Anhidrosis

[WhooptyDoo]

My old guy is a nonsweater. We have not gotten an official diagnosis from the vet yet, but will be getting one in 2 weeks when he gets his teeth floated. He is not on any medications and is otherwise healthy. He eats a mix of Triple Crown Senior and oats and is on timothy/alfalfa pellets (can't chew hay). The only thing I add to his feed is Strongid CX2.

Currently he has a fan and all exercise has stopped. I can not hose him down in during the day because of work. Any suggestions on how to help him out? I read that dark beer can help. I've thought about giving him OneAC, but am not too sure if it would be safe without go ahead from the vet.

He is drinking more than enough and is not dehydrated. Should I start a daily electrolyte also, just in-case he has some sort of minor imbalance? If so what would you suggest a paste or powder?

 

[Cayuse]

I have used One AC on two of mine. One stopped sweating from a reaction to an antihistamine and the other just doesn't sweat enough. The One AC along with about a half teaspoon of table salt got them sweating.
The salt seemed to give the One AC a little boost, I noticed more sweat when I added it.
If you can, I would run it by the vet and see if it is OK to start it now and not wait two weeks, it takes a little while for it to start working (IIRC it took a week, maybe two to see some results).
How old is your guy? Sometimes metabolic issues can create problems in their ability to regulate their "thermostat" and temperature extremes can be a challenge.
Hope you get your little guy straightened out soon!

 

[madmax]

My old guy is a nonsweater. We have not gotten an official diagnosis from the vet yet, but will be getting one in 2 weeks when he gets his teeth floated. He is not on any medications and is otherwise healthy. He eats a mix of Triple Crown Senior and oats and is on timothy/alfalfa pellets (can't chew hay). The only thing I add to his feed is Strongid CX2.

Currently he has a fan and all exercise has stopped. I can not hose him down in during the day because of work. Any suggestions on how to help him out? I read that dark beer can help. I've thought about giving him OneAC, but am not too sure if it would be safe without go ahead from the vet.

He is drinking more than enough and is not dehydrated. Should I start a daily electrolyte also, just in-case he has some sort of minor imbalance? If so what would you suggest a paste or powder?

A few years ago I had 3 yr old pinto mare with large areas of white that stopped sweating. The vet told me to offer her a half tsp of salt and a half tsp of baking soda to an eight quart bucket of water daily as an electrolyte if I desired to. But his treatment was for me to hose her down and while wet to use a rubber curry comb and scrub her neck and body firmly with it, he believed the sweat glands needed to be activated and do this daily while she did not sweat. Sounds a little goofy I know, but I did it and she did eventually began to sweat and never stopped sweating again. I would be interested to hear your vet's opinion, whether he laughs or what.
By the way, I have used electrolytes "apple a day" that is a powder, I have diluted it in water and given in the mouth with a syringe (no needle!) often on sick horses or colicky ones it has given them a boost, or a sprinkle on their feed when it is 100 degrees here, which is what I am having here now, all of us humans and critters are in a natural sauna.

 

[plaid mare]

This post is a good example of why I joined this forum. I have never heard of horses having issues with sweating before. It's amazing to me what you don't know, about what you don't know! I wonder if this affects mini's more frequently than standard size breeds? Also my mini is on an antihistamine regimen, so I will be on the lookout for this issue. Thank-you!

 

[Cayuse]

Plaidmare, the antihistamine my welsh pony was on was hydroxyzine. We switched him to another class of antihistamine and he had no problems. Evidently anhidrosis can be a side effect of hydroxyzine for certain horses. Big horses can get it too .

 

[WhooptyDoo]

Thank yall.

He is 24. The vet said to go ahead and give him the OneAC until we come in. I also went ahead and put him on electrolytes as well. I also tried to see if he would drink some beer, since it may help as well. He wouldn't touch it, no matter how I tried. I do not think he has any metabolic issues, good weight, nice coat, etc. But I am not a vet and know that things do not always present the typical symptoms. I'll put it on the ask the vet list though.

In general I keep him very clean, but I will try exfoliating his skin as well. I just don't want to do too much scrubbing since he has developed a few fungus spots and some sweet itch. I'm spraying them with Fung-A-Way daily, which is helping.

Its just so puzzling. I've never noticed him having a problem before. He has never been a heavy sweater, but would at least be damp behind his elbows and between his legs.

 

[susanne]

Our horses do not have anhydrosis, but I still worry about them on muggy days. I run the hose through our no-climb fence and attach one of those cheap, little, plastic sprinklers inside the fence. Two of our horses stand right in the spray and get drenched. Mingus, the metrosexual gelding, stands just beyond the spray where the air is cool but he doesn't spoil his hairdo.

 

[WhooptyDoo]

Mingus, the metrosexual gelding, stands just beyond the spray where the air is cool but he doesn't spoil his hairdo.

Mingus sounds like a hoot.

I've done the sprinkler thing every now and then. But he doesn't care for it much. He will stand just close enough for his butt to get wet and that's it.

 

[susanne]

WhooptyDoo,

That's where the smart ones stand!

Mingus is indeed a hoot! Former bad boy stallion turned very nearly perfect gelding. I believe a few of my old Mingus stories are still in the archives. They give a glimpse of what a character he is.

 

[MiniMoment]

How common is this condition? Can minis who have it still be driven? If so how much?
How successful is weight loss to improving sweating?

 

[WhooptyDoo]

I'm not sure of how common it is in minis. I know in big horses is can be fairly common. Yes they can still be driven, you just have to moderate and watch them closely for overheating. I'm not sure about weightloss improving their ability to sweat. My guy is not overweight and he developed it.