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| Author |
Message |
    
Christine Ratcliffe (Critter)
| | Posted on Sunday, Apr 7, 2002 - 9:26 am: |   |
I have a 29 year old gelding who is in good health except for some sheath edema due to poor circulation. Has anyone had any experience with this with their own horses and what has helped? Are there any safe, proven herbs or products that would help with circulation? |
Dennis A. Johnson (Dennisaj)
| | Posted on Monday, Apr 8, 2002 - 2:36 am: | |
Are you sure that the problem is due to poor circulation or could it be due to fat? Our experience has been with the latter.
Dennis & Beth |
Bonita Cubow (Bonita)
| | Posted on Tuesday, Apr 9, 2002 - 8:41 am: | |
I too have gone thru this with my 9-year old QH gelding.
Once it happened directly after vaccinations, so my vet thought it might be a related reaction & treated accordingly (I don't recall with what, unfortunately). It went down.
Another time I suspected I perhaps wasn't cleaning the sheath thoroughly enough, so had my vet out to tranq & do it. While he did remove more "stuff" than I had, he didn't feel that what was in there was enough to cause the swelling. However, several days after his more thorough cleaning, it went down.
Periodically his sheath has continued to occasionally swell & subside on it's own - primarily in the milder weather. At this point my vet believes it is a mild allergic reaction to something. As it doesn't seem to cause any discomfort or urinary stoppage, he isn't concerned about it & has just advised me to keep an eye on it.
Bonnie |
Christine Ratcliffe (Critter)
| | Posted on Tuesday, Apr 9, 2002 - 6:45 pm: | |
Thanks for your replies. The vet was the one who said the edema was due to poor circulation, but yes, he is over-weight right now. I try to put a little extra on him going into the winter and it's time to cut back and get his weight back down now that it's over.
He has always had some edema. He used to stock up in his legs too if he stayed in his stall all night, but I haven't seen that in a long time(about four years now) and he is in every night now.
The swelling did come down some after the vet did a thorough cleaning, but I would like to improve his circulation so that this will stop happening.
The vet wasn't overly concerned about it. He remarked that the horse looks wonderful (albeit overweight) and every day is a gift at 29. This horse is worth his weight in gold to me and I'll do whatever I can to make him more comfortable.
Thanks! |
Beth McElroy (Trigster)
| | Posted on Monday, May 13, 2002 - 10:58 pm: | |
My 27 yo had the same thing, when I first got him. He was HUGE. My vet said that increased excercise would help. Sure enough, after I got him & was getting ridden a few times a week plus turn out in a big pasture, he went down quite a bit. Also, I took the salt lick out of his stall as he was biting off big chunks (boredom, I'm sure) which I'm pretty sure had led to some ventral edema. Regular exercise, regular turnout and putting the salt lick in his pasture rather than his stall seemed to do the trick for him. |
Carol Eilers
New Member
Username: Aplz
Post Number: 1
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Saturday, Feb 15, 2003 - 9:24 am: | |
My elderly Morgan gelding has had sheath swelling problems in the past. I believe that it is directly related to exercise, and indirectly related to weight. The more he moves about, the better his sheath is. When I ride him 4-5 times/week, he has no problems, and as a result of the exercise, he also stays fit. In really bad weather, he gets time off, gains weight, and his sheath swells. |
