VET VIBES
skin around the sarcoid. A good first choice for sarcoids of this type, I try to seal the edges with Superglue after suturing to protect the wound and wall off flies. Laser excision with a CO2 laser is better than a scalpel, but the equipment is very expensive and very few vets have a laser. I would love to own one. • Cryosurgery or freezing: A commonly used form of treatment but with poor success rates. • Cytotoxic compounds such as Xterra and Cansema: These compounds produce extensive tissue necrosis (death of the cells) and scarring. They’re a cheap and easy option, but messy. They’re sometimes successful, but because of the danger of the horse chewing the area and ingesting the compound, care should be taken in their use. • Radiation: Offering the best overall results, this treatment is difficult to access. Targeted radiation requires very expensive equipment that is not, to my knowledge, available for horses in Australia. It is an option for dogs, who are anaesthetised and securely placed so they can
With the sarcoid removed, Doug sutures the wound (All images courtesy of Sarah Gibson).
be treated without the risk of them moving, and for humans who, of course, can be told not to move. Radioactive gold implants work well and produce radiation continually over a period of time. I don’t know of any vet who’s licenced to access them, but some doctors use them to treat humans. Professor Dick Dickson of Sydney University was my go-to person before he died, and 30 years ago we had a lot of success. However, there is danger to the operator who must be a licenced radiology specialist, and also to the owner who must not get within a meter of the treated region for four to six weeks. • Cisplatin: Biodegradable beads
oil have given some very good
a process I’ve experimented with,
results, but treatment requires
and ongoing results are available in
repeated injection into the
the Facebook group https://www.
lesion. Cisplatin, a chemotherapy
facebook.com/groups/sarcoids.
medication used to treat a number of cancers, is expensive as well as being a significant hazard and dangerous to humans. • Turmeric: This treatment involves feeding turmeric powder as well as applying a mix of curcumin and tetrahydrocurcumin (the active ingredients in turmeric) dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) to the affected area - or a more crude option is just to use
containing cisplatin and a stable
turmeric powder. This approach
emulsion of cisplatin in sesame
has had reasonable success. It’s
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Feeding turmeric powder in a quantity of one teaspoon up to a half cup along with a small amount of linseed meal is best. Start small and consider adding pepper, which slows the otherwise rapid excretion of the beneficial curcuminoids. • Acyclovir: A weak effect but there have been some good results along with feeding turmeric. Acyclovir in a gel of a five per cent or higher concentration needs daily application over many months. • Autologous Vaccines: These have
