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Chronic Lameness And Itchy Skin

by kphillips - November 10, 2014 View Case Report

I have been seeing a 17 yr old Andalusion gelding of my friends for over a year. He has a very gentle calm manner about him, but he has been plagued by Bilateral forelimb lameness for some time. It is aggravated by grass, and results in a stilted gait in front, sometimes worse on one side rather than other. Another vet in the practice has xrayed the feet, tried remedial farriery and we had a high index of suspicion of low grade cushings or metabolic syndrome- when tested last year he was negative for both. He has recently lost a bit of condition, and developed rain scald on his rump and some hair loss with some scaling on part of his face. while on another property. This has been treated with chlohexidine baths. He is still really itchy and we had to resort to pred to calm it down. His pulse was hard to find for such a big horse, and not particularly strong. Any ideas would be gratefully recieved for someone only partway through learning about TCM herbs!

Thanks
Kelly

by naturevet

November 18, 2014

Hi Kelly,

The alopecia, weak pulse, and associated itch suggest Blood deficiency

The shifting forelimb lameness suggests a neck chiropractic issue. Is there anyone around who can assess that for you? Even a human chiropractor might be game if you could be there to guide them around the anatomy.

When treating both those things together, if the pulse had been more superficial and toned, I would have suggested Limber Up (Nat Path) or some form of Du Huo Ji Sheng Tang (on which it's based). With no toned pulse, I'd be tempted to start with Bu Gan Tang (NPHC, Kan)

If using granules, I'd probably give 3 or 4 tsp of either one twice daily, assuming the horse is about 1,000 lbs

Let us know how it goes!

Steve

Du Huo Ji Sheng Tang

by kphillips

April 20, 2015

Owner requested revisit. horse been stable as far as skin concerned but last month has recurred. The horse is really itchy , particularly on the ventrum, with very few lesions. the only lesion noted was on the muzzle- small area of crusting/ scab. No alopecia as previously noted. Pulse was weak, not toned , hard to find, slightly rapid, small amplitude. Lameness was not evaluated as not been ridden over the last few months. The coat looks crap again, curled up at the edges . Ears felt warm, feet neither warm nor cold. Any ideas??

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