sarcoids

[Lucy Chaplin Trumbull <elsie@calweb.com>]

Mouse has a smallish, flat sarcoid on the side of her neck.
I talked to our vet about it a few months back, and told
him I thought it was getting bigger. 

Because I wasn't 100% sure that it was, we agreed to measure
it now, then again in the Spring, and if it had got any bigger,
to maybe remove it.

He said the main problem with them, is that if you cut them
out, you have to cut a much larger area than what you see on
the surface - to make sure you get it all out. Otherwise, 
like the other poster, it'll just come back, and bigger.

He also said that you can treat them by freezing them off
(not sure of the exact terminology), and said that Mouse's
one might respond to that, because it is less than an inch
across at the moment.

His main comment was that they are usually a cosmetic 
problem (the *flat* sarcoids, this is - they kind of look 
like a big mole) and don't cause a problem unless they are
aggravated by tack, etc. 

Trouble is, if you don't do anything, it could just get 
bigger and bigger - until you have a black leathery horse
that is most unattractive - and then you'll wish you treated 
it when it was small. Sigh. On the other hand, maybe 
it'll just stay small and never get any bigger, you can't 
tell.

Seeing as Mouse's is quite small, and she's grey (so freezing
it so the hair turns white won't be terribly visible),
I may have her's treated in the Spring, when her coat
sheds out and we can see if the sarcoid looks any different.

-- 
**************************************************************
Lucy Chaplin Trumbull - elsie@calweb.com
Repotted english person in Sacramento, CA 
http://www.calweb.com/~elsie

with Mouse and Provo
**************************************************************