Gunnar's Hives

We started to wean Gunnar down on the dex.. we got to 1/2 pkg a day.. guess not.. now we are back up to 1 pkg in am and 1 in pm.. think he was ok at 1/2 pkg am and 1/2pkg pm.. so right now he looks like this

What a mess, poor bugger,...Mariea he looks like he has lost some weight too?????

No Joan, It's weight is good. He eats 24/7 almost, not pasture. but good hay and seems pretty happy
except for these hives this year. Why one year and not others??? Trying to make him as comfortable
as possible.

maybe just the angle of the pix Nancy......his neck didnt look real thick and cresty. Whatever the Bleeding heart is going on, I sure hope Somebody figures it out soon.

awww, poor guy!

Poor baby! :(

Mariea, I started googling around this morning and came across this old thread on COTH

http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-220622.html

I was thinking the wet summer might have something to do with it....and Gunnar loves to roll in mud, right? It talks about the mud harbouring bacteria/fungi that caused hives. We usually have mud in the spring and fall when the temps are cooler, so if it's muddy combined with warmer temps I can see thistle growing in the mud. Just a thought

could be Dex.... he does roll every morning .. sometimes it's in the wet muddy spot .. sometimes not.. however we did have that hive biopsied..and it's not bacteria.. well that hive wasn't anyway.. the rest maybe?.. so all we can do is treat it for now and then when the weather changes it will be ok

My hold horse had hives like this once.. It was after we gave her her annual innoculations. I was told to never giver her Rabies again ( I think?) coulda been tetanus.

To me it would seem that the alergon that is causing the hives must be something he is ingesting, be it something he is eating, drinking or breathing, as the hives are not localized but well spread over the whole body. It could even be something that never affected him before. For some reason mammals in general are developing allergies to things that were never issues before. Only way you are going to know is to have a full panel of allergy tests run. Even then unless it is something you can obivously identify in his envornment, it might be difficult to eliminate the culpurt.

I know you love where he is being boarded now, but I wonder if his symptoms might lessen if you move him to a different place.. just to see if there is a difference.

My mare Ikeda has several different allergys and her previous owner, was shipping in a special made serum from Texas, which Ikeda recieved 2 shots of every few months just to control her symptoms. When she moved to PEI with us, her allergies symptoms got much better, and she didn't require any meds. I do water her hay if its dusty, and during some of the heavier pollen seasons, she will cough some.. but nothing that would require medication.
Now we are living in NS, I am watching her closely.. but si far so good! I keep Dex in the house all the time.. just incase.

Anyway.. I hope what ever it is for both you and gunner it gets solved ASAP!

well tonight he looks really good.. almost all hives are gone .. just the ones that broke open on his face are visible now.. Fireburg sponged his face with soap (tee tree) and water today.. nice that she had the day off to clean him up and watch over him.. TE cleaned his face tonight and I just went down and clean out his stall and kissed him.. lucky pony in some ways!

Remember to Breathe Mariea.

poor boy, How is doing today..?

Geez you guys have had it rough... :-(

As I posted on Facebook, the stuff my vet clinic sells is called GAP - Gualfenesin/Aminophyline/Prednisolone (as acetate).

He was given it twice a day for 5 days, once a day for 5 days and then to wean off once ever 2 days for 5 more doses. It's a strawberry flavoured liquid. Yummy.
Thank be to God that he is really easy to medicate! Arrow hasn't had hives (like poor Gunnar!) but he does react to fly bites on his face (all the hair comes off) - this year he's had his hated fly mask on 24/7. We don't really know what he is allergic to, obviously seasonal, and local. I thought he had heaves, but the vet says not...Vet says it doesn't really matter, since he will be living here anyway, all that matters is we treat it symptomatically (sp ??), so he doesn't cough, and get sicker... I like my vet :-)...

well so far he's much much better , can hardly tell he ever had the hives.. full pkg of dex twice a day cleared it up in a day and a half.. so now to find the lowest dosage he can have without getting the hives..