Losing Hair In Weird Spots - Supplement?

[AbbySmith]

So one of my girls, Lilly, had these two random bald spots a couple weeks ago at the base of her neck right above her withers kind of. They just appeared there, and I have been treating it with MTG for about a week now, and it has been doing very well! The skin is hydrated, and the hair is growing back! Big yay there!
But this morning as I was feeding, I noticed that she now has two more bald spots on her shoulders! I just put MTG on those this afternoon, and I'm gonna keep doing it for a week and see if there is a difference.
Does anyone know why this might be happening? They're at such weird spots that she couldn't have bit it, possible rubbed it on a tree branch but that would have been rather difficult. Is there a supplement I can feed to help encourage hair growth? Her hair as is is pretty patchy, and not the best condition. She isn't stressed or anything, nothing has changed in quite a few weels, and Ruby is completely normal! Any ideas? I'm getting fecals done on Wednesday for them, so I will ask the vet then if I remember, and they go in on June 4th for an ultrasound, so she can see it then, but until then, any suggestions?
Anything and everything is helpful! Thank you!!

 

[JFNM miniatures]

Can you post a picture ? I know you did in another thread, but if those are new bald spots, it might help to see.

 

[AbbySmith]

Yes definitely, I totally meant to and then I forgot
I don't have pics of the new spots, and they look a little different, but hopefully I can get pics today and I will post them then.
Here are the spots that were on her neck that have started to heal

 

[JFNM miniatures]

I don't know why, but I really have this impression it looks like rain rot, especially when I look at the skin closely. Sorry to say that again, but this is really what I think when I see those pictures.

What does the hair in general look like ? Is it bright or dull ?

And the new spots... are they close to that area ? Are they bigger or smaller ?

Please be careful about those patches, make sure your vet sees them and gives you her opinion. I really don't think it could be just rubbing, because there seems to be no hair left on that skin. If it's not rain rot, then I don't know what it could be, but really looks like some fungus or bacteria.

If it spreads too much, the vet will have to prescribe antibiotics. The more it spreads, the harder to get rid of it.

 

[Taz]

I'd say dust them with lice(or flea) powder, the same as you would use for cattle etc. but there is still the question of whether they are in foal. I don't know if that would be bad in that case. That's my first try with my donkeys if they start rubbing and so far it's worked. Maybe call your vet to ask if it would be safe?

 

[Cayuse]

My best guess is a fungal infection or maybe an allergic reaction causing itching/rubbing. With fungal hot spots I've had luck with using a very diluted rinse of betadine(just enough betadine to make the h20 light tea colored) after a head and shoulders bath for hot spots like that, but if she's maybe in foal I'd check with the vet.
And I know I sound like a broken record, but vitamin E is a really good supplement for skin issues in horses, but since they are not horses I'd check with vet.
ETA: Make sure you don't share brushes so it doesn't spread to the other one.

 

[Cayuse]

Hey! Now I'm getting pop up ads for lice treatments! And here come one for Vit E! Boy Big Brother's busy today!

 

[AbbySmith]

Okay, thank you guys! I just took a video of Lilly's spots, and I'm gonna show it to the vet tomorrow and see what she thinks!
I am confused as to what it is also because I haven't been keeping the brushes seperate. I don't sanitize them in between, they just use all the same stuff. I know this is bad, and I shouldn't be doing it like this. But I have done it this way since I got them, and Ruby doesn't have any of these bald spots, they sleep together, eat together, hang out together. Get brushed with the same brushes, I don't wash my hands between petting them. I have no idea why Ruby hasn't caught whatever this is!!
I will speak to the vet about what she thinks we should do. Thank you for your help!
Here are a couple pics from today

 

[Cayuse]

Keep us posted as to what the vet thinks!

 

[AbbySmith]

I definitely will!

 

[AbbySmith]

Well, I just dropped off the fecals at the vet and I asked the assistant if I could set up like a phone appointment with the vet to talk about the bald spots or something. So she got me to briefly describe them, and she said to send pictures of it to the vet and she can have a look at them whenever she has time. So hopefully she can figure out what it is! They also thought that they might be able to see something when they ran the fecal tests but weren't sure. So they said that for sure they will take a look at it when I bring them in for the ultrasounds, but that's not till June 4th, and dad can't bring them in any earlier. So ugh, the assistant thought that maybe it was ringworm! I really hope it's not! They should be able to tell that from the fecal though. So we'll see! They were gonna run the fecals today, so I should get the results this evening or tomorrow and the vet's gonna call me to talk bout the treatment and stuff. So I can talk to her then.
Hopefully it's not ringworm cause they're living with the cows right now and there isn't really another place to put them, but dad isn't gonna want the cows getting ringworm either! Ugh! Hopefully it's just like an allergy or something!

 

[Ryan Johnson]

I was going to suggest Ringworm ( hope its not)

 

[AbbySmith]

And now her bald spots are peeling....hopefully the vet knows how to fix this!

 

[Taz]

The peeling sounds normal to me if she's been rubbing, both of mine have done that.

 

[GraceandPoppy]

I'm not sure if that would be rain rot or a bacteria. But, I do know that my old mini had lice in the past and I found huge rubbed off patches with no hair on them all over her chest and shoulder. My vet told us to bath her in dawn and then spray her with a special chemical lice spray. But you definitely want to consult your vet first!

 

[Ryan Johnson]

What did your vet think ?

 

[AbbySmith]

As I said earlier, the assistant thought that it might be ringworm, but we don't have any real proof of that. They would need a skin scraping or something, but I can't get them in to the vet until June 4th. And I have already booked that for their ultrasounds, so they are going to take a look at her when I bring her in. So I don't really know yet. I will definitely let you guys know what she thinks when I bring them in!