Post by Tamara on Dec 8, 2014 23:48:11 GMT -5
Hi everyone
Posting in here as although he is not dying or seriously injured, I want to get some opinions ASAP in case this is serious and I am going out tomorrow, if I need to pick anything up.
Here's the rundown on the steer in question:
'MacLeod', 2 year old highland steer.
I've owned him for over a year.
He's underweight from the drought. We've had some storms for the last week so there's finally some grass coming up. He is fed grassy hay.
He is in with a cow and a heifer and they are both fine, as well as alpacas and donkeys.
He is shedding for summer.
I wormed him 6+ months ago.
The issue:
Just this morning I found what appears to be some kind of skin condition, disease, reaction, ?. His skin has sores/rashes in various places all over his body; particularly focused on the fold of his thighs, underbelly, legs, and neck. The skin is mostly scabby and dry with some red open spots. The hair appears to be falling out in the worst spots. It doesn't appear to be too painful although it's hard to tell.
(second and third photos are of his inner thigh area)
I last had a close look at him probably 1 and 1/2 weeks ago and he was fine; I brushed him and cut some knots off. He is shedding his fur as it is now summer, and his hair becomes very knotted as it falls out, and mats up on his stomach and armpits. Those are the dreadlocks visible in the photos. After I took these photos I brushed and cut off most of the tangles.
His attitude is normal; he is eating normally, perky. He defecated while I was grooming him and it was normal.
His penis appears like it could be slightly swollen, although that might just be because I'm used to seeing it covered with fur and it is now much more visible.
Armpit.
Hock.
Back leg.
Wither.
Neck.
There have been a lot of flies around lately, and tons of ants. Could these be highly irritated bites? He doesn't usually have many flies around him because his fur is so thick, so the flies are usually on Tallulah and Ginger instead. The girls don't have these sores; Tallulah does have raised bumps all over her neck and withers from fly bites but they are not at all like this.
It has been very humid lately inbetween the storms. Could it be some kind of chaffing? It does tend to be in areas where he would sweat or rub.
We also have a couple of lantana bushes in his paddock and I have read these can cause photosensitisation if eaten.
I couldn't see any visible lice or other bugs.
Any ideas? Am I being a worrywort?
I am picking up more flyspray tomorrow since my bottle ran out. I have also had great luck using bepanthin on my cow's fly bites - should I put that on his sores?
Sorry for the multitude of photos but I wanted to make the sores as easily identifiable as possible.
Thanks,
Tamara
Posting in here as although he is not dying or seriously injured, I want to get some opinions ASAP in case this is serious and I am going out tomorrow, if I need to pick anything up.
Here's the rundown on the steer in question:
'MacLeod', 2 year old highland steer.
I've owned him for over a year.
He's underweight from the drought. We've had some storms for the last week so there's finally some grass coming up. He is fed grassy hay.
He is in with a cow and a heifer and they are both fine, as well as alpacas and donkeys.
He is shedding for summer.
I wormed him 6+ months ago.
The issue:
Just this morning I found what appears to be some kind of skin condition, disease, reaction, ?. His skin has sores/rashes in various places all over his body; particularly focused on the fold of his thighs, underbelly, legs, and neck. The skin is mostly scabby and dry with some red open spots. The hair appears to be falling out in the worst spots. It doesn't appear to be too painful although it's hard to tell.
(second and third photos are of his inner thigh area)
I last had a close look at him probably 1 and 1/2 weeks ago and he was fine; I brushed him and cut some knots off. He is shedding his fur as it is now summer, and his hair becomes very knotted as it falls out, and mats up on his stomach and armpits. Those are the dreadlocks visible in the photos. After I took these photos I brushed and cut off most of the tangles.
His attitude is normal; he is eating normally, perky. He defecated while I was grooming him and it was normal.
His penis appears like it could be slightly swollen, although that might just be because I'm used to seeing it covered with fur and it is now much more visible.
Armpit.
Hock.
Back leg.
Wither.
Neck.
There have been a lot of flies around lately, and tons of ants. Could these be highly irritated bites? He doesn't usually have many flies around him because his fur is so thick, so the flies are usually on Tallulah and Ginger instead. The girls don't have these sores; Tallulah does have raised bumps all over her neck and withers from fly bites but they are not at all like this.
It has been very humid lately inbetween the storms. Could it be some kind of chaffing? It does tend to be in areas where he would sweat or rub.
We also have a couple of lantana bushes in his paddock and I have read these can cause photosensitisation if eaten.
I couldn't see any visible lice or other bugs.
Any ideas? Am I being a worrywort?
I am picking up more flyspray tomorrow since my bottle ran out. I have also had great luck using bepanthin on my cow's fly bites - should I put that on his sores?
Sorry for the multitude of photos but I wanted to make the sores as easily identifiable as possible.
Thanks,
Tamara