Feather mites not getting better

[Exasperated]

No more moths apart from the ones from outside which I would find dead by the window. Flies perhaps less, but it was getting to the end of the season.
I have got moth spray, but the Inderex because its a very fine mist gets in the small cracks without moving furniture. I am sad about the spiders but I have less cobwebs.

Sounds good! Cat might mourn the spiders - me, not so much.

 

[Spiderpig2009]

Cydectin, speak to your vet about it,it usnt licenced for horses but worth having a conversation about. Google is your friend here. Find evidence that it works abd show to vet. The belgian draft pages have good jnfo on it. .you state you used a frontline spay.if you want to try front line again so for largest size. I find the pipettes more effective. At least one on each leg.

I have had a few treatments in the past from vets that are not licensed for horses that still do the job they need to. I just had to sign a waiver. Off label use is quite common, my own sleeping tablets from the doctor are off label for sleep

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Is it absolutely definitely mites? Could the vet do a scrape?

^^ Exactly what I was about to say.

I had a lovely sweet mare a few years ago, bless her, I had to let her go at just 10yo as she had trigeminal nerve headshaking, but she was a "stomper". I'd thought it was mites, and had given her every "treatment" possible for this. One day I asked the vet to have a good look at her legs, and he took a scraping, but could find no evidence of any feather-mites at all. He diagnosed CPL.

It might be worth getting another vet with a different set of eyes to look at your horse OP?? If you/your current vet are continuing to treat for feather-mites and the problem isn't getting any better, then the obvious thing is that this is not actually the problem and you need to find out what's going out. CPL would fit the symptoms.

(edited) IF it is CPL, then any more topical applications won't do any good, and in fact will make things worse. They get very sore indeed with this condition; my mare had to be well-sedated for us to clip her legs so that we could have a good look.

 

[toooldtofalloff]

Dectomax x 2 treatments 2 weeks apart worked for my cob; I'd say 95% success. (Vet said it was mostly used for cattle.) On top of this I've found Hedgewich Essential oils really really good to keep them away; you can saturate the feathers and skin with the oil and it suffocates any remaining mites and eggs. All natural, no harmful chemicals and it smells fantastic to us but repellant to mites. Does your horse also have mallenders? As mites feed off the skin debris/scabs, it tends to go hand in hand with the problem. Again, Hedgewich do a 'lift off' oil for the scabs and its extremely effective.

Vet also said that the large dog pipettes of Frontline are also worth a try (Amazon extra large dog) not licensed for horses as its a nasty chemical which can get into water sources on the land etc. But I guess if your desperate you'd try it. As others have said though, maybe there's more going on than mites.

 

[Wizpopagain]

I currently use Beaphar FIPROtec - Spot on solution for dogs. I purchase it online and use 1 pittette per leg. I apply to clean and dry legs and apply it in the well of the heal bulb making sure that it sits on the skin rather than in the hair. Repeat in 7-10 days time.

I would also clip legs off if they are really bad and wash with malaseb shampoo from the vets to help with itching once per week until issue has gone. Avoid letting the horse stand on any hay or straw or in deep mud.

Is the horse well otherwise? It sounds like there is something else going on if you can't now handle the horses legs, do they have CPL or similar?

​

I’ve also found this works - Dectomax didn’t. There needs to be Fipronil( ?) in the treatment for it to work. Get large dog pipettes.
Best advice is on the FB CPL group page. Lots of expert advice on there. Hope you get sorted soon- it’s horrible seeing 5hem suffer