# Lip sores?



## blackcob (9 May 2009)

B has been very slightly under the weather for about two weeks now - hardly enough to notice, just a very slight single cough when pulling up from fast ridden work and an intermittent clear discharge from both nostrils, usually only in the morning. Her temperature is normal and she's bright and active in herself, still keen to be ridden although I've been taking it steady (she has other ideas though!).

However, today I noticed a sore on the inside of her top lip, right hand side. It's almost perfectly round, bright pinkish-red in the centre and encircled by yellow, slightly raised skin. It's about the size of a 5p piece. It doesn't seem to cause her any obvious discomfort and she let me apply sudocrem to it without any bother, but it looks hideously sore. 
	
	
		
		
	


	





Now, here's the thing - this exact same thing happened at a similar time last year, and again the year before. The first time it happened I called the vet out who said it was a form of EHV, basically a horse cold sore, and that there was nothing to do as it was a virus and just to let her get over it. I took his advice as gospel and just got on with it, putting cream on any sores that developed and watching out for the warning signs of an impending sore (the slight under-the-weather-ness). It would happen once or twice a summer.

It's only today occurred to me to google it, and now I'm worried, as it suggests a host of dreadful things that it could be, and I'm wondering if the vet was talking bollocks.  
	
	
		
		
	


	





Does anyone know what this is? I may have to get the vet out next week again.


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## kellyeaton (9 May 2009)

has she been eating clover do you know this can cause ulscers in the mouth?


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## blackcob (9 May 2009)

[ QUOTE ]
has she been eating clover do you know this can cause ulscers in the mouth? 

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I've heard this, and also heard of buttercups being implicated in the same way, but I'm struggling to find any hard and fast evidence for it. Besides which it's just too much of a coincidence that she's a bit unwell right before the sores appear, to the point that I can predict that once I've spotted she's a bit off colour I can guarantee a sore will appear 10-14 days later.


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## kellyeaton (9 May 2009)

try calling vet just for a little advice! good luck hope she is ok keep us informed!x


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## Box_Of_Frogs (9 May 2009)

No experience other than to think buttercups, warts, allergy. One thing to mention is that if it is the herpes virus, take great care of your girl's eyes. There is a suspected link between the herpes virus and superficial keratitis.


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## blackcob (10 May 2009)

[ QUOTE ]
No experience other than to think buttercups, warts, allergy. One thing to mention is that if it is the herpes virus, take great care of your girl's eyes. There is a suspected link between the herpes virus and superficial keratitis. 

[/ QUOTE ]

Ohhh, w**k b******s f**k. 
	
	
		
		
	


	





She's already blind in one eye from unknown causes before I bought her as a three/four year old. I have got some serious reading to do. Think I'll have to get the vet out for reassurance on this one.


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## blackcob (10 May 2009)

Quick update - today she was noticeably subdued and the glands were up under her jaw. Temperature still fine and she perked up when food appeared however. Vet tomorrow I think.


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## Box_Of_Frogs (11 May 2009)

The herpes virus as a cold sore shouldn't do too much damage or be too difficult to treat. It's when it gets into eyes that it can be nasty and intractable. Sunny (sig) developed superficial keratitis after years of his previous owners not being bothered to treat his chronic conjunctivitis (the entire world probably knows this by now lol). Within a week of the first signs, he was referred to a superb horsepital with a resident eye specialist. They took swabs to check for bacterial, fungal and viral infections. All came back blank but it is apparently notoriously difficult to culture viruses in the lab. The vets said we would never know what caused the trigger but the herpes virus is suspected of having a role. 

Sunny had his eye removed 3 yrs ago as the deep ulcers and breakdown of the internal eye structures were too painful for him to bear. He's as happy as larry now but my constant nightmare is that the same thing starts in his remaining (dodgy) eye. Keep a close watch on your ned's other eye hun. Have the vets ever recommended removing the blind one?


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## kellyeaton (11 May 2009)

get vet now dont wait!


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## blackcob (11 May 2009)

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Keep a close watch on your ned's other eye hun. Have the vets ever recommended removing the blind one? 

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Oh I do - a couple of years back she managed to scratch the good one by sticking her head in the thorn hedge to try and nick grass from the field next door - I didn't sleep properly for weeks until the ensuing (tiny!) ulcer healed! And don't talk to me about getting eye drops in... 
	
	
		
		
	


	





They've never mentioned removal. It appears like a normal eye except that where her pupil should be there's a pupil-shaped whiteish/blue cloud instead of black. It's just occurred to me that I've never taken a photo of it, I will try and get one tomorrow to show you, I think you'd find it interesting being a fellow eye-person. 
	
	
		
		
	


	





Vet came today. He thinks the sores and the unwellness are technically unrelated, except that her being under the weather has allowed the sores to take hold where they usually wouldn't if she was fully well. He's taken a blood sample to see if there's anything specific going on virus-wise. He advised that the sores are very rarely transferred by a kind of fly, usually only encountered in the States (where they are referred to as 'summer sores') but now sometimes encountered in the UK and Europe, and as a precaution to worm her with Ivermectin as this will treat it if that's the case. She's allowed a sachet of bute a day to control the imflammatory response.

Poor fed-up pony.


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## Tnavas (12 May 2009)

Sounds very much like the herpes virus - it re-occurs just as it does in humans. A herpes ointment for humans may help.


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## Box_Of_Frogs (12 May 2009)

Yup - if it is the herpes virus, keep a constant watch on the good eye. You might need to take advice from a specialst in horse eyes. Because we never knew exactly what caused Sunny's superficial keratitis the specialist vets told me to keep close watch on the remaining eye and if there were signs of conjunctivitis or gunge in the eye (technical term!) he was to have THREE DAYS of the greasy antibiotic cream. No more. Any attempts to clear up repeat gunge attacks could alter the environment around the eye and may cause the same auto-immune reaction that finally ruined his other eye. The specialist vet has also spoken to my local horse vets so they know all about it. My local vets leave me with a yrs supply of the greasy antibiotic cream so if ever I spot even a whisper of gunge, Sunny immediately gets 3 days of the ointment. Can't remember what it's called - opti-something. If anyone's interested I'll check the tubes.

I am paranoid to the point of hysteria over protecting the remaining eye. Again, because we don't know what finally flipped conjunctivitis over into superficial keratitis, I have to try to do nothing different. I don't dare put a fly mask on because it could create a warm and moist "blanket" round the good eye and that could start something off. Don't dare use a Haybar or wall mounted feeder in case of bumps and bangs. Strong winds worry me. Hot days worry me. Pretty much anything that could affect the eye worries me. I wouldn't dream of adding soothing eye drops of any sort whatsoever. And to apply the antibiotic cream, it's wipe the eye area with plain water, wash and dry hands, headcollar on Sunny and I stand on the end of the lead rope after gently bouncing his head to get it quite low, then ointment onto finger tip and finger tip squishes the cream round and in the eye. Sunny pretty much knows what's coming now and he rarely puts up even a token resistance, bless him! The standing on the lead rope means I can easily and safely do this on my own, in a field if necessary!


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## blackcob (12 May 2009)

[ QUOTE ]
 Sunny pretty much knows what's coming now and he rarely puts up even a token resistance, bless him! The standing on the lead rope means I can easily and safely do this on my own, in a field if necessary! 

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Oh bless! A stark contrast to me trying to apply Zovirax to the fat cob today... let us just say that  _I_ won't be suffering from cold sores any time soon, seeing as I'm covered in the stuff. I think a tiny blob eventually ended up on her mouth.  
	
	
		
		
	


	





Forgot the camera today but I will make it my mission to do an eye post later this week, might make for some interesting discussion. 
	
	
		
		
	


	




 Will try and get a pic of the sores too. Interestingly enough they do pretty much resemble a big human cold sore!

ETA: http://www.ivis.org/special_books/Lekeux/allen/IVIS.pdf makes for some interesting reading about EHV. Particularly...

"Ocular Disease - Respiratory tract infections in foals associated with hypervirulent strains of EHV-1 may be accompanied by serious ocular disease, which manifests as uveitis and/or chorioretinitis [46]. In the severest of cases, extensive retinal destruction and blindness have been observed."

It is entirely possible that's how she lost her sight, long before we had her.


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