August: Zoey – Melanoma Surgery

Melanomas are a benign tumor of melanocytes (skin pigment cells) that commonly occur in grey horses. Most of the time these tumors do not cause the horse any issue and are just a cosmetic concern unless they interfere with tack placement or grow to a very large size. In some these cases where the tumors can become problematic due to their location and/or their size, removal of the tumor is necessary and curative. In Zoey’s case, she had a moderately sized melanoma located under the base of her tail, just above her anus. Her melanoma had grown to a point that it began to ulcerate and had the risk of becoming infected and/or painful for Zoey, so the decision was made to remove the tumor before it grew any further and became more difficult to deal with. Zoey’s surgery was done under standing sedation (like that we use to float teeth) and local anesthesia around the surgery site. Zoey was a great patient! The tumor was removed without complication and she is recovering well.