Re:ulcer/cyst looking thing on Pony

Dear Barbara:

I’m sorry to hear about the problem that your seahorse developed while you were away. Can you describe the ulcer or cyst and its location on your seahorse in a little more detail?

I would consider an ulcer to be an open sore or wound that exposes the underlying tissue (i.e., an ulceration), whereas a cyst would be an upraised growth like a pimple or a wart, so if you could clarify the nature of the growth or injury a little better, it would be very helpful in diagnosing this issue.

If the eraser-sized mark on your pony is more like a blister that might develop after your burned your finger, then it could be a subcutaneous emphysema (external gas bubble syndrome). Subcutaneous emphysema look like raised blisters but are actually bubbles of gas that build up just beneath the skin and they often have a translucent or even semi-transparent appearance. Subcutaneous emphysema form most often on the tails or heads of seahorses, but they can appear on any part of the body. These blisterlike bubbles are soft and yielding because they are filled with compressible gas.

So if the mark or growth on your seahorse seahorse is more like a blister or a bubble beneath the skin, then you should treat your seahorse for subcutaneous emphysema, which responds very well to Diamox (the tablet form of acetazolamide) administered orally or in a series of baths.

But if the growth on the snout of your seahorse is more like a pimple that a blister — that is, if it’s more solid rather than appearing like it upraised blister that’s filled with fluid or gas — then it is most likely a bacterial lesion and you will want to treat it with a good broad-spectrum antibiotic in your hospital tank.

If the suspicious cyst or lump was an external parasite of some sort, then the formalin baths should have destroy the parasite or at least caused to drop off its host, so I think it’s unlikely that the problem is due to an ectoparasite.

A picture of the affected area would also be very helpful in making an accurate diagnosis of this problem, Barbara. Here is a copy of a post from one of our members that explains how to display photos on this forum if you can get a digital photograph showing the cyst or ulcer:

<Open quote>
1st you have to host the photographs(s) you would like to post somewhere like photobucket or in my case AOLmyspace but you must make it small as the board will only take a small photo.

You click on the orange Img tag in the reply window and add your address of the hosted PIC etc.. Wherever.com newseahorse.jpg

Make sure to hit the close all tags tab after you are finished and then preveiew your post to see if it worked that way you can keep trying till you get it right without posting.

An image resize tool is very helpful.

For a larger image you could add a link with URL tab to the hosted photo. In some cases it will not work for all people but will for others it will (I never understood that) prob an AOL issue in my case!

HTH,

John
<close quote>

Or you can always send the photographs to my personal e-mail address ([email protected]) if you have any trouble posting them on this forum.

Please get back to me as soon as possible with a photo or a better description of the suspicious mark or cyst your seahorse has developed, and I will be happy to give you my best advice for treating the problem, Barbara.

Respectfully,
Pete Giwojna