gelding with edema

[Jasmine1998]

That happened with the stallion that was at our place last summer. It turned out to be a tick bite. He gets bad reactions to tick bites. I almost had a heart attack when I saw it, but the vet & the owner both took one look at it & said oh, he was bitten by a tick. Apparently the ticks like soft areas like that.

 

[patandchickens]

If it is just his sheath and another ventral-midline spot, NOT any filling in his legs, came on suddenly yet he is acting normal (not droopy or having trouble peeing), and assuming that his heart/liver/kidney function are normal.... then I would tend to suspect either a bug bite/sting or a kick. Things like this on the underside of the belly can sometimes swell up a *lot* and stay that way for longer than you would expect, just cuz the fluid has nowhere to go just from gravity so must wait til the body can slowly resorb it.

The other possibility that comes to mind would be an infection in the sheath (you can't always SEE a focus of infection). Bloodwork should tell you about that, too (I'm sure your vet is having a basic panel done that includes a WBC count)

If it were me I would NOT try to wrap it unless specifically instructed by the vet, would continue to give him as much turnout as possible, and just keep an eye on him. If it is not something real serious (the things your vet is checking for), and it is probably not, then it will very likely resolve on its own.

Good luck, have fun, hope he's feeling better soon,

Pat

 

[muddyhorse]

the vet figures 7-10 days for the swelling to subside. he is eating and drinking normally. poop is good. other than the sheath everything is normal.

 

[welsummerchicks]

Sounds like the vet is not worried, and that usually means you don't need to be either.

I think it's awfully hard for someone to retrace what causes an allergic reaction, vets don't usually try for a non life threatening symptom. There are whole new species of insects hatching every 24 hrs, plants blooming, things wafting along in the wind, odd plants getting baled in a bale of hay.

 

[babyblue]

I agree that there is a good chance its a bite of some kind. my old gelding is very sensitive to a particular type of biting fly, swells, gets gross, hair falls off. nothing I can do other then fly spray him well, take care of the bites he does get and keep the barn clean (which really reduces the number of bites significantly). got bit in the sheath once and did swell up a good bit.

 

[Orchid]

Quote:
This was going to be my question - is it possible he had a tick bite in that area? One of my geldings had the same thing happen this fall, swollen sheath and some edema on his belly, and that was the culprit. He wasn't in any pain from it either.

I would not wrap it, keep him turned out, maybe hand walk him 20 minutes a couple times a day. Standing around doing nothing will make the edema worse.

 

[ultasol]

I had an experience while visiting my parents back east- I was riding one of their geldings and, while walking through a field, we disturbed a subterranean wasps nest. The gelding I was riding was quite 'relaxed' but when they landed on his belly he sucked his boy parts, complete with wasps, back up.

Thank goodness he's such a good boy, he reacted but not as badly as he could have. Poor boy had a very swollen sheath for a few days, with obvious swelling for over a week. We ran cool water on it and called the vet.

I hope it is something minor and temporary!

 

[muddyhorse]

Cookie's blood work all came back good. so hopefully it is just a bite/ injury.