Case history
The gelding arrived at the Equine clinic UVLF for the first time in the summer of 2021, and presented with a keloid on the medial aspect of the fetlock on the left forelimb requiring surgical removal. The lesion was made worse due to repetitive trauma sustained when hitting the keloid scar with the contralateral limb. Intensive pruritus was localised only in this area and the compulsion to scratch the area did not subside even after surgical removal. Consequently the horse had to wear a firm rubber bandage to protect the limb to prevent self-mutilation, which was considered psychogenic and remained unchanged for the rest of the patient’s life. Almost two years later, at 7 years of age, the horse once again developed pruritus and alopecia lesions in the head area (Fig 1 and 2). He was stabled with 30 other horses which did not suffer from a similar problem. Two weeks before the onset of the first clinical signs, the owner had begun adding nutritional supplements to the feed such as vit. C, biotine, and methylsulfonylmethane (MSM). After discovering the lesions, the owner applied a topical spray with allantoin and later treated the alopetic areas with betadine solution.Within one week of the first appearance of the alopetic lesions, the pruritus became more aggressive and generalised, and with alopecic areas all over the body, including over the the mane and tail (Fig 3; 4; 5; 6; 7). Soon after and upon deterioration of the condition and its clinical appaerance the horse was taken to the referral Equine clinic at UVLF.