[Berkeley1]

I rescued an OTTB about a month ago, and his coat is going down-hill. He recently got fungus on his back, back and front legs, and on his face. I have been scrubbing it and have been giving him Fungasol (sp?) baths. So far, it isn't working. Another thing is that his hair is very thin all over his body and now he is shedding like crazy, so he is getting bald spots.

What can I do?? My trainer mentioned using some sort of fungicide for rose bushes, but I am a little concerned about putting that on my horse.

any other thoughts??
thanks!

[oursarge]

My horse started to loose his hair during the winter last yr. It was a nightmare when it was below zero and he had bald patches. The vet finally came out to check it [I brought pictures in, he thought it might be ringworm but it wasn't so he came to check it himself] and it ended up that he had a bacterial infection and needed anti bioitics and on a sunny day I had to wipe him down with Betadine. I tried so many anti fungals and nothing worked.

I don't think I'd use the rose bush stuff, that might have some bad things in it that would hurt the horse, I don't really know because I'm the angel of death to plants so I don't go near them. Hope your horse is OK.

[Lopinslow]

get some fulvacin from your vet. I haven't used it in years, but WOW did it work well and fast!

[Tesseventer101]

Make sure you leave the Fungusol shampoo for 20 minutes. Also, They make a spray and a cream. You could spray hid body with the spray after you bathe him. What I do when my horse's get rainrot, is I put baby oil on it. Then after it sits there for a while, I scratch it off. Make sure you where a glove while doing that though. Then put the fungusol cream on the area for a couple of days. This works for me and it keeps it from coming back. Good luck!

[LuckyAshley]

First of all, if it's really bad I'd check with you vet to see if it isn't something serious. Otherwise, a good product for fugus and hair growth is MTG. Good luck!

[ncs]

yes, what Tesseventer said- the fungusol shampoo is medicated-- needs to be on the horse lathered up at least 10 minutes after the pores of the skin open up to do any good. That will help get rid of surface fungus. #2 in general, animals sucumb to these types of things if they have a poor or compromised immune system. You said he was a rescue, continue to work on his/her diet and nutrition--esp B-12 and biotin (like in farriers formula and horseshoers secret) will help--ask your vet about supplements he recommends for healthy skin and coat- he could help you over the phone on this one!. work on healing from the inside out. The vet may recomment a short course of a ketoconazole or fluconazole type med too- get get him kick started on the problem. I know that you hate to see a semi bald horse going into winter. If it continues, plan to blanket or keep him inside out of the rain, or it may make it MUCH worse.

[Simon Says]

I used MTG recently on my boy anf it made a huge difference!

[Berkeley1]

thanks so much for all of the help and suggestions! The 1st time I used the Fungasol, I don't think I left it on long enough. I did him again a few days ago and left it for 30 minutes and so far he is looking much better. I also have the spray and I put that on every day. He is currently on Horseshoer's secret and Vita Plus. I evacuated both of my horses for hurricane Gustav, so they spent a week in a pasture with quite a bit of rain. They had a shelter, but they wouldn't go under it. When they got back to the barn, Monet had fungus, but my other guy. Berkeley, so far doesn't have it.
He still has bald spots, but hopefully they will grow back soon. I board both horses, so he is out of the elements and he will be blanketed when it gets cooler.

[Athyrius]

Also- Gold Bond Medicated Powder for damp fungus - and for hooves.