Question:
I have a beautiful 13 year old gray Arabian mare. She has had small
melanomas since she was 13 months old. They have remained small and
have not grown. I had 2 removed just for cosmetic reasons. The first
one she had on her ear and the second one was on the neck near the ear.
I thought she was so young to have these. Since then, she has grown 2 more.
One on her back and one is on her leg right under her knee. I am
wondering how this can affect her lifespan since she's had them so
long. She is in good health. A long time ago a vet told me not to
worry about them and not to even have them removed. He said to worry
when they are internal. How does one know when a horse has internal
melanoma? I guess that would be the deadly type that kills. Any
information on this subject is greatly appreciated. I can't seem to
find much literature on the subject. Anyone else ever deal with this
and what did you do? Thanks!!
Answer:
My Raffles bred gelding has had bumps since he was about the age of your
horse. They haven't bothered him and he is now 21. Melanoma is what
took his mother at the age of 22 carrying her 14th foal. Her health was
great right up until she had colic-and never had it before. The vet felt
at that point she must have some internal and we doubted her ability to
go on-or carry the foal. We put her down. Now I am caring for her son
at about the same age-I watch his growths carefully and tell my vet of
new little bumps that have appeared (about 1 a year on his tail bone or
between his hind legs-he has two little ones on his neck)-the vet isn't
very concerned as otherwise the horse is in great shape-and thoroughly
enjoys his occasional trail rides-he would like to be ridden more if I or
a friend had time.
The magazine Equs I believe had a wonderful series on Melanoma when I was
much younger-they talked about freezing them-internal even-and
everything. It didn't seem to help much. What I took away from the
series was the internal ones are most dangerous-only remove the external
ones if necessary (we had one removed from the corner of my horses dam's
eye as we thought if it grew it could hinder her vision). Keep a good
eye on the horse as it gets older to determine when it may be going
internal. Maybe your vet could recommend some articles or if you have a
good large animal clinic close by they could provide some information.
When my horse colics or shows other unusual behaviour for him and a
thorough exam shows it is spreading internally I will have to face the
decision to put him down. But at 21 he is going strong and I would
expect that decision is several years off-but as with all horses you just
don't know. So-good luck-it doesn't sound too serious at this point and
she is still young. :)
