My Grey Mare: A Journal of April’s Health Issues

by Karen Pickering

It’s been an interesting month, to say the least. Last month my mare, April, had tumors examined by David Sauter, DVM of Kulshan Veterinary Clinic. He took a biopsy of the tumors on her belly and injected the tumor on her back with triamcinolone (a type of steroid). The photos below were taken at the initial examination on April 24th. 

      

On May 2nd, while at the clinic for another emergency call with April (more on that health issue next week), we noticed a reduction in the tumor on her back. As of today, the tumor on her back is gone! The only evidence is the patch where the hair was shaved before the injection and a small piece of dead skin at the injection site. We expect this was an easinophilic granuloma. 

On April 29th, we received a report from the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in Pullman, Washington: they determined that the tumors on April’s belly were, in fact, equine dermal sarcoids. Sarcoids are the most common cutaneous tumors in horses, and are associated with nonproductive infection with bovine papillomavirus-1 or 2. They rarely metastasize, but can be locally aggressive. Recurrence is expected in cases of incomplete incision.  In other words, they may recur, but are unlikely to prove a serious health concern.

Next Wednesday I’ll discuss the May 2nd emergency call with April. 

Teeth Floatation and Tumor Examination

by Karen Pickering

While we compile reader stories, our own Karen Pickering has a story of her own she'd like to share...

Having a grey horse has never really concerned me. I’ve had one other in my lifetime with no health issues, despite the tendency greys have to develop melanomas. But while having a routine dental floatation, I decided to have the series of tumors in April's mouth and on her back and belly examined. 

        

The tumors in her mouth—two on her upper lip on the left side--appear to be melanomas. Messing with those can cause scar tissue (and they are far less serious a condition in horses than they are in humans) so we decided to leave them alone. The hope is that they don’t grow.

Then Dr. Sauter took a biopsy of the tumors on her belly. He suspects they are sarcoids, but we’ll get the results of the biopsy in a few days. They are rather large and hard to remove. There is quite a base area underneath the tumors, which indicates a much larger area is affected below the skin’s surface. Removing these is difficult, as there are a lot of veins and muscles in this area. Most likely, the best course of action will be to leave them alone and hope they don’t get bigger. They did require a few stitches to patch her up after taking the core sample.

     

There is a relatively new procedure, especially with tumors this large, in which a section of the tumor is removed a dissected into several pieces and freeze-dried. The pieces are then implanted under the skin in the neck area. It’s like vaccinating against further growth or development of more tumors.

The small tumor on her back is possibly an easinophilic granuloma. Dr. Sauter injected this with triamcinolone, which is a type of steroid. The hope is that the tumor will shrink. If not, it will need to be removed during April's off season. 

I'll keep you all posted once we have the biopsy results and see if the tumor on her back shrinks. I welcome comments to this blog entry, especially from other horse owners who have been through this kind of situation with their horses. What worked for you? What didn't? Anything you know may help other owners and their horses.