# Day By Day Account of Liverpool Cream Sarcoid Treatment *Pictures*



## charlimouse (25 June 2013)

Sarcoids are a topic of hot debate, with various treatment options, and many people all too willing to give you their opinions on the matter (some informed, and some not so !). So I thought I would do a day by day account of my horse's treatment. 

The horse is a 15.2, 2007, IDxTB. This sarcoid developed this last winter over a period of approximately 6 weeks. When the vet came out to do the horse's vaccinations in April I got him to look at it, and he sent photos off to Liverpool. Due to the sarcoid's location (just below the eye) it was decided a course of Liverpool cream would be the best solution, as we didn't want to mess around trying herbal remedies that may or may not work (fully aware Liverpool cream isn't foolproof, but I have used it in the past with good results, and the vets felt it was the best course of action).

So today was the first application of the cream. I took a couple of pictures this morning before treatment began.















Then here is a picture of it 20 minutes after the first application of cream, once it had soaked in








The plan from here is another application of the cream tomorrow, Friday, Saturday, Monday and next Tuesday. And then see how it goes. Fingers crossed all will go to plan, i'll keep you updated!


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## Tiarella (25 June 2013)

Does that sarcoid actually bother you? 

My horse was treated with Liverpool cream on sheath and inside of legs, to this day 5 years later I still can't touch the majority of his back legs after having used the cream. Will never use it again.


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## charlimouse (25 June 2013)

Not at the moment, but we didn't want it to get to the point where it did. After long discussions with my vet and Liverpool we decided that due to it being on the face the best course of action be to treat (and hopefully remove it) ASAP. I didn't post this to get people to tell me I have done the wrong thing. It is purely to give people a real time idea of what the treatment involves and help them to decide a course of action if they are I'm the same situation.  Sorry if that sounds shirty (it is not meant to) but I have discussed this at length with my vets and using their experience and my own previous experience of using the cream we all came to the conclusion this was the best action to take.


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## Persephone (25 June 2013)

Admittedly it's a small sarcoid now, but in an awkward place for rubbing on tack.

OP I had one treated with Liverpool cream on my Filly 2 years ago and think I still have the pics if you are interested! 

Only difference is my vet advised it was best to start treatment in the late autumn after the flies had dropped off.


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## stroppymare153 (25 June 2013)

rachaelstar said:



			Does that sarcoid actually bother you?
		
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Far better to get it when it's still tiny. One of ours had a little patch that looked like a ringworm patch.  Stayed like that for a couple of months and then within the space of a week or so, it changed to lots of little blister-like spots.  Took 2 lots of treatment to sort it out - it we'd acted when it was still tiny, we could have saved the poor horse a whole lot of discomfort and ourselves a whole lot of cash!


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## Tiarella (26 June 2013)

Yes it did sound shirty considering the fact I never once stated you have done the wrong or disagreed with you. No one agrees with anyone on this forum, everyone has different opinions and my opinion is after seeing how sore my horse was after using Liverpool cream on his sheath/hind legs I would never use it on his face. Some sarcoids stay tiny and never cause a problem, he still had a tiny one that never grew on his sheath so I just leave it. But being so small on his sheath it obviously won't cause a problem anyway, but suppose it is different when on the face. 

Love this forum.


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## flintfootfilly (26 June 2013)

Thanks for sharing the photos, and for being prepared to do an ongoing update.

With so many things relating to horses, it is rare that all of us would make the same decision at any point in time.  I honestly don't know what I would do in your position, except that I would certainly do as you have already done and weigh up options and opinions and go with what seemed best to me at the time.

I will be very interested to see how things progress, and I do hope that the pesky sarcoid disappears.

Sarah


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## Wagtail (26 June 2013)

rachaelstar said:



			Does that sarcoid actually bother you? 

My horse was treated with Liverpool cream on sheath and inside of legs, to this day 5 years later I still can't touch the majority of his back legs after having used the cream. Will never use it again.
		
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I agree. We used the cream on two liveries here. One mare had a couple of nodular sarcoids near her udder. She was very violent after the first application and had to be sedated for follow up applications. She was put in foal but would not let us touch her udders, again violently kicking. When the foal was born she wouldn't let it suckle, again kicking! He had to be tube fed her colostrum and she was sedated to retrieve it and again to let him suckle afterwards. Eventually she did allow him but she still will not allow us to go near there.

Another horse, a gelding had a large one on the skin between his hind leg and belly. He also had to be sedated for the application, and now won't let you touch it despite it being fully healed up and a year later. You also cannot clip him there so he has a silly looking fluffy patch!


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## Persephone (26 June 2013)

On the other hand my two year old had hers treated, it was at the furthest back part of her tummy, just before her udder.

The vet was expecting to need to sedate, but in fact she happily had all the treatment without sedation and has no problem with me touching any area around and including the scar. She actually loves it when I apply vit E oil to the scar to make sure it's nice and supple.

Just goes to show how they are all individuals!


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## Beausmate (26 June 2013)

I wonder if it depends on how deep the sarcoid is as to whether it's painful?

Liverpool cream has only been mentioned to me once, as a 'if they get to be a real problem, we can do this' sort of comment.  He has been seen by several different vets over the course of my ownership (15 years).  One sarcoid was 'shelled', it has come back, though not as big. 

I can't help thinking that particular treatment hasn't been mentioned because I have no insurance for vet fees.  Maybe I'm just cynical....

Good luck with your horse, OP.


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## whizzer (26 June 2013)

My horse had 2 courses of Liverpool cream on his multiple sarcoids on his belly,sheath & inside his hindlegs. He had to be sedated as it did make him sore at the time. However it worked brilliantly,they all went & never returned. He was never,ever funny about me doing anything in the areas even when they were very sore during treatment. The only sign that he ever had treatment is a pink patch on his willy!!! He had a huge sarcoid on his belly & when he had a wee would get a bit of the cream in the wrong place! He did seem to have a grudge against my vet as for a few years after if she tried to have a look under him he would put his ears back & raise a hindleg in her direction! The treatments not nice but his sarcoids were truly awful & I never regretted treating them & wouldn't hesitate to go for this treatment again.


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## Wagtail (26 June 2013)

I think that Liverpool cream works in nearly all cases. How the horse responds is down to the individual horse, and how big and deep the sarcoid is. The mare I mentioned is not very stoic. The slightest amount of pain upsets her. The gelding on the other hand, is very tolerant, but his sarcoid was big and very deep. He had a huge gaping wound at the end of treatment. I am not surprised he is now very worried if you go to touch him there.


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## Casey76 (26 June 2013)

One of the main ingredients in Liverpool cream is 5-fluorouracil (5FU), this is a chemotherapy agent used in some human cancers and is not surprising that the area can become extremely painful after application.


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## kickandshout (26 June 2013)

my only question is why would you breed of a horse with sarcoids ????????? chances are itl get passed on to its offspring (or at least thats what i was led to believe)


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## charlimouse (26 June 2013)

So today was day 2 of the treatment. As yet there is no change in the appearance of the sarcoid that I can see.








At the moment it isn't sore, and he was perfectly happy to let the vet put the cream on with no fuss.


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## thundersprite (27 June 2013)

my mare had liverpool cream but for her the cream made things worse but thanfully with another treatment shes fine i have pics if you want to see hers was tiny but near her mouth so had to be treated but 2 courses of liverpool cream failed and made it grow and change and it became malignante shes fine now though although were went sure which way it would go at the time


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## chestnut cob (27 June 2013)

My horse developed a sarcoid about a month after I bought him last year.  It was a tiny occult sarcoid, about the size of your thumbnail.  Spoke to my vet who suggested treating immediately with Liverpool Cream - "hit it hard now, before it has chance to get any bigger".  We sent pics to LPool, protocol and cream arrived about 2 weeks later.  He needed 3 applications of full strength cream.  His sarcoid was on his sheath area.  After the first time it swelled up to the size of a tennis ball so vet told me to give him bute for a week to help with the inflammation.  24 hours after the first application, the swelling had totally gone.  He didn't bother about any of the applications, never made a fuss, has never been bothered about anyone touching him there (at the time or since).  Over the course of about 6 weeks it went scabby then peeled off.  Been checked twice since by vets who are really pleased with it.

So my experience of LPool Cream was great and wouldn't hesitate to use it again


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## chestnut cob (27 June 2013)

charlimouse said:



			So today was day 2 of the treatment. As yet there is no change in the appearance of the sarcoid that I can see.


At the moment it isn't sore, and he was perfectly happy to let the vet put the cream on with no fuss.
		
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It will probably take a few days.  My horse's sarcoid area swelled right up to begin with but there was no change in the actual sarcoid for a few days, then it suddenly went scabby.

I found LPool Cream seemed a much cleaner method than Thuja cream.  Someone at my old yard used thuja and the horse's sarcoids were awful after - weeping, bleeding, an absolute mess.  Took months to drop off and heal up, and it was in a lot of pain too (she had some small nodular ones IIRC).


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## JanetGeorge (27 June 2013)

kickandshout said:



			my only question is why would you breed of a horse with sarcoids ????????? chances are itl get passed on to its offspring (or at least thats what i was led to believe)
		
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Slight problem if you rule history of sarcoids out in breeding animals - because the evidence that suggests a susceptibility to sarcoids is hereditary also suggests that more than 70% of horses have it!

IME, the main cause of sarcoids is the presence of a horse with a sarcoid in fly bite season!


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## Achinghips (28 June 2013)

My boy had one about size of three peas on sheath.  Three applications of Liverpool cream and now no sign of it  Treatment total came to £175.


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## charlimouse (28 June 2013)

Well today my horse had the 3rd application of the cream. This evening you can see the sarcoid had begun to ulcerate and the surrounding area is now slightly swollen. However at the moment he is not seeming particularly sore, and again was perfectly happy for the vet to apply the cream no bother. In himself he is still his usual somewhat over friendly self, but if he shows signs of being sore we shall give him some bute to help keep him comfortable. But for now so far, so good!


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## Cinnamontoast (29 June 2013)

I would use Liverpool again any time. My horse had one inside his stifle and one on an axilla. I can touch those areas, no bother. 

One thing I would say is keep the area fly free with summer fly cream and maybe go round the outside of the sarcoid with Vaseline so there's no chance of her rubbing the Liverpool cream towards her eye. Hope it resolves well


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## Jnhuk (29 June 2013)

Watching this thread with interest as one of my lads has a sarcoid near the corner of his eye and we are waiting for Liverpool to get back to us with a protocol but for BCG injections rather than the cream.


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## danandyozz (1 July 2013)

COLD SORE CREAM WORKS WONDERS, CHEAP AS CHIPS AND TOTALLY PAINLESS!


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## charlimouse (1 July 2013)

Today was the 5th (and hopefully final) treatment. This evening the sarcoid looked like this















Although it has come up a bit he doesn't seem sore at the moment, and still is his usual happy self. He allowed the vet to put the cream on no problems and was very well behaved throughout. So now it is a case of waiting a seeing how it goes. Fingers crossed!


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## Yellow_Ducky (2 July 2013)

Beausmate said:



			I can't help thinking that particular treatment hasn't been mentioned because I have no insurance for vet fees.  Maybe I'm just cynical.....
		
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I have had my horse treated with this cream without insurance and from memory ( was about 10 years ago) the cost of treatment was really reasonable. I doubt the cost of it really comes into play, if its the best route of treatment for a sacriod..... we where only recommended to use it once the sacroid had become "active". if it had remained doromant we wouldnt have treated it as was small and not an issue. 

Also, my horse was never sedated during treatment (to sheath area) and has not been sensitive since.


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