Swollen sheath

vels mum

vels mum

New Member
Jul 1, 2008
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Shetland
Last summer Jack came in from the field with a swollen sheath, also his glands were up. Vet was called and he was given steroids and anti-inflamatories, along with a course of danolin. It took a while for the swelling to go down but it did eventually.

Up till now its never happend again till last week. This time it was just his sheath that was swollen (very badly!) vet tried to get a good look but Jack was obviously feeling it quite painful and was kicking out if vet went too close. So the boy was sedated, his sheath is not dirty, vet squirted warm water on it then I managed to get a bit of baby oil onto it later on, there was no way he was going to tollerate a 'proper' wash!

Vet gave anti-boitics and anti-inflam's, swelling came down over the next few days but didnt clear properly till I took him out for a hack on Monday.

This morning the swelling was up again, im stumped as to what could be causing it, we went out for another hack today but its still swollen.

Any idea's or stories of similar problems would be greatly appriciated.
 
Sorry to hear your boy has been having some problems! The only horse I've come across with a swollen sheath was due to an infection as the owner hadn't been cleaning it, but that doesn't sound like this is the problem that your boy is having?

It couldn't be an allergic reaction could it?
 
When it happened in the summer we thought it could have something to do wit the pollen count, or perhaps if he had eaten some sort of plant in the field. However he has had nothing different this month to eat and it couldnt be down to pollen count in these temps. Its got me baffled. Vet thinks it could be an infection but surely his sheath would be dirty if that was the case ??
 
This interests me because I have a Horse with a very dirty sheath. Six vets have looked and can't tell me there's anything going on. He's apparently just a dirty boy. He's uncomfortable with it, very itchy but apparently not infected that we know of. Sorry I know that's not really relevant but stupid question, has a bean been removed lately?
 
Flipo's Mum said:
This interests me because I have a Horse with a very dirty sheath. Six vets have looked and can't tell me there's anything going on. He's apparently just a dirty boy. He's uncomfortable with it, very itchy but apparently not infected that we know of. Sorry I know that's not really relevant but stupid question, has a bean been removed lately?
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Will he let you clean it? Have you tried squirting baby oil on it?

Im going to show my ignorance now and ask what is a bean and how do you remove it :sluggish:
 
Oh god yes my horse LOVES having his sheath cleaned. Has been an incredible bonding experience lol! I've tried leaving well alone as well but doesn't work he's not comfy. Not so bad over winter though.
The bean is a small hard lump of smegma that gets stuck just inside the penis. You need to stick your finger in and pop it out (oh how I love writing that- NOT!)
http://www.equi-sense.com/articles/sheathcleaning.html
 
Hmmm my IDX DID enjoy being 'cleaned' it was the highlight of the year and he would get very excited when I plonked myself on a chair with a sponge and basin of water at hand next to his manhood...:wub:

Anyhoo Ive never heard about the 'bean' you describe, ive picked bits of smegma off his 'mansword' but have never thought to put a finger up inside :help:.....perhaps you need to make a youtube video to show me how its done :tongue::giggle:
 
Dreamster said:
I too wondered if he might have a bean. Is he able to wee okay or is he straining to go?
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The night the swelling started his stable was drier than normal but he seems to be peeing ok now. I will try catch him in action today to see if it is flowing as it should
 
If you can get in about it I'd have a go at trying to remove any build up. They still can pee even if they have a bean, it just depends how big its got as to how easy they find out - the first time I got the bean out it was the size of a 50p coin. Since then only around a baked bean size. I never saw that he wasn't able to pee but it can be a sign so worth checking out.
 
Flipo's Mum said:
If you can get in about it I'd have a go at trying to remove any build up. They still can pee even if they have a bean, it just depends how big its got as to how easy they find out - the first time I got the bean out it was the size of a 50p coin. Since then only around a baked bean size. I never saw that he wasn't able to pee but it can be a sign so worth checking out.
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Hmmm may have to find some body armour from somewhere, now I take it the bean is between the fore skinand the penis and not from the hole he pee's from.................

Swelling seems to have gone down again today but I do feel this will be an ongoing problem till I get at it!
 
Nope it is in the hole he pees from (gawd im writing this at work, hope no one sees!) get some rubber gloves! Warning though, it's the one bit I do have a little dance around with my boy for. He's not a fan!
 
Flipo's Mum said:
Nope it is in the hole he pees from (gawd im writing this at work, hope no one sees!) get some rubber gloves! Warning though, it's the one bit I do have a little dance around with my boy for. He's not a fan!
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OH GOOD GOD!!!!! :help::help::help::help::help::help:

i WILL NEED :ninja: AND HE WILL PROBABLY GO :timebomb:
 
He might be ok, honest. When I had to follow Ziggy's inside to get some gunk off it - unbelievable, this, isn't it? - he didn't seem to mind much at all.

I believe some people stick a hose up there and give it a good old flush :hot::skip::bounce::tongue::frown::unsure:
 
Dreamster said:
I too wondered if he might have a bean. Is he able to wee okay or is he straining to go?
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Hey Lou,happy new year and hope all ok with you and the black beasties up there in your micro climate:wink:

I too was going to say bean,wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if he had one as I could never get near his sheath to clean it (and TBH as he never seemed to have any problems in that area I wasn't overly keen to persue it,think he might have had my head off lol),and I suspect his previous owners to me never attempted it either,so it's quite likely he has built up a fair sized deposit of yuck up there by now!!

I did Marbs couple months ago and even he had a couple of small beans,they came out very easily,I didn't even have to get in there so to speak,just gave the end of the you know what a little squeeze and out they popped!!
He was sedated lightly at the time,as although he'a a poppet for sheath cleaning (he has to be done often in summer as suffers a lot with swollen sheath due to flies),he's very shy about letting it all hang out for any more than a few seconds,especially when I'm standing nearby with my rubber gloves on lol,so sedation is necessary simply to get him to 'drop'.
Not sure if the sedation made a difference to how easy they popped out,but I don't see that it would have?? Has to be worth a try for the sake of a bit of squeezing:wink::unsure:

Give the Jack lad a huggle form me (well maybe not a huggle as he a grumpy git lol,but a hello at least),and snuggles to the lovely Vel and Hugo:smile:
 
Jane&Ziggy said:
I believe some people stick a hose up there and give it a good old flush :hot::skip::bounce::tongue::frown::unsure:
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I do this and I think the spotty one quite likes it after the shock of the cold has worn off lol.Only trouble is as I bring him home on the front garden to bath him not sure what the neighbours make of it:unsure::tongue:

Is a good way of making sure have rinsed any cleaning products off properly,and is certainly all lovely and sqeaky clean after a power hosing:wink:
 
Tobes gets a swollen sheath A LOT in the summer because of the midges biting it (appaloosa and very pink). It did used to be a lot more swollen all year around than it is now. Now whether it is coincidental or not, I have changed his feed to just Blue bag Simple systems grass nuts, previously he was on Fast Fibre, an alfalfa based feed etc. But we have also moved yards at about the same time, although I do seem to remember thinking his sheath was less swollen after changing feeds before we moved.

This summer will be the telling time I guess. I just use vaseline now to deter the midges
 
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