Concern

Although Kaswyn's hives were better on Saturday, today they are back with a purpose. They are pretty severe on his neck, and have now spread to most of his body. I gave him more dexamethasone so hopefully they will be better tomorrow. I plan on calling the vet at Ohio State who saw Kaswyn when we had him tested all those years ago so I can get some direction.

I'm hoping the problem is just that I've been lax about giving the allergy shots. It had been so long since he had an outbreak that I started giving him shots every other week instead of once a week, then once a month. I figured that he had finally reached a significant titer of antibodies in his system and that he was in the clear. Apparently I was mistaken.

I know that Kaswyn is very allergic to bug bites, and if he gets stung by something he'll react. But it's the middle of winter and I know he hasn't been pestered by flies or other biting insects. I also know that he's allergic to many weeds and some trees, and it might seem odd that he'd be having a reaction now with nothing in bloom. However, if he's eating hay now that was exposed in the summer to pollen from anything he's allergic to then he'll react to that pollen regardless of the time of year. So I'm kind of suspecting the hay.

I also know that he's allergic to mold, but I don't think that's the issue right now. If it were then I'd expect his hives to improve when he's out of the barn, which was the case at a different barn. I could clearly see the hives recede after he'd been outside for an hour or so. Susan has been getting him outside all day and it doesn't seem to have helped ease the hives at all.

I called another owner who just went through this with her horse last year, and she said that the stress of moving him plus eating the new hay might have stressed his system enough that now he's reacting to things much more than he would otherwise. She said "Think of it this way - you want your horse to be standing on the ground. Everything that stresses his system takes him up a rung on a ladder. Moving him took him up a rung, as did having different hay, and probably not getting the regular allergy shots. When he gets too high on the ladder then he's going to have a big reaction. You just have to figure out what is the best way to take him back down the ladder and get him grounded."

What I need to know is what to do now. I've been down this road before and doses of dex are not going to solve this problem. He really needs to get back on the allergy shot protocol, but I'm afraid to send his system into overdrive by giving him another shot. My options as I see them are start giving the shots again as they are and hope he pulls through (with or without dex), don't give shots but give the dex possibly in decreasing dosages so his body can catch up with the reaction, or take him off everything for three weeks so he can get re-tested.

I hope the Ohio State vet calls me back tomorrow so I can do something for my poor bumpy boy. He still doesn't seem uncomfortable or stressed, but the other owner told me that her horse began have a mast cell reaction where his body began overreacting to everything, even things that were not on his allergen list. He was in a bad way for a few days or so and things got a little dicey. She said "Don't wait and see what happens. Things can go downhill very quickly so you really don't want to mess around with this."

Scary.