Stubborn Rain Rot

[Elite.]

First off, I'm new here [Just joined today, this is my first post!]

Sorry for the length of this post, but I really need some help!

I have a lovely thoroughbred gelding who I bought just under a year ago. When we bought him, we discoverd a small patch of rain rot right on the crest of his neck, running parallel to his mane on the right side of his neck.
It wasn't a big patch, only about an inch or two in length.
My vet, who was doing his pre-purchase exam told me to pick off the scabs and apply Special Formula [made my Pfizer] to the area, and it should be gone in a few weeks. (keep in mind, I bought him in February, so I couldn't wash the area with any medicated shampoos or anything until spring).

I began picking off the scabs, applying the special formula, and after about 3 weeks, it began to clear up. I continued with the special formula, but then one day, it was all back. The area had not grown, but the scabs that had seemed to disappear, were back. I continued with the special formula for a few more weeks, but saw no change at all.

My vet then told me to clip the area [he was going to be body clipped anyways, since he was in work and would be showing in the early spring], and try picking the scabs and spraying Virkon [which is pretty strong stuff] on the rain rot patch. I tried this, and after about a month, I saw no change.

Vet, coach and myself were all stumped.
We tried many different approaches to this all through the spring and summer, with no success. He was able to complete a full show season, and the rain rot was not noticable [like I said, it was a very small patch, and the hair had not fallen off.. there were just bumbpy scabd when you felt them]. We kept his mane pulled short so air and sunlight could get to it, etc.

At the end of the summer, we finally resorted to oral antibiotics. He was on antibiotics for about a week, and once again, it had not worked.

My vet suggested Zincofax [baby diaper rash cream.. it dries and removes moisture from the skin, which is the cause for rain rot].

I have been using the Zincofax for about 2 weeks now, and have not noticed any difference at all.

I am completely, 100% stumped.
My vet is out of ideas, as is my coach and other boarders at my barn.

I'm getting extremely frusterated with this small patch of rain rot that will not go away.

Does anyone have any other treatment for rainrot that you'd have sucess with? Have any of you had a particularily stubborn case of rain rot?

I've dealt with mild cases of rain rot before, on other horses, but nothing that's taken almost a year to go away! [and I assume he had this patch of rain rot when he was still with his previous owner, because he had it when I bought him].

thanks so much in advance if any of you can offer any advice, tips, etc.
:)

[cllane1]

Have you tried using Shapley's MTG? IMO, there is nothing that works better on rain rot. It smells like bbq sauce and is oily as heck, but it does the job!

We worked with a little TB mare that was covered from head to toe in rain rot. Took the better part of a bottle to coat her down, but it cleared right up.

Good luck!

[BornToRide]

To me that is usually a sign that the horse is lacking something in the diet, making the skin more prone to invasion by opportunistic pathogens.

I would primarily focus on boosting the immune system, making use he gets enough trace minerals too, and supportiung digestive function as best as possible. For example, he may have ulcers that interfere with nutrients uptake

[grayarabpony]

Try currying the scabs off and leaving it alone. With a healthy horse that works better than anything else.

[Elite.]

To me that is usually a sign that the horse is lacking something in the diet, making the skin more prone to invasion by opportunistic pathogens.

I would primarily focus on boosting the immune system, making use he gets enough trace minerals too, and supportiung digestive function as best as possible. For example, he may have ulcers that interfere with nutrients uptake


thanks for the tip.
When I bought him, he was pretty underweight and wasn't in very good shape (was skinny, was eating a terrible diet, etc), so we put him on a great diet that's worked wonders on him (my vet approved his new diet as well). My vet also did blood work, because this was also one of my vet's concerns (lacking something in the diet, like you mentioned). He came back normal and healthy (the blood work was done a few months after we'd purchased him, so he was in much better nutritional shape), except for his potassium levels were very slightly lower (vet said he was still in the 'normal' range, but on the lower end of it), which we fixed immediately.

So I'm fairly certain it's not related to his nutrition, and he hasn't shown any signs of having ulcers... thanks for the tips though, I appreciate it!

[In the Air]

I have a student who also has a TB who is a rain rot victim. He always has it somewhere on his body. He is on a very good diet, looks great, is taken excelelnt car of but always has it... she has tried everything from antibiotics to MTG. He is on smart pac supplements and a daily wormer. He has tried daily scrubbing to leaving it totally alone. Nothing ever clears it up 100%. Good luck!!:no:

[minnie]

Have you taken a skin scraping and had it analyzed to find out exactly what the cause is? If it's truly rainrot, I've had the best success with nolvalsan disinfectant. I mix 2 tablespoons in a gallon of water and sponge it on the affected area twice a day and leave it. I don't disturb the scabs until they've separated from the skin by themselves and lifted a little, which means that the area underneath has already healed. If you pick it and it's not totally healed underneath (i.e. still pink or bleeding) you can just continue to have it spread. JMHO

[pintopiaffe]

Besides a skin scraping, which is something the vet should've done by now...

I would start to look for internal causes.

Yes, his nutrition might be good now, but a low grade infection like this can be indicative of allergies/food sensitivities.

Location, to *me*, is indicitave that it's not truly rain rot, but perhaps hives, recurring.

I would personally pull alfalfa first, then soy; actually, I'd start with straight oats and grass/timothy hay for a couple of weeks. If pleasantly surprized that it clears up, then start adding back 1 by 1 ingredients.

OR, do some allergy testing.

But really, all of it's moot without a skin scraping/culture.

[Carolinadreamin']

Agree with checking feed and vet. Have heard of many people having success with Equiderma. Haven't tried it myself, yet, but you could find their website by googling. Equiderma turned up more than a few times when I was doing a search here on COTH for the crud my gelding gets on his hind legs during the wet season.

[Sakura]

Neck Thread Worms?

[matryoshka]

Yeah, I'm wondering why the vet hasn't taken a scraping yet to see exactly what is infecting the skin there. Rain rot should not be that hard to clear up. Yes, its a PIA, but no, it shouldn't still be there a year later.

I recently read that rain rot is bacterial in nature, not fungal. I always thought it was a fungus.

Anyway, what has worked well for me is Listerine mixed half and half with Baby Oil. Get as many scabs off as the horse will tolerate, then spray and work it into the skin. Wait a day, and repeat. Usually by the third treatment there is a lot of improvement. I got a horse back from a free lease a week before Christmas, and he was covered with close, tight scabs from withers to croup. and the skin was bumpy and sore. These scabs would not come off and the horse didn't want me touching it. I had to blanket him (he's missing quite a bit of fur now, thanks to the rain rot), but it began clearing up right away. Even the parts I didn't treat (didn't realize he had scabs on his stomach) dried up rapidly. In his case, I think he'd had mild rain rot until a three-day stint of pouring rain (I picked him up on day two of drenching rains).

FWIW, I have never had success getting it to resolve using MTG. Not only did my horse hate having that stuff put on (it must burn a bit), it didn't work. I have had success with Mikrotek, povodine iodine, and other treatments, but Listerine/Baby Oil is my preferred winter treatment.

The one time I had a horse with serious, persistant rain rot, the horse was very stressed, and I think the rain rot was more or less a symptom of this. I accidentally mixed chemicals and caused him a burn. After which the rain rot cleared up. He had some serious bald patches before it went away, though.

[copper1]

when my senior TB gelding had a case of rain rot that wouldn't go away, my vet put him on selinium and vit e in addition to the outward care and it cleared up pretty quickly.

[goeslikestink]

First off, I'm new here [Just joined today, this is my first post!]

Sorry for the length of this post, but I really need some help!

I have a lovely thoroughbred gelding who I bought just under a year ago. When we bought him, we discoverd a small patch of rain rot right on the crest of his neck, running parallel to his mane on the right side of his neck.
It wasn't a big patch, only about an inch or two in length.
My vet, who was doing his pre-purchase exam told me to pick off the scabs and apply Special Formula [made my Pfizer] to the area, and it should be gone in a few weeks. (keep in mind, I bought him in February, so I couldn't wash the area with any medicated shampoos or anything until spring).

I began picking off the scabs, applying the special formula, and after about 3 weeks, it began to clear up. I continued with the special formula, but then one day, it was all back. The area had not grown, but the scabs that had seemed to disappear, were back. I continued with the special formula for a few more weeks, but saw no change at all.

My vet then told me to clip the area [he was going to be body clipped anyways, since he was in work and would be showing in the early spring], and try picking the scabs and spraying Virkon [which is pretty strong stuff] on the rain rot patch. I tried this, and after about a month, I saw no change.

Vet, coach and myself were all stumped.
We tried many different approaches to this all through the spring and summer, with no success. He was able to complete a full show season, and the rain rot was not noticable [like I said, it was a very small patch, and the hair had not fallen off.. there were just bumbpy scabd when you felt them]. We kept his mane pulled short so air and sunlight could get to it, etc.

At the end of the summer, we finally resorted to oral antibiotics. He was on antibiotics for about a week, and once again, it had not worked.

My vet suggested Zincofax [baby diaper rash cream.. it dries and removes moisture from the skin, which is the cause for rain rot].

I have been using the Zincofax for about 2 weeks now, and have not noticed any difference at all.

I am completely, 100% stumped.
My vet is out of ideas, as is my coach and other boarders at my barn.

I'm getting extremely frusterated with this small patch of rain rot that will not go away.

Does anyone have any other treatment for rainrot that you'd have sucess with? Have any of you had a particularily stubborn case of rain rot?

I've dealt with mild cases of rain rot before, on other horses, but nothing that's taken almost a year to go away! [and I assume he had this patch of rain rot when he was still with his previous owner, because he had it when I bought him].

thanks so much in advance if any of you can offer any advice, tips, etc.
:)



have you kept him in when raining or damp outside and have you turned him out with a rug when its not rianing ie sunny
rain rot is best to keep the horse dry if bad and cant be rugged then he must be in doors in rough weather
try nappy rash cream ie zinc and caster oil its soothing and also soften the scabs do please remeber that depending on how big an area the fur will lift up and drop out
so until the skin re grows hair then one shouldnt ride the horse until hes healed as his back would be pink skin and sore not giving him time to heal might be part of your problem if you turning him out with a rug on,as it wil re invest the area

the area shoudl be kept clean and dry but you can apply nappy rash cream as mentioned as it a barrier agaisnt moisture

[MunchkinsMom]

Agree with checking feed and vet. Have heard of many people having success with Equiderma. Haven't tried it myself, yet, but you could find their website by googling. Equiderma turned up more than a few times when I was doing a search here on COTH for the crud my gelding gets on his hind legs during the wet season.

I've used Equiderma for rain rot, cannon bone crud, fungus, insect bites, and I tell you it WORKS!

For rain rot, it cleared up the bumps in one application. I did catch it early, which might be why it worked so fast, but I tell you, I am very impressed with this product.

Here is their website:

http://www.equiderma.com/index.html

If you can't find a dealer in your area, you can order it directly from them.

[BornToRide]

So I'm fairly certain it's not related to his nutrition, and he hasn't shown any signs of having ulcers... thanks for the tips though, I appreciate it!

Are you absolutely certain he's getting enough zinc, copper, Vit E and selenium for example? This usually does not come up on a standard blood test. I know selenium you CAN test for, but it has to be specified when doing blood testing.

[pricestory]

When my old donkey who was very compomised, would get a bad case that we couldn't get rid of, the vet would put her on a round of penicillian shots. Ususally we could control it with Blue Lotion.
A friend who had it run though her herd switched to yellow salt block and it went away.

[Coreene]

Avon Skin-So-Soft oil, straight up, onto the affected area. Sounds mad, I know, but has worked for me every time.