Heel mites/bugs...contagious?

[Blizzard]

gosh I have the vet out and its none stop posting now LOL!

Ok, my other boy, I had the vet look at him today because he suffers from thrush in winter which I have been treating, but he also has sore heels in the fact that whe the disinfectant was touching them, it was very painful for him. They were also a bit scabby and generally didnt look too nice.

The vet said she thinks its basically mites, and the bugs are burrowing into the heel making it sore and itchy.

I mentioned that another horse at the yard has just being diagnosed with leg mites, a shire, she has had her feathers shaved and is now being treated.

The vet said they are contagious so my boy has probably caught them from her, and she also said any other horse with feather needs checking out, we have a little coloured cob at the yard on livery who has loads of feather, and I very much doubt they will have her checked out!!!

So now i have to pick up some injection from the vets, a very big injection she said, and he needs half of it in each side of his neck under the skin.

But the vet said if the others arent treated they will just keep passing it back and forth.

So should this shire be in or be kept seperate from our horses, there are 10 horses in the field together.

Ive just had have today teeth done, flu and tet as my new boy has never been done properly so having to start again, got to stump up for liverpool cream and also found someone nicking my feed today, so not a good day, and the last thing I want is to be paying bills that are going to keep reoccuring if others dont take the correct action.

Sorry for long post, a bit fed up LOL.

 

[fairhill]

Mine has leg mites, and the other hairy on the yard also has them (never treated for them).
We treated mine with a spray of frontline rather than the injection, it cost £20-30 for the bottle, and we had enough for 3 treatments.
They are contagious, thankfully ours are in separate stable blocks and fields, so my mare hasn't been reinfected... yet.

You might be worth asking the vet about frontline? It's the spray used for large dogs. You can then just reorder if necessary, which will be a lot cheaper than injections every time.
You can also use a double dose of ivermectin wormer (eqvalan sp?) for treating mites. There is a selenium based dog shampoo which again comes from the vet, but we've had some success with using that combined with the wormer.

The other thing to do is disinfect all your grooming brushes so that you don't reinfect your boy yourself.

 

[Moggy]

Try Coopers fly repellent or Frontline. Make sure it right down to the sink, then re-treat 2 weeks later. It is contagious but they are just as likely to be reinfected by foxes.

 

[Blizzard]

Thanks guys, do you know how much this injection costs, because I may go down the frontline route?

 

[fairhill]

Sorry, I don't know about cost. I did ask the vet about it (having read about it on here) but she implied that it wasn't that great for mite treatment.

Did she take a skin sample to make sure it is mites?

It's just as likely to be irritation from the hibiscrub, and personally I'd be reluctant to use the injection on the off-chance.

Chloe was stamping her feet a lot when she had them, and rubbed all her legs raw, including above her hocks, not just the heels.

 

[Blizzard]

No she didnt take a skin sample at all, she just looked at them, asked about him stamping his feet etc.

Hmm see I thought something like frontline would be better than an injection, I have a St Bernard so plenty of Frontline for XXL dogs at hand LOL.

Do you just spray it all over his heel and lower leg area?

The vet just looked at his heels really.

 

[fairhill]

Yes, just spray over all 4 legs and heels. Make sure you rub it well into his skin, as that's where the mites will be.

 

[Blizzard]

Thank you I think I will try it.

If it saves me a 45min drive to the vets to pick up an injection, has to be a good thing.

 

[GreedyGuts]

There have been cases of vasculitis reported in horses following administration of Frontline to areas of broken skin, and it is not licensed for use in horses. Might be worth discussing its use with your vet first.

 

[Theresa_F]

I have used frontline as an initial treatment then with my heavy hairies and then continued with pig oil and sulphur as a prevention against grease - mites - and other skin problems associated with heavy horses or horses with lots of feather like my gypsy cob.

Cheap, simple to apply and also keeps feather white and in great condition.

Never clipped out the legs and would only do so in the case of severe scabbing and cuts - also good for preventing mud fever.

 

[mrhsaddler]

I treat feather mite with salt water, if you cant get to a beach and ride in the sea, try tubbing the effected area in a bucket of salty water. The sea water is the best method I have found and gets white feathers really clean.