going up there with KY to clean smegma is far from the dirtiest thing that penis touches. I don't use nails and scratch up/cause abraisons and I am careful to wash after cleaning with warm water. I've done this in front of a vet who didn't say anything disapporoving. I am not discounting the possiblity of bacteria being introduced, but the pain caused by a built up bean is far worse and overall the risk of causing an infection by sheath cleaning is minimal.

[pines4equines]

Gawd! I wish they were self cleaning....:eek: