has anyone had a horse pts due to sweet itch?

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clairefeekerry1

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just wondered if you did, what triggered your decision. i have a mare with terrible sweet itch, isnt ridden now because of it, some days can barely be tied on the yard as just wants to collapse and itch on anything including the floor. this year i'm finding it harder to control and have had topical creams etc to treat scabs and wounds. she is covered in a boett plus hood plus udder cover 24/7 but as soon as i clear up one patch, another starts (worse on places like inner thighs and udders). she does nothing, is an itchy field ornament, obviously costs me a lot of money and is only 7 years old, and is very time consuming. she is one of 3 i have and not sure what to do for the best.
 
I've never had a horse pts and am dreading the time when I do - my old boy is 20 now. I don't know much about sweet itch, but it sounds from your description that your horse is finding it extremely distressing.....I hope you find a solution.
 
My horse had really bad sweet itch and after a course of homeopathic tablets she is now a different horse. Some days I couldn't ride because she was just throwing herself around and she'd make herself so sore rubbing. She still wears her Boett blanket but you wouldn't actually know she had sweet itch. Maybe worth getting in touch with a homeopathic vet as I swear by it. If you google "homeopathic vets" you will get a list of any in your area.

BTW if you look on the sweet itch website I'm sure they have now introduced a vaccine which may be worth a try. Its an awful thing - I really feel for her and at 7 really should be given every chance!
 
thank you native, i already have the vet coming out this week to discuss the new drug, although she has been on similar in the past with no difference. the sweetitch season seems to be getting longer and longer i reckon tshe only had her boett off from mid nov thru to feb this year
 
Poor love, have you firstly tried a steroid jab? Not ideal I know but may relieve her while its so bad. I wouldn't be really looking at PTS, I would probably look for a loan home by the sea or in a less itchy area! My itchy horse cleared up completely when I moved him from surrey to west sussex seaside hillside, the midges simply couldn't fly up that high and the sea winds blew them off. Wind swept hillsides are ideal for SW suffers!
 
Yes - two, which sounds a bit excessive - one was a semi feral exmoor pony that was doing conservation grazing - rugs etc. not an option, the pasture was boggy (hence wanting ponies on it) and he was not having a great quality of life, hence the decision.
The second was a pony who came as livery, her Sweetitch had been managed in the SE - but coming to the SW, with grazing with river fields, it was a nightmare - after the winter, when her mane and tail grew again we tried to sell her for her owners (who could not cope) but as soon as we mentioned her problem, everyone backed off. In the end it was the kindest thing to do, as she was a tricky pony to ride as well.
Much loved ponies should have all attempt to made to manage the horrid affliction, but if a pony has other problems as well, then it may be the better option - very sad.
 
hi, yes she was on steriod jab for 2 years with no difference, apart from she got very mild lami!
the other slight issue is she isn't the (ponders on how to put this...!) the nicest mare you'll ever know! she can be a total toad in the field with the others and humans. she is currently seperated with two other liveries as she was too bulshy and pushy. luckily my yard owner is amazing, and understands thats just horses, but i have had a couple of official compliants put in about her from other liveries. i've been double barreled a fair few times! so i dont know that in the current climate she'd be that wanted! plus, as good as boetts are, i've probably spent about £800 on them in the last 18 months and god knows how much on lotions, sprays etc and vet visits and prescriptions so she aint exactly cheap!!!
i moved yards to a better location for her 2 years ago with a slight improvement.
 
Sweet itch can be a horrible condition. My donkey had it from head to toe but I managed to keep it under control and her comfortable till she was pts at 34 yrs from an age related condition (not sweet itch).

My recommendation (and a dermotologist from The Animal Health Centre, Newmarket) is Benzyl Benzoate, with a few drops of Citronella oil added to it or Tea Tree oil. Benzyl Benzoate is really the only topical ointment that will control sweet itch, you can even put it straight on the sores it will clear it in no time. Keep using it every day tho when she is bad. Obviously keep using the Boett, although I found the Rambo Sweet Itch Hoody more effective than the Boett or Snuggy Hoods, I bought it in a size bigger so it wrapped under her belly.

The steroid jab can cause laminitis, but should be used as a last resort rather than pts (IMO).

You can buy Benzyl Benzoate either on line or phone "Equine Pharmacy Direct" its very cheap about £13 per litre + postage, I used to buy several bottles at a time to save postage costs.

All the best xxxxx
 
can i just ask tho, how easy do you find it to put stuff like that on. thats one part i find really tough as alot of hers are up on the inside of thighs or udders and she's very funny about me touching it, with good reason i'm sure. so have to wait till someones around to help me hold up a front leg or twitch her or something as it becomes so dangerous, i have had a fair few kicks and once when the vet came out we had to sedate her to get a good layer of topical clream on??
 
This is going to sound really bad but if she were mine i would be seriously considering putting her to sleep if the new drugs dont work. Ive had a sw pony before and it really is no way of life. I had lots of problems with him, was constantly in rugs like your girl would itch on anything eventually the owner had him back and shortly(within the year) put him to sleep because of it, she couldnt bare seeing him like that.
 
Baymille makes some good suggestions. My friends horse has sw and she uses the Rambo Sweet Itch Hoodie rugs, swears by them and they do seem very effective. Another friend used Benzyl Benzoate on her sw pony and that did the trick for him. She applied it with a sponge and so far as I can remember applied it neat. She used to bath him at least once a week too.
 
Ginger_Nut said:
This is going to sound really bad but if she were mine i would be seriously considering putting her to sleep if the new drugs dont work. Ive had a sw pony before and it really is no way of life. I had lots of problems with him, was constantly in rugs like your girl would itch on anything eventually the owner had him back and shortly(within the year) put him to sleep because of it, she couldnt bare seeing him like that.
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I have to agree. At the risk of upsetting people not only do you have to think of her and her quality of life but also you. It is a lot of effort for a girlie that I assume you can't even ride? If you are finding it hard/expensive to cope with her then you are unlikely to find anyone else to have her.It is hard enough at the moment to sell something decent. Go with your instincts. See what your vet says, try steriod jab/homeo treatment if that is an option. If not then I would PTS it is the responsible thing to do irrespective of age.
 
Have a look at this website

http://www.crossgatesfarm.co.uk/

They do hair analysis and then make up a treatment from the results, cost isn't much more than a couple of vets visits, maybe worth a try.

Just out of interest, our homebred youngster (now 5) has had what the vets diagnosed as sweet itch since his first winter, normally by this time of year he would have no mane and no tail. This year, no rugs, no creams, no itching - havent a clue why and the only thing that has changed are our circumstances. We had to move back onto a livery yard last summer and all 13 spent the winter in the same field and it was impossible to feed them individually and too many to feed as a group, we couldn't get them out without fighting through gateways and then through someone else's field. Despite having constant haylage they all lost more weight than we would have liked. In the past they have always been fed, even if only a balancer and Breeze has had to wear a rug 24/7
because of the 'sweet itch' in summer and the effect of the rain on his skin in winter. He ripped his rug immediately it went on this year so it came off again and I am amazed at the difference in him. Our laminitics also show absolutely no signs of an attack. Our theory is that they have 'detoxed' over winter and whilst I wouldnt advocate the way it happened it it is food for thought!

ETA: If the only way to relieve suffering is PTS then I feel it is a valid option, kinder than making them suffer for our benefit. I hope you find a way though.
 
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Thought I'd mention diet. I have a sweet itch pony, and she is made worse by garlic, molasses & grains. If your mare has any of these in her diet, it may be worth trying excluding them and seeing if it makes a difference. It does take a few weeks to get out of their system tho, and they get worse before they get better as it works it's way out of their system. She is also helped by the addition of linseed to her diet.

This doesn't make my pony fine tho - it just makes it manageable. Between that, fly spray, boetts and electric fencing, she is under control. We've never found any lotions, potions or supplements that did anything. The only other thing that has helped her in a bad patch, has been giving her piriton - I buy them from an online chemist, a human grade bottle of 500, and experimented with the dose to get it right - first time I did it, I slightly overdid it, and she spent the afternoon snoring her head off - but at least she wasn't itching! One tablet less than that is about right - but I couldn't give it to her before riding, as it does make her sleepy.

I've tried homeopathy, and that didn't help. Not tried the steroid jab, as she has never had lammi, but would definitely be considered high risk due to her type. Not tried the vaccine either, but am considering it for next year.

Problem with sweet itch as far as I can tell is that it's a very individual illness. What works for one doesn't work for another. So you just have to try everything, until you find what does work.
 
sounds more like allergies to me, ive experiance of this and spent 12 months with a vet telling me it was si.. it wasnt horse was allergic to most things in life.

id advise getting a blood test run and allergiy tested.
 
I'm on diet too. I was given my foot lameness rehab and told he was a very severe sweet itch case and had to be rugged even inside the stable. He had to be kept off grass completely because of his feet, and he has no signs of sweet itch whatsoever. Don't feed carrots either, they can cause itching. I'd take the mare off grass completely and see what happens in three to four weeks.
 
Very interesting about the ponies just fed on haylage through the winter and nothing else, that look more healthy now. Just as nature intended, to lose weight in the winter and put it back on in the spring.

Sweet itch is a miserable condition, and as someone has already stated, an individual complaint.
 
Well, mine is on the Bio Eos tablets which is a trial running at the mo, so a bit early to say really. He's been on livery in an area which is bad for sweet itch, i.e. they've got a big artificial lake in the vicinity which is a magnet for midges.

How awful for you if you are considering the PTS option; someone has already suggested loaning her to someone near the sea or on higher ground - if you can find someone to take a sweet itch on, this might well be the best option. The ideal place would be somewhere with exposed ground, as high up as possible so as to catch the wind.

Poor horse, I hope everything works out.
 
I did come very close to considering it yes:(
He was also very young but was soooo miserable. He was affected almost all year round bar a couple months and was unridable and I'd tried pretty much everything.
I'm so glad I didn't because I moved to a different location and although he still has sweet itch he is now happy, relaxed and ridable.
I still have to have him covered and fly sprayed plus I feed him Brewers Yeast (started this year and so far his best year yet).
He lives out 24/7 in an exposed field, high up on the valley. Its been his life saver.
Plus electric fencing is my friend. Without it he and his rug would be ripped to shreds as although he isn't itchy he thinks he always will be so will always have a scratch on anything he can.
 
It sounds to me like pts may well be the kindest option.

If you have tried all the usual options, she already wears the boett, and if the vaccine is not suitable, an option or does not work then to me pts would be the way to go.

It does not sound to me you have given up too easily or early, you have and are doing your best for her.
For the poster that suggested it is an allergy sweetitch is an allergy however it is an allergy to the saliva of the midge.

Have you tried contacting the national sweetitch help line they are very helpful. They were with my sweetitch pone.

good luck I hope it dosn't come to pts but if it does you can be confident you have given your pone every chance.
 
I would have no hesitation at all PTS a severe sweetitch case,it's an awful disease and the suffering is dreadful. If that's the desision you come to,( and If the pony was mine she would have had the deed done long ago,) You have my full support.
 
My mare is an absolute nightmare with the sweet-itch, had her 8 years and she unridable. but this winter she lost a lot of weight, so have put her and young mare out on 9 acres, grass looked good but thin. she had her boett rug and mask on until this weekend,when it reached 30c and she was being cooked alive, so took rug off. She has put weight on, but started rubbing big time. she is a nightmare to try and put creams on, injections are a no! no! as I like my vets and she would do them serious damage. Will wait for the weather to cool down before I put her boett back on. but have decided that if she really doesn't pick up the weight will have her pts in the autumn. And before anybody says teeth checked, she's an absolute nightmare with them. And yes she's only 13???
 
my friend had her exmoor pts from an acident through sweetitch, he used to rub himself raw and draw blood. he was using the hedge to rub in and rub so much he feel backwards into a ditch that was deep at all but was surrounded by hedge, he was found and he had injured himself but dont know details but was pts when he was pulled out. he had by far the worst case of sweetich i had ever seen!
 
Benzyl Benzoate is amazing stuff. You can buy a watered down version on hyperdrug. Changed my ponies life completely and she used to have to be sedated as she got completely manic when the midges came out.

Personally I wouldn't ever have considered having her pts because of it. Its hard but it is manageable - even if it meant having her liveried by the coast where midges aren't as bad. Boett blankets are also very good but like someone else pointed out they can get very hot in them.

I've a mate who has bought a 'midgey eater' and loves it - she has a small 2 acre paddock and her horse is in it with no midge issue at all any more.
 
Have you had a blood test done on your horse. I had one done on mine a couple of years ago to see if he was allergic to the sweetitch midge and it turned out he was. What it also revealed was that he was allergic to a whole host of other stuff as well that are far more prevalent during the summer.

I was just thinking that maybe your poinio is allergic to other stuff that you arnt aware of and if you were it may help your horse if you are able to avoid these things.
 
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
Emm, sorry, being dense, just what is a "midgey eater"???
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I think there are a couple on the market now. This isn't the one my friends have but it is the same principle

http://themidgeatershop.shopkit.net...ttribute2_value-.ProductAttribute3_value-.htm

They are pretty pricey but I now know of three people who are using them and absolutely love em.

I think they release C02 (or something) which attracts the midge and then they get sooked up into a storage container and nuked :D I'm usually a pacifist but all for this machine :D
 
We've just bought a highland pony and his breeder told us that she has any stock with sweet itch put to sleep as she feels its the best thing for them. My daughter's pony has sweet itch but only mildly and I find it easy to control. If its driving them crazy, covering them with wounds and sores and affecting temprement and behaviour I would put them down, sorry. :( I wouldn't hold out much hope of a loan home taking on the responsibility either.
 
I don't know if this will help but I saw an article a while ago about neck threadworms, some sweetitch seems to be caused by them. People got some very good results with a double dose of ivermectin repeated after 2 weeks. Ivermectin is a very 'safe' drug with the detrimental side effect dose being about 8 times the reccomended theraputic dose so there isn't any risk (unless you know the horse is ivermectin sensitive which you would know from reactions to standard dosing) and it might help?

Can't really offer anything else except good luck.
 
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