Horrible Hives...again

[AustinHeartsMe]

So my TB gelding has gotten hives for the last three years every winter, from about January to March/April. It seems to correlate with the rainy season here in CA.

I cannot seem to get rid of these hives! They started the first year I moved him to college with me (in Davis) and this year I took him back home (foothills about 40 miles away) and they still came back! I don't want to keep giving him Dex for breakouts due to the possibility of founder, and antihistamines like Hydroxizine do nothing. I have had multiple vets examine him, and I cannot really afford allergy shots (not to mention my vet didn't think they'd work anyway).

Do any of you have other suggestions that have worked for your bumpy ponies?

[tiosbou]

My horse was able to have the allergy testing. The tests work best when they are administered while he's not on medication and not having bad breakouts. If you know what's causing it you can then take preventative action.
My horse was allergic to bugs!?! Go figure of all the things a horse can be allergic to! Remarkably moving him only a few miles away from the 1st barn has completly changed his breakouts. We have bugs, but whatever was severly bothering him isn't here at home.

[goodhors]

Is he getting blanketed at all? Just wondered if he had a soap reaction when wearing blankets. New brand of bedding? Change of shampoo or any sprays used on him? Probably already thought of these, just tossing them out for consideration.

We had one horse who was sensitive to peppermint candy. No hives, but he started getting bald spots after the trainer started feeding them to him, 3-4 a day, 3 days a week. No problem with horse wafers we had her use instead.

[egontoast]

I've got one that started doing this a couple years ago. I tried changing various things which did not work. Finally I had the testing done ($$$)

and I'm doing the shots with vials based on the test results. I have no idea if it will help or not. My vet says some are helped and some aren't .

Right now the horse looks good but his hives tend to come and go so I don't know if it's because of the shots. Time will tell.

[rcloisonne]

Benadryl every 12 hours. Works better than the prescription antihistamines, IME and much safer than dex.

[CB/TB]

If you try benadryl, the average doseage is 6-8 pills 2 x /day. Also, on one of the BBs I saw that Nettle leaf powder has worked. The person gets it from :www.herbalcom.com fro $5.85/lb. She starts off with 1/4 cup 2x/day then weans down to 1Tablespoon then off completely. My friend's horse gets hives and they haven't been able to figure out what the cause is. She's not been tested, but has been treated for Lyme twice and does have a reaction to ticks. Also, st the beginning of the season, a new batch of hay caused a few of the horses at her barn to stock up, and a few did have a few hives. This mare is supersensitive to chanegs. The Doxy and Dexo can do a job on the immune system, so, She's been on APF ( from Smartpak) to boost her immune system and so far this winter- no hives. Good luck.

[rcloisonne]

If you try benadryl, the average doseage is 6-8 pills 2 x /day.
Where did you get that dosage? My vets recommend 10 times the maximum human dose 2X/day for hives. The max human dose is 2 tabs/caps every 12 hours. That makes the dosage for a 1,000# horse, 20 pills 2X/day.

Had an 850# Arab who would breakout in massive small and very large hives during the month of July almost every year. Vets blamed some type of insect allergy but who knows? He'd receive that dose (20 tabs 2X/day) for several days with no ill effects.

Benadryl does not appear to have any sedative effect in horses (as it does with people) and it works well. I believe some people who try OTC meds on their animals don't dose correctly then claim they don't work.

I won't use dex for anything but life threatening conditions. Hives are rarely life threatening. ;)

[kcmel]

Where did you get that dosage? My vets recommend 10 times the maximum human dose 2X/day for hives. The max human dose is 2 tabs/caps every 12 hours. That makes the dosage for a 1,000# horse, 20 pills 2X/day.

Had an 850# Arab who would breakout in massive small and very large hives during the month of July almost every year. Vets blamed some type of insect allergy but who knows? He'd receive that dose (20 tabs 2X/day) for several days with no ill effects.

Benadryl does not appear to have any sedative effect in horses (as it does with people) and it works well. I believe some people who try OTC meds on their animals don't dose correctly then claim they don't work.

I won't use dex for anything but life threatening conditions. Hives are rarely life threatening. ;)

The dosage is 25 mg per 100 lbs body weight 2X daily. And it can definitely have sedative effects in equines.

[woops]

I have a horse who react s to a bunch and his hives FReak me out.

I took him to accupuncture -- a reputable one and he balanced the meridians of his body.. The horse has trigger points that arew unballanced.

What is hard is it is coming from within the horse and you have to fix that or all the meds will just junk him up and maybe give your eyes peace of mind, and some comfort to him ---- but if it keeps happeneing than you need the root cause.

[BornToRide]

Also consider spirulina supplementation. It has a modulating effect on the immune system :yes:

[woops]

Good Idea----- So is raw honey!!

[Pat Ness]

This same thing happened to my friend's horse and several vets, allergy tests, lots of Dex (scary as he is cushings) allergy shots - nothing really worked, sure the hives would go down with the dex, only to return after a month. This occurred during the winter months mostly and then started happening in the summer.

Finally an immunologist came, she received some herbal supplements and she did Reiki - the horse had a bizarre reaction to the 1 minute of Reiki, acted like he was going to colic and die for about 10 minutes, got up, started grazing and was fine. That was 2 1/2 years ago and she has not had a hive since then. I agree with woops on this one...

Good Luck!

[B-Man]

My gelding broke out in seasonal hives and occasionally when body clipped. He has been on MSM and ground flax seed (Nurtaflax from Horse Tech), he hasn't had one hive in 3.5 yrs. I think both have helped keep the hives at bay.
Holly

[decorum]

Yes, the nettle is the bomb! You must be quoting me CB./TB, that is what I wrote before. :) I have heard spirulina helps but my horse was already on it when he had his hives breakout but the nettle cured him. After 24 hours he was barely lumpy and after 2 days they were all gone. This was after several days of modern meds that barely helped. I did lower his nettle a little too much at one point and they started to come back, you just have to play with the dosage. Now he isn't on it but I have several pounds on standby.

[Nickelodian]

What does the spiriluna or nettle leaf do exactly? Is there any information out there on their uses? I tried google, but couldn't find use in equines.

[CB/TB]

I did a Google search on nettles( Urtica Diotica) . It's the stinging nettles that hurt like hell if you brush against them. Once cut and wilted or dried they can be made into a tea, or fed to livestock. My goats won't touch them until after I've weed wacked them . By the next day, it's gone. Worth a try rather than more chemicals.

[Nickelodian]

Any idea if it would test or not? I'm thinking about starting him on both nettle and spiriluna. The bumps are BAD. What is the dosage for spirulina?

[decorum]

Don't hold me to this but I can't imagine they would test. I feed 1/4 c of spirulina once a day, I can't remember what the actual dosage is. Be warned about the spirulina though, it is an acquired taste, my horse loves it now but the stuff stinks. I have found that it is great for hiding other meds or sups when I have to. He loves nettle and I have heard that almost all horses do, mine will eat it plain.

[Nickelodian]

Last question, I swear. Where do you get your Spirulina from?

[Thomas_1]

Round the edge of troughs and ponds or in the aquarium if it's not been cleaned for some time ;)

[Dalemma]

My boarders horse started breaking out in hives last Sept (2007) while at another barn....she had only been there for a month when this started happening so they moved her to my place thinking that it was an allergic reaction to something at the other place..........this girl had hives and edema though.....major edema on the belly and legs......she actually got so sick she had hypergammagobulin anemia.(sp?) She was put on Dex for a month and then weaned......hives started coming back.....we did this a few times and then did allergy testing.....she was allergic to a lot of things so started allergy shots......in the summer we were able to wean her down to 1cc of dex and actually thought we were going to get her off the stuff .......but in September it got worse again and she was back up to full dose which for her is 4cc....she is on for 4 off for 1.........we are now thinking it might be Pehphigus Foliaceus as this skin disorder usually appears from Sept to Feb for some reason. We are now also investigating cushings as we have some other symptoms that have cropped up.

I have a mare that has broken out in hives 3 times..........twice 12 hours after worming. She is allergic to Equalvan and Quest. She also broke out once when out on pasture late Sept.....the reason for that one is unknown but a course of antihistamines and she was fine.

Dalemma

[rcloisonne]

The dosage is 25 mg per 100 lbs body weight 2X daily.
Where did that dosage come from?

And it can definitely have sedative effects in equines.
That has not been my experience using it on multiple equines over the years.

[rcloisonne]

Round the edge of troughs and ponds or in the aquarium if it's not been cleaned for some time ;)
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

And hence the smell...

[kcmel]

Where did that dosage come from?


That has not been my experience using it on multiple equines over the years.

Dosage came from my vet--she looked it up for me the other day:).

ETA: RC, are all your horses arabs? Perhaps they have some sort of genetic polymorphism that makes them less sensitive to lower doses. That could also explain why you are not seeing the sedative effects. Just a thought!

[decorum]

this girl had hives and edema though.....major edema on the belly and legs......


My mom's horse with pemphigus also had the edema on her belly and hugely swollen legs. But the rest of her was covered with painful crusts and she was bald. Are they planning on doing the biopsy to find out for sure?

[Dalemma]

The horse had a biopsy but it was inconclusive. This horse also gets painful crusts.

I believe that antihistamine that I use is hydroxizine (sp?) I give 7 - 50 mg capsules 3 times a day.......you have to wean them off the drug....you can just stop cold turkey.

Dalemma

[decorum]

The horse had a biopsy but it was inconclusive. This horse also gets painful crusts.


Dalemma


The first biopsy they did on my mom's horse was inconclusinve too, the vet had cleaned the area before he did it, not supposed to do that. When he did it correctly it came back positive but she had already been started on prednisalone and was much better.

[AustinHeartsMe]

Thanks so much for all the great information guys! I went ahead and got my guy a supplement that is specially formulated for skin allergies. It has a bunch of omega 3's (from flax seed) and a bunch of other stuff to help immune response and so on. At first I was hesitant because it's a bit expensive ($45/month :eek:) but I am so fed up I just don't care anymore. I'll let you know how it goes!! Thanks again!