rain rot

[StellaLenoir]

My newest little mare has some weird thing going on with her skin and or hair. If you pet her she feels lumpy almost. She is full of clumpy hair that do not brush apart. She had this to some degree when she came, and it has just gotten worse after a few rainy weeks.

She also has a white dust like stuff that comes off her, and this white is part of the clumps you can feel. One clump came off and took hair with it!

After this last rain spell, everyone elses hair was normal, but dirty from rolling, and it brushed pretty clean. Hers was hard, and clumpy even after brushing. The hair just stayed together. She does not enjoy me picking at the clumps so I tried brushing and very few would brush out.

I have not seen rain rot first hand to really know what it is. Silver had a similar thing but only on the very tip of her tail and that was months ago.

My mares that I have had for over a year are great as far a coat. Very soft and no more dry skin. Rainbow did have flaky mane and her coat was dull, now shiny and soft

I started mine on BOSS when they came and I think that really helped my others. I started this new girl about 3 weeks ago on it, hoping it would help her weird skin thing. I will say she was very flaky in the face when she came, and that has healed 100 %.

I am leaning towards thinking this new girl has rain rot. The vet was unconcerned and blew me off as always.

I dont think it is bugs, I have searched for crawlys and have not seen one. Just very flaky and powdery.

I am in NW FL but it has been too cold to clip or bathe. I do think she would fit in the bathtub, so if a good bath would help I can do it. And oh well if she has to hang out inside

Can I get some good desciptions or photos of what rain rot looks like? Or if anyone has any ideas on what this could be please share your info.

I will try to get a pick in the day. She is such a sweet love, I want her to be shiny and happy and well like my others.

 

[StellaLenoir]

ok I found something, anit bacterial soap and or listerine. I will wash her good tomorrow in the bath tub lol.

Please though any good advice would be much appriciated.

thanks!!

 

[disneyhorse]

Yep, sounds like rain rot to me!

Home remedies include dabbing on Listerine, but I do like the medicated scrubs and shampoos. Clipping the area helps as well, because the fungus dies faster if exposed to air and the hair tends to trap in moisture which the fungus likes, too.

Good luck,

Andrea

P.S. if it is very cold, you can spot-clip and sponge-bath your horse to just the affected areas and leave the rest of her alone! Might work to spot-treat it if it's not too extensive.

 

[shorthorsemom]

Sounds like rain rot to me too. I use eqyss medicated shampoo and follow up treat with the spray. Hard to get rid of rain rot when it is cold out because typically stuff works best when you can really soak the horse with it to get to the skin. I have done spot treatment too if the whole horse isn't affected, and I have also just used the spray and rubbed it in good. Excellent description, really could picture it when reading.

Good luck, I am sure there are tons of good things to use, Eqyss medicated stuff is just what I used in the past. I think there was a past forum discussion on all the treatments for rain rot so you should have lots of options to try as people write in. best wishes

 

[Katiean]

One of my mares had little lumps like that when I shaved her down. The only thing was when I body clipped her. she had some hairless spots. I got some athleats foot spray (the liquid not the powder) and sprayed her daily to get it the hair to grow in before a show. Since she is a black bay and is very dark but ended up with black speckles all over her. I don't know if a second clip would have evened out her color as I got sick just before the regonal show.

 

[Matt73]

Hmmm. Teddy has had something similar since I've owned him. On his croup especially, I'll rub my hand over it and there will be bumps sometimes. I actually pick them off and it seems to be dry, flaky skin that comes off. He may have 10-15 spots at one time. They almost feel wart-like (size and shape). Once I get them all off, they're gone for the rest of the winter pretty much. Now, here's the thing. I'm more apt to think it's just dry skin. No sores (which would be present with rain rot) and he's virtually never left out in the rain (yeah, my little band is spoiled). The only reason they're not left out is that I don't have shelter for them. So...could it just be dry skin that you're feeling? Rain rot will be pretty obvious (bald patches etc.).

 

[StellaLenoir]

I am pretty sure it is more than just dry skin. It is fairly gross, and the few spots I picked did have a raw looking spot under the hair clump.

I have never seen rain rot in person, and this sort of came on only in the past few weeks. Before it was just the white powder, no clumps. But we went on vacation and where the horses were boarded was open field with biggies and littles on all sides. So my little ones had a blast socializing, but they did get wet. Then at home now it has rained off and on for 2 weeks.

My silly horses do stand out, instead of going in the shelter.

This past weekend we built a special little creep feeder in the shelter for this mare as she is smaller than my others and eats more lol! I think I could coax her into staying in there during rain with a nice flake of hay and some grain.

I am also going to get her a rain blanket, as she obviously is more sensitive to whatever causes rain rot.

Poor girl.

But to be honest, I cant wait to give her a bath in the house. lol!

Wish me luck and keep the info coming!!! Thanks all!!!!

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I have been battling skin problems on one of mine since I got him over a year ago. His body area smoothed out nicely with twice weekly bathes in fungal/antibacterial this summer. But, his hock area never smoothed, and has actually worsened. A couple of weeks ago I shaved all the hair off the hocks, just to see if I could get a better visual. There are hard, ash-colored, clumpy bumps. The largest seemed to have little hair-like things sticking up. Reminded me of fungus spores. I've been washing/soaking the area with fungal shampoo, using fungal ointment, and other assorted home remedies. It is not going away. When I can scrape any off, it is a wound underneath. Your description fits in many ways, but we have had less than .2 rain this month, so moisture cannot be the culprit. The area seems tender. (No wonder, with me constantly messing with it.) Is the hock area prone to fungal attacks?

I have another appointment with the vet for him on Friday. It is a different vet than was helping me with it all summer, so I am hoping to get another opinion.

Since he had this condition when I got him, I am wondering if it could be some sort of cancer? Can anyone tell me what cancer on the horse would look like?

I've never had any trouble getting rid of occassional fungal areas before.

Good luck with yours, StellaLenoir.

 

[StellaLenoir]

Marsha Cassada, wow I am so sorry you and your horse are going through that! I pray it is not cancer.

I felt my girl all over again this am, and it is mainly on her back towards her tail, and a few on her shoulders and neck.(sorry I do not know all the tech horse terms)

I am starting my line of attack today. I may not do the bath, as it is SOOOO cold out! So unless she will stand still for the blow dryer I might have to hope for a warm day.

Keep us updated on what your new vet says, and on how your little one is doing.

best luck!!!

 

[whitney]

Marsha I'm so sorry to hear the antibotic didn't work on your guy.

You both might try LymDyp or lime sulfur (from garden center make sure it is NOT the oil). You have to dilute the lime sulfur 2 ounces to 1 gallon water and put into a spray bottle and spray on the sores. The lime sulfur is MUCH cheaper and is the SAME product. The spots should clear up in 2-3 days without scarring.

Having gone through this with 6 horses I tried EVERYTHING and this finally worked for me.

Good Luck!

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Whitney,

I did not try the lime sulfur this summer. The vet I was consulting about the skin issue pooh poohed it. I will check my feed store today and see if they carry the product. Many of the other products I used had those ingredients in them, but I will try the straight product. (I feel the antibiotic did him a lot of good. My non-horsey neighbor who helps me walk the boys even noticed the difference in him.)

I ordered the Eqyss shampoo and could not tell any improvement. I do like the way it cleans, though, and it is easy to rinse. I will be using it for regular maintainance bathing.

Amazing, the arsenal of products we can accumulate!

 

[whitney]

Yep so did mine he said thats what they used 30 years ago BEFORE all the new stuff thats available.

I used Eqyss, vet prescribed antibacterial soap, MTG (this has some lime sulfur in it), listerine, athletes foot powder/spray and one other soap I can't remember the name.

Vet did skin scraping all he could tell me it's bacterial in nature.

I put my mare on the sulfa antibotic with a TERRIBLE reaction glad you did'nt have the same reaction.

Heres a link so you know what to ask for

http://www.cooperseeds.com/catalog/hy-lime...pray-p2234.html

I'm positive this will work for you.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

My gosh, Whitney, I HAVE some of that! I was looking in the animal section, not the plant section at the feed store!! I will try some today.

 

[Reijel's Mom]

I love MTG for treating skin conditions, particularly in cold weather when bathing is a problem.

 

[whitney]

Marsha:

COOL make sure you dilute it 2 ounces to 1 gallon. The stuff smells like rotten eggs but it works. Spray it on once a day and leave it, don't rinse if off. You should see an improvement within 2-3 days. I REALLY hope this works for you but I'm pretty sure it will.

Let me know.

Take Care Whit

 

[albahurst]

Order Griseofulvin from your vet and have your vet tell you how much you need per body weight. It is just added to feed once a day. Also, if it warms up enough you can bathe the horse in a Miconazole shampoo and let it set for 15 minutes before rinsing. Get the scabby stuff off and spot clip if you can to let the air and sun in. If it is a round patch it could be ringworm. Don't share grooming supplies (brushes etc) between horses or you will likely spread the fungus. I also use MTG on the spots. But, when it covers alot of body mass, then the MTG just isn't practical, IMO. You will most likely have to treat with the Griseofulvin for about 4 weeks- or until the hair starts growing back in. This is a treatment for a rain rot and/or ring worm infection.

PM me if you have questions.

Peggy

 

[whitney]

Peggy I thought Griseofulvin was used for ringworm? If your worming with ivermectin that should kill ringworm already.

If you have an all over problem you can use the lime sulfur as a dip and leave it on them it must be pretty safe as my vet said they dipped cats in it, and you know how cats lick themselves.

I wouldn't do it in the winter just spray the spots.

 

[albahurst]

We are using the Griseofulvin here right now for ringworm and rain rot, as ordered by the vet. Two horses have what appeared to be ringworm and another was losing hair over about 50% of the body, but no round circles- very flaky, too. The Griseofulvin is solving the problem with all three horses.

I use Ivermectin - didn't seem to help with ringworm. I wonder why the vet hasn't suggested this treatment?

I am also bathing with Miconazole shampoo as often as the weather allows.

Anyway, for us, the Griseofulvin and medicated shampoo have been very helpful. I would say we are about over the skin issues.

I do understand from the vet's office that it has been a 'bad' year for horses developing such skin issues- at least in our neck of the woods. The weather has been crazy!

 

[tinypony]

Rain Rot is one of my LEAST favorite demons to battle. It took my big horse a year to recover fully, even under vet care. All I can suggest is to make sure you do not use a blanket at all (prevents good air flow), and do not "share" grooming supplies because it is contagious to other horses via brushes and blankets, sadle pads, harnesses, etc....

Vet told me the reason my horse out of 40 was the only one to get it was because he was new to the ranch and hadn't developed an immunity to the bacteria in those particular fields. Apparently this is common with new horses/new locations. Good luck, hope the scarring is minimal. MTG makes miracles if you can stand the smell....

 

[Marsha Cassada]

When i was going through the skin thing earlier in the year on my horse, I asked the vet about ingestable fungicide. He would not prescribe it.

I will ask the other vet on Friday about it. Amazing, all the different opinions you get in the professional world.

Whitney<

I sprayed the lime sulphur on him tonight. Phew!!!! MTG smells like perfume in comparison!