Feather mite injections

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saddlesore

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My very hairy legged cob has been suffering with them Alfie several months now and I cannot get them under control. He has had 5 jags so far - vet is coming out today to giv him another- and I've used the limesulphur wash and another one made up off lisence by the vet. I have clipped the hair in where the sores are so I can apply treatment. I'm at my wits end, and so is my bank balance.

Does anyone know if the vet is able to prescribe the injections for me to give him on a semi regular basis? The injection intra muscular.

Any other suggestions would be very gratefully received!
 
I found the mite dectomax ? jabs did nothing for my horse. I am using frontline and in the warm weather washing legs with dermolene shampoo. Horse still stamping but hasn't managed to draw blood . H & H peeps recommend pig oil and sulphur.
 
These are ivermectin injections, which is in the wormer eqvalan, but the injections are usually more efficient. Also have had this problem with one horse very badly, and really never cured it as she then got a kind of cellulitis and we could never really clear the mites from the deep wrinkles. A young two year old cob started and he cleared after two injections, leg clipping, washing etc.
If you're not keeping the feathers on for showing maybe clipping once would help you get to the bottom of it?
 
Would it be worth buying sheep ivermectin (Oramec) from a agricultural supplier and applying it to the legs. It comes in an oil, sold by the litre, so might also work like pig oil. I know some people use it on dogs (not collies!) for fleas.

Alternatively, the same agricultural suppliers will sell Dectomax, which is injectable doramectin, used to treat mange and mites in horses. Just don't mention you want it for a horse. They also sell needles.
 
We've been plagued by these for a couple of years. Had both types of jags to no effect.... Clipping the legs out caused more problems as, due to the mite bites, horse took an allergic reaction to the clipper oil. Spent hundreds if not thousands on lotions, potions, tests, skin scrapings etc both over the counter and prescribed. We'd all but given up. Horse was becoming dangerous with his legs, and was having to be sedated for farrier to attend (this is a normally placid horse). We seriously were thinking that we may have to admit defeat and pts.

Someone recommended Deosect to us, for another horse, who was sensitive to fly bites and had sweet itch like symptoms. - worked a treat on her!! Decided to apply it to our horse with the feather mite problem as he was getting eaten alive by midgies. Well. OMG! What an improvement! The first 48hrs after application, he was stamping his feet repeatedly, then it stopped. We can pick out his feet, brush his legs and he was shod yesterday without issue. His legs are, finally, starting to heal.

He is now the happy horse of a few years ago. We've also changed from straw to shavings now and so far so good.... We reapply ever 2/3 weeks and after bathing/prolonged exposure to wet

Every horse is different and responds differently to treatment but for us, this has worked a great, I just wished we'd discovered Deosect sooner £30 a bottle, which lasts most of the year is far cheaper than the vets bills we've had to pay
 
x-di-x said:
We've been plagued by these for a couple of years. Had both types of jags to no effect.... Clipping the legs out caused more problems as, due to the mite bites, horse took an allergic reaction to the clipper oil. Spent hundreds if not thousands on lotions, potions, tests, skin scrapings etc both over the counter and prescribed. We'd all but given up. Horse was becoming dangerous with his legs, and was having to be sedated for farrier to attend (this is a normally placid horse). We seriously were thinking that we may have to admit defeat and pts.

Someone recommended Deosect to us, for another horse, who was sensitive to fly bites and had sweet itch like symptoms. - worked a treat on her!! Decided to apply it to our horse with the feather mite problem as he was getting eaten alive by midgies. Well. OMG! What an improvement! The first 48hrs after application, he was stamping his feet repeatedly, then it stopped. We can pick out his feet, brush his legs and he was shod yesterday without issue. His legs are, finally, starting to heal.

He is now the happy horse of a few years ago. We've also changed from straw to shavings now and so far so good.... We reapply ever 2/3 weeks and after bathing/prolonged exposure to wet

Every horse is different and responds differently to treatment but for us, this has worked a great, I just wished we'd discovered Deosect sooner £30 a bottle, which lasts most of the year is far cheaper than the vets bills we've had to pay
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Do you put it on neat or diluted please.
 
I've seen things about a product called Oil2Horse I think it is, supposedly kills mite eggs and helps with feathermites. I'm thinking of trying, may be worth a shot OP?
 
Ali2 said:
Ivermectin wormer, diluted 1/4 in E45 cream and rubbed in to his legs, did the trick for my lad.
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I used a similar potion on my cob's lower legs, but used Flamazine instead of E45 as my cob was allergic to many over the counter creams.
 
I used Effipro on mine which is a spot on. I got the large dog ones and put one on each leg. I had already clipped them out. I repeated in about a month if I remember right and haven't had a problem since. I bought them off eBay.
 
saddlesore said:
Thanks guys, I've ordered deosect and I'll also try the invermectim/E45 combo. Fingers crossed!
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You'll need some disposable gloves for the Ivermectin/E45 potion. Keeping your horse's skin in good health really helps keeping the mites and bites at bay - I used to moisturise my boy's legs with Eucerin lotion every other day and this really helped keep his skin supple, but the E45 on its own will do a good job if your horse's skin suits it.

I'm sure you'll find something along the way that'll do the trick.
 
Looking back at my vet's bill I see we were given deosect too! I think it's finding the right combination of things that works for your horse. Good luck.
 
My pony only had mites once and the fortnightly apart dectomax jabs killed the little blighters toally dead - I would recommend them but it sounds like they aren't successful on all horses from what others have said above. However there are other factors to consider - ie, whether there are other horses on the yard that have them or have been the source and are not being treated which would make the cycle of mites just go on and on. Plus sometimes certain bedding can harbour them so worth a change of that after treatment too.
 
diatomaceous earth
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Now this I am interested in ! As my horse suffers with mites as well and the jabs had no effect on him. His legs were swollen and he came to the point of being downright dangerous with his front feet as well, (the little sod has since learned that striking out a foreleg is still a good way to clear people from his front end as well and he will think nothing of striking out with a foot and conking you in the head with his knee) he is slightly better now but I have been wondering what to do this year for the season starts again as he will soon be going on a field that would have just had the hay cut off it, so I'm dreading harvest mites :(
 
Touch wood, we have had no problem with mites here, but I wonder if SpotOn for cattle would be effective? It is pretty good stuff. All our ponies get 0.5ccs on the forelock early in the year and it definitely helps reduce black flies.
 
I tried dia wotsit, I found it very difficult to get on horses legs without it getting all over me, just seemed to fall on the floor unless you are supposed to damp it first ? Also with horse with extremely thick hair, even when clipped its like a thick carpet, getting to the skin is virtually impossible.
 
I've used DE and do still sometimes use it. It will clear any mites that are currently there, but they come back within a week to 10 days. Its fiddly to use and I usually end up with clouds of it everywhere while I try and scrub it in. It definitely isnt something that you could use on its own.

I've had lots of success with Frontline and cattle spot on, combined with a good scrub with dermoline and worming with ivermectin :)
 
I've ordered some DE, my plan is mostly for it to kill any of the little blighters that might grab on to stop them getting in in the first place. I will look into the frontline type things for killing any of the little blighters already under the skin though, I'd rather not have to fork out for the Decta again seeing as she's stamping only 2 months later!
 
My cob has been itch free on his feathers since I've started using Coopers Fly Repellent Plus on them...before he would stand stamping and scratching until the were no feathers left.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions :-) since his 'burned nose' incident I decided to get the vet to investigate that and the fact his feather mites won't ****** off! Vet freaked me out by taking blood samples to test for both liver damage and cushings! (Horse is rising 4). Thankfully both are clear, so today he was sedated for skin scrapings to be taken. Should get the results next week. Vet is as stumped as I am- age says she's never seen such a susceptibility to mites in an otherwise healthy horse :-/
 
I think the diatom would only work if you clipped the feathers off and worked it well into the skin. It is a great mite killer, works a treat with my hens, A good layer in the nest boxes and you can see the dead mites next morning. Probably need to powder every day for a few days to break the cycle. Its not a good thing to breath in so use a mask!.
 
If you use the diatomaceous earth make sure it is food grade in case the horse still bites it's legs. I found it worked quite well but made my cobs white feathers look a bit grey. I was also worried about them getting it in their eyes as it kills the mites by cutting through their chitinous covering, so quite sharp stuff.
 
my cob has stamped and itched for years! clipped, unlipped, Dectomax & injections haven't worked. I have thrown away £1000's of bedding trying to get rid of the mites. Pig oil burnt his legs and all his hair came away in clumps, amd the only thing that has worked this summer is the Oil2horse in a spray botle. Within 24 hours he had stopped stamping - his mallenders had completely gone and healed in a week and I just use once a week now and no more itch! yay!
 
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