at the end of my tether

kerrieberry2

kerrieberry2

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Some of you might recall my previous posts about my itchy mare!

She basically came out in hives on her back end and neck, and was really itchy! she had 2 steroid injections, 100 steroid tables a day for a week. I tried her on some supplements, the only one she'd eat is NAF D-Tox.

At the same time she was blood tested and diagnosed with cushings, and after about 15-20 days the hives disappeared and she seemed less itchy! however this weekend she was itching herself and I noticed she'd mad herself bleed where she was itching so much!

I decided I would clip her, from a blanket to a full clip so I could see what was going on underneath. She had patches couple of patches of scabs where she's been biting herself to itch! then cut herself again when I finished clipping her!

I don't know what to do now? I've put some aleo vera spray on her to try and help it! but whatever can I do! the only suggestion the vet has is to do a skin biopsy, but now the hives have gone it doesn't seem like it would show anything!

my bill is currently at £550 and she's still not fixed and I just want her to get better!

Oh and she's 28 so not covered by her insurance! so its out of my own pocket!!
 
If she were mine, I'd smother her in Benzyl Benzoate. (after a patch test first). Slightly old school perhaps, but always worked well to all previous ponies with the itches I've had. Meant to be soothing and cooling and taste foul, so may help that she won't want to bite at herself. (don't get it anywhere near the eyes, yours and hers). Wasn't it originally medicated 'shampoo' for humans with scabies? - can someone confirm?

Anyway, I wish you all the luck. Hopefully a cold snap in the weather will also help you.
 
I am not saying this will work but it can't hurt to try. When I bought my youngster in August she got very itchy and rubbed two patches on either shoulder raw (no parasites). Anyway, there has been some research done on feeding raw, whole linseed for cases of sweet itch. I don't think my filly had sweet itch but after feeding the linseed (flax), she stopped itching and the hair grew back very quickly. I'll try and find the link for you.
 
Fools Motto said:
If she were mine, I'd smother her in Benzyl Benzoate. (after a patch test first). Slightly old school perhaps, but always worked well to all previous ponies with the itches I've had. Meant to be soothing and cooling and taste foul, so may help that she won't want to bite at herself. (don't get it anywhere near the eyes, yours and hers). Wasn't it originally medicated 'shampoo' for humans with scabies? - can someone confirm?

Anyway, I wish you all the luck. Hopefully a cold snap in the weather will also help you.
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ah okay, I just googled that stuff and its for scabies, ticks and mites, so it might be worth a try!! anything has got to be better than spending another £230 on a skin biopsy, which the vet has already said could come back inconclusive like the other blood tests did!

Hopefully the cold will help, she's a very warm horse and I've kept her in a light weight until I reclipped at the weekend and now she's in a medium, worried that might still be a bit warm but a light weight wont be warm enough now for the hairless lady
 
doriangrey said:
I am not saying this will work but it can't hurt to try. When I bought my youngster in August she got very itchy and rubbed two patches on either shoulder raw (no parasites). Anyway, there has been some research done on feeding raw, whole linseed for cases of sweet itch. I don't think my filly had sweet itch but after feeding the linseed (flax), she stopped itching and the hair grew back very quickly. I'll try and find the link for you.
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okay cool, Ill give anything a try!!!! so ill pop to Robinsons tomorrow and stock up!

Another thing, someone suggested before that Alfalfa might be causing the itching and I though her feed was okay because she on molasses free hi fi but I noticed on an old bag this morning that it is a blend of alfalfa, so going to wean her off that and she can just have fast fibre, she only has the hi fi to slow her down anyway!!
 
Have you tried her on antihistamine's had too look after one like yours a few years ago, 30 human ones a day stopped the cycle then the horse was on 5-10 maintance ones
 
Also agree with the benzol bezonate there is also similar product called ascaboil, both available in the chemist. For where she is bleeding suggest some high grade manuka honey, it's messy but is fab stuff.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
What do you feed her?

My mare has very itchy heels (pastern dermatitis) and I find that Equimins Tea tree Mist helps.
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She has molasses free hi fi and fast fibre, 1 cushings tablet, 25ml of naf easy breathing and 2 scoops of naf d-tox. I've just realised that the hi fi has a blend of alfalfa, so going to take her off that!!

will look at the tea tree mist?
 
Been here with lottie, vet tested and announced liver problens, put her on milk thistle liquid. She's now on half dose every other day and looking fab as liver regenerates so good as new. And its cheap treatment! Don't kbow why liver makes them itch but does in humans too apparently
 
Costypop said:
Have you tried her on antihistamine's had too look after one like yours a few years ago, 30 human ones a day stopped the cycle then the horse was on 5-10 maintance ones
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I used to give them too her when she got fly bites but when the vet came out, they told me that anti H's don't work too well on horses, which is why they gave her the steroid injections instead! surprised me as I assumed it would have been an anti h jab they'd give her!!
 
Spotsrock said:
Been here with lottie, vet tested and announced liver problens, put her on milk thistle liquid. She's now on half dose every other day and looking fab as liver regenerates so good as new. And its cheap treatment! Don't kbow why liver makes them itch but does in humans too apparently
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She had liver issues in the past and they said that her liver enzymes weren't anything to worry about, they were a little bit raised but its likely that they were raised because of her undiagnosed cushings?! we tried milk thistle in the past and it didn't help! but they were being poisoned by their grazing, so I guess the supplement wouldn't be able to fight something that bad!!
 
I not one of those people that think every thing is caused by food intolerances but my old pony mare used to rub herself raw at certain times of the year. It used to be mainly on her face and neck but she could have odd spots rubbed till they bleed all over her body. It usually happened when she was too fat, she had Cushings at the end but it seemed to happen when the grass was growing. I used to put her in the diet patch and only give her old hay and half a mug of low cal until the grass was not so full of sugar.
 
Have you tried giving her 2 tablespoons of salt in her feed per day? It worked for a friend's horse whose vet had tested and tried everything and the horse was on the verge of being pts as it was so miserable. This website is helpful on the subject of salt and a salt lick is not suffice - you need to add 2 tablespoons to the feed and it took 2 weeks for my friend's horse after nearly 2 years of itching to return to completely normal.

http://calmhealthyhorses.com/other/allergy.html
 
Our old pony had full blown exma, I know it's not spelt right, he would rug himself bleeding, sometimes it would get hot smelly and infected.
With him it was mainly on his dock, top of tail, bum cheeks, under main, front of his neck, in between his front legs.
It normally set off around April till June but could come on anytime during winter if he got stressed for any reason.
we used to have steriod injections, anti inflamertories and surolan ( ear drops for dogs) that helped clear it up.
Fucerderm(sp?) is also another one that really cleanered him up in a bad patch.

He also used to have this green gooey dermoline type cream before they stopped making it. That cleared him up fast.


One tip, but lots of summer sheets to put on under the rug, one each day, so you are keeping goo/blood/infection on the rug. The pony had two of every weight and five summer sheets to keep things as clean as possible.

Hope this helps.
 
My two thoughts are 1) maybe theres an allergy there somewhere so I would definitely do as you suggested and take off the alfafa but also there are a lot of pesticides in horse feeds especially things like sugar beet. It goes through a process of being sprayed something like 7 times and then a lot of feeds (including fast fibre) contain nutritionally improve improved straw which goes through a process of being sprayed with caustic soda. So it could be a reaction to all of these. I would maybe look at using a feed like linseed and some home made chaff with a vit and min sup or something for a minute just to see if that makes a difference. Theres also thunderbrook but Im not going to say too much about that because people will end up thinking Im a sale rep or something! Lol!

2) I am a member of the turmeric users group on facebook and a lot of people are having great success with skin conitions by adding this to your horses ddiet. Its cheap and definately worth a try. Its not just the turmeric you use but a mix of turmeric, black pepper and either olive oil or linseed oil as the latter two help absorbtion.

3) Also I know graphites are good for skin conditions. Ive not used them for sweet itch but another cheap alternative to try.
 
Cortez said:
Yes, second this. Benzyl benzoate is an insecticide, not a skin soothing lotion.
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Thanks guys I'll make sure i avoid the sore bits

Is it possible to catch mites or scabies etc if she is only with my other 2 who aren't itchy. No other horses on the yard. And she's very unsociable with horses that ride passed the field
 
Ah, thought that would almost have been the first thing to have been done.

The vet literally scrapes the skin with a sharp scalpel to look at under a microscope. That should reveal if the horse has mites/scabies etc.

Booking it to be done would be my absolute priority at this stage.
 
Definately get her allergy tested? I had a horse who would itch 1/2 his mane out all the time and would go nuts some days being so itchy all over, he then started coming out in hive-like rashes up his neck and on his body. I went to a specialist vet who did allergy testing (the inject little bits of allergens into the horses neck to see what he reacts to), and it turned out he DID have allergies (with him it was to mould, dust and most types of grass!!). I got a course which was made specifically for him in Holland, which I injected him with I think it was once a week or a month - they said sometimes that cures them but sometimes it doesn't. Sadly it didnt work for him, but he seems to improved a bit on his own.
 
Hi sorry to hear about your mare - just thought I would share my pony's story as he was in the exact same predicament as your mare - itching like mad, rubbing himself raw, biting himself etc etc. The vet treated him for lice/mites and I regularly shampooed him with the lice/mite shampoo. Skin scrapes came back clear and I had him clipped - nothing helped. When I traced it back, the itching started when I had to have my cob PTS and pony was left on his own. I loaned another pony to keep him company and the itching stopped within a week. The vet couldn't believe or explain how he had cleared up but I honestly think it was stress. Can you trace back to when this started - did anything significant change in her routine/life? Just a thought - unexplainable but was definitely the case for our little man.
Good luck, hope you get it sorted soon.
 
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