# Hair Loss?



## Rachel1786 (Nov 14, 2010)

I noticed my donkey has some bald spots the other day, at first i thought it was from the blanket rubbing, but then today when i was out there i noticed there was 3 other bald spots, and the original spots are a little crusty, last year we did a cushings test on him because he wouldn't shed out, now this year it's all falling out! I'm still thinking he may have cushings because he was on the high end of normal, but symptoms fit...anyway, i was going to upload pics to compare, but my cell phone is having some issues sending the pics to my e-mail, so maybe tomorrow lol


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## armydogs (Apr 14, 2010)

Thanks rachel. I would appreciate it when you get a chance. It would give me some idea of where to start checking.


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## Rachel1786 (Nov 14, 2010)

ok, they finally sent, they are a little hard to see because of the angle of the sun and them being from my crap cell phone, this is the first one i noticed, he has one on each shoulder almost identical, which is why i thought blanket rub









you can also kind see he has one on his back,
and this is the new thing i noticed today, when i pull the hair it doesn't come out, but it looks like it would! 









This donkey has been nothing but one big health problem all year, started out with a tooth abscess with nasal drainage, which never completely went away, then he wouldn't shed his winter coat so we shaved him(boy was that fun!) and now it's falling out in clumps!


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## armydogs (Apr 14, 2010)

Hmmm, they do look a lot alike. Correct me if I am wrong, isn't Cushings Disease typically an old horses disease? I know it can affect young horses, and Queen is only 7.


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## Cherie (Dec 16, 2010)

Looks like lice to me.

They are very prevalent this time of year when a horse's Vitamin A stores have run out.

You can dust the horse with Sevin Dust by putting some in an old sock and patting the horse all over with it. Be particularly thorough on the horse's mane and tail and topline.

If you feed a supplement with a lot of vitamin A in it and/or feed a loose mineral with added Vitamin A, you will never have a horse get rain rot or lice in the late winter or early spring. The Vitamin A deficiency gives a horse unhealthy skin and a compromised immune system, so it is very important to always keep Vitamin A levels up when there is not green grass or fresh hay.


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## Sarahandlola (Dec 16, 2010)

The same thing is happening to a horse here and he has lice so I guess that too.


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## Rachel1786 (Nov 14, 2010)

armydogs said:


> Hmmm, they do look a lot alike. Correct me if I am wrong, isn't Cushings Disease typically an old horses disease? I know it can affect young horses, and Queen is only 7.


Yes, it is more common on older horses, my donkey is about 20, so it's much more likely in him then in your mare. she doesn't appear to have any of the other symptoms associated with cushings such as a cresty neck and a pot belly. Although i don't know a whole lot about cushings in equines, mostly dogs. I don't think lice is the case with my donkey as looked throughly through his mane and fur for any signs and did not see any. at first i tought maybe rain rot since my mare has it, but it's not looking anything like what she has lol, I have been giving them all 5cc(donkey 3cc) of vitamin A in their food once a week for about 3 weeks so far and her rain rot is almost gone, but nothing has changed with his bald spots. 

Armydogs, Please let me know what your vet says, I'm going to probably run another cushings test on the donkey and see if it's any different then last year, my moms friend is a vet tech(where i used to worK) so i can pull the blood and send it out myself and save a farm call lol, he's actually my moms donkey anyway so it's her call if what she wants to do about his condition


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## armydogs (Apr 14, 2010)

Rachel, I sure will let you know what the vet says. I hope its not lice. I would hate for her to have it, and give it to her horses, and my other two. I hope its something as simple as she is lacking some minerals or something like that.


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## Cherie (Dec 16, 2010)

Lice like rain rot are not that contagious. You cannot 'give' them to healthy horses with healthy skin and adequate Vitamin A stores. They just won't get them. You can see a herd of 30 or 40 horses and 2 or 3 will have hair coats like the one in the photos and will be covered with lice. If you just leave them alone, they will all get rid of them when the green grass arrives, they shed and they get enough Vitamin A.


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## justjump (Jan 18, 2011)

Weird because my horse got weird spots like that, just not as big. Over the winter, he got really fuzzy and I would curry him like crazy to get the hair off since we were showing. He only got spots like that on the top of his butt. If he ever gets fungus, that's where it is (only in the summer when he's sweating like a pig and it dries on his skin). Well, we body clipped him and it went away. I always make sure I hose him off super good in that area to make sure he never gets fungus up there again.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## horsecrazy84 (Mar 20, 2011)

I had a horse shed like that one season. She was nearly bald, but it was just an odd way to shed her winter coat. Her hair came out in big clumps and then it grew back in real short and sleek. If it isn't itchy it probably isn't lice. I think Chanti even shed odd when she was younger.


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## armydogs (Apr 14, 2010)

Strangely enough, she is just shedding out. Thats what the vet said, and Deanna told me that her hair is coming in nicely. It just really freaked us out, because neither one of us have ever seen a horse shed out like that. So glad it wasnt something worse.


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## horsecrazy84 (Mar 20, 2011)

I figured that's what it was. There's really no exact reason why they do it, it's just something that happens once in a while. That one time my mare shed like that was the only time, same with Chanti.
I'm glad you are reassured though.:wink:


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## Bluewinter (Mar 31, 2011)

My mare Cactus is shedding out like this as well.


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