Strange growth inside my gelding's ear?

Tonight when we went to feed our horses, we noticed a strange lump inside one of our 3 year old gelding's ears. It was not down in the ear canal, but attached to the skin of the inside of his ear. About the size of a ping pong ball, a little flatter. Whitish-pink and rough in appearance. Felt soft, but not mushy, could not pick any of it off. He let me touch it, so evidently it isn't too painful. Did not have hair on it. It actually looked like a broken off piece of corn cob stuck inside the ear! But of course when I felt it, it wasn't.

We will have the vet out first thing in the morning, of course, but wondered if anyone can put our minds at ease, as to what it could be? We don't know if it is a very large type of wart, or a reaction from an insect bite, or some type of skin condition? Very strange and mysterious. The other ear had a few considerably smaller lumps inside of it. I don't know if they are the same thing, or if it's just bug bites.

Any ideas? Thanks

Strange growth inside my gelding's ear?

This is quoted from Veterinary Corner:

Aural plaques are clinically recognized as different from warts. They are benign, raised, white to pink lesions that occur bilaterally on the inner surface of the ear. They respond poorly to treatment and do not spontaneously regress. They were thought to be caused by biting flies and are sometimes incorrectly described as "ear fungus". Infrequently, these plaques appear on the anus, penis and vulva. Aural plaques can be found on any horse older than one year of age. These plaques can become severely irritated by biting flies and horses become very defensive about having their ears touched.

Treatment with a soothing ointment, like Mentholatum, to the inner surface of the ear can be helpful. I have also tried the various corticosteroid/antibiotic ointments like Panalog or Otomax with a success. These ointments will relieve the inflammation but the plaques remain. I am not aware of a consistent treatment reported for aural plaques.

by Frosty Franklin, DVM

Here is more ( with photos) from Merck Veterinary Manual.:

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index....

Strange growth inside my gelding's ear?

sounds like a wart to me. They are usually not that big but I have seen them fairly large. The only other possibility is fungal but that would be EXTREMELY UNUSUAL in the ear. If it was elsewhere such as the foot or muzzle then that would be a better possibility.

Strange growth inside my gelding's ear?

I have no clue, isn't like anything I have seen.

Just wanted to wish good wishes for you and your horse with the vet tomorrow and hopefully its a good diagnosis.

*hugs*

Awww thanks hun, can you let us know what the vet does say it is, i'm interested in the diagnosis. Never hurts to learn something..........

Strange growth inside my gelding's ear?

My 8 year old gelding has this same thing. It's some form of wart accordign to my vet. He said we could either A) leave them alone or B) freeze them off or C) if I wanted to be sure it was just a wart, biposy it and see what the results said. It doesn't seem to bother Biscuit and as long as I put War Paint on it in summer or keep a fly mask with ears on it on him, he suffers nothing from it being left. I can mash them and clean them and clip his ears out around it and he just stands there like "huh what there's something in my ear??? oh ok whatever!" lol What breed is he by the way? My gelding is an appy and I have hear before ap's have a tendancy to get warts more easily , though I dont know for a fact that's true.... hope this helps

man your appy seems to have tiny black rain cloud over his poor lil head. lol my arab qh mare does too! hope all turns out well with him and let us know what your vet says. I almost bet he will tell you it's the same thing my goofball has. lol Gotta love them appies and their unusal skins lol

Strange growth inside my gelding's ear?

It is probaly a wart. They can grow very large and are common inside of the ears. I have seen them the size of a golf ball.

Strange growth inside my gelding's ear?

Sounds like a wart. I have a gelding that had them too.. I had them removed in the winter time so that the flys won't bother it. Just like humans its a virus that goes around there body. Nothing to harm him. I had them removed twice since then they have not returned. It has to be about 10 yrs or so.

Strange growth inside my gelding's ear?

I have an appaloosa mare and she gets those at least once a year. To treat them get some camphopenique, it should be in the cold sore section of the pharmacy or grocery store that you go to. It is really cheap and is easier to deal with than Freezing or getting the wart removed. Bascially it dries up the lump and then it will start to flake once it gets dried out enough. After it flakes enough you want to peel some of the skin off so that it will bleed. After this it should turn some black color but just pick at it once a week at first and then not as often and keep it clean. And within a few months your horses immune system will have the anti-bodies and the lump should disappear. It will take a while though. But so far this is the fastest way I have found to treat these.