Help/advice needed. Horse allergic to everything

S

showjump2003

Well-Known Member
Joined
1 March 2006
Messages
2,599
Visit site
Had Milly 6 weeks now. Already found out she is allergic to straw (comes out in hive/lumps). It all settled down for a week or so and now they are back but nowhere near straw. I can only assume the lumps all over her are from flies. They're lumps that vary from tiny little things to the size of a plum (they're pretty flat lumps). There not painful and don't stop me from riding and go away after a few days. Then I go up tonight and she has the biggest lumps I have even seen under her belly. One is the size of a rugby ball (just doesn't stand off her quite so much).

She lives in at night and out in the day. She wears a standard sheet in the field and nothing at night. Just been and bought a combo fly rug but even that won't fully cover her.

At my wits end! Any ideas?
 
What about one of the sweetitch rugs and hood? Wrap her up good and well.

Only other thoughts are: keep away from muck heaps (flies/midges); stable at dawn and dusk (flies/midges); feed Brewers Yeast.
 
She's only on alfa A (not straw! made that mistake when I first got her! Fed her chaff lol).

Unfortunalty she is pretty close to the muck heap. No alternative. Have thought about a boett rug but want to be sure it's flies first!
 
Very frustrating isn't it. Mine comes out in hives every winter. Blood tests revealed reactions to wheat, barley, rye, oats, linseed, soya, storage mites, and peas. Changed his diet & saw an improvement, but they came back again. Skin biopsies revealed nothing. Seems to coincide with hay replacing grass as his main source of forage. I get some control with anti-histamines which don't make them disappear completely, but do reduce the number & aggressiveness.

It can be very difficult to find out exactly what the cause is - and after a year of intensive investigation we have never really got to the bottom of it. It is just more manageable now.

If you can pinpoint the reason, and remove the allergen - great. There is also a treatment called hyposensitisation which involves a course of jabs that kind of teach their immune systems how to deal with the identified allergens.

However, you may be one of the lucky ones who find they disappear on their own & never occur again. Lets hope its the last scenario!
smile.gif
 
Have you tried talking to the old owners? Just wonder if they could tell you more about the regime they used.

To be honest though it could be something as simple as a particular plant in her field. I am allergic to a particular plant and if I touch it I come out in huge weilds (sp?) everywhere and not just where I touch the plant.

Sorry you are having these problems, she is such a lovely looking horse
 
would it be worth poss leaving rug on at night too, I know she is in but there will still be bitties about and it might be enough to help.
 
There doesn't seem to be a pattern to it. She has been on alfa a for a month, some days she's fine, others not?

Will cut it out and see. What the hell can I feed her?! lol
 
Its probably not that then. Mollichaff do one with no Alfalfa in it I think its the Cherry flavoured one. To be honest I cut all Alfalfa and wheat out of my boys diet but it didnt make any difference so hes back on his normal feed again. Finding feed with no wheat in it was a nightmare. Mine also shown positive to clover??? and the fields full of it
confused.gif
crazy.gif
crazy.gif

Have you had her blood tested for allergies? I did and it shown loads up but most really obscure. I was hoping one thing would show up so I could eliminate it, buy boett or what ever.
 
Just a thought,did she come from a different area.Had a friend whose horse had been bought from a fair distance away from our area.Turned out to be the grass-think it was specifically rye grass,hadn't had a problem in previous home.now manages it and all has been ok for a while now.
Horse had bloods sent away by vet to find this out.
 
Its worth knowing especially if her reactions are so adverse. Its quite shocking though as they test for loads of things, some really obscure and my horse shown positive and borderline positive to loads. I thought OMG.
One thing to think about though is your insurance as they do like to exclude anything they can.
I didnt have the desensitsation injections, my horse was itchy and rubbed pretty much holes in the sides of his hocks and I thought it was sweet itch but it wasnt, I did remove what I could from his diet but it didnt make any difference and touch wood he hasnt been bad at all this year.
 
agree with others, take her of EVERYTHING, including any fly rugs, sprays etc. Can you leave her out in the field 24/7? I did this when I first had my boy who I was told was allergic to barley. His lumps looked like the ones you are describing, if you don't remove whatever is causing it, the lumps just keep getting bigger.
I introduced one thing at a time and very gradually. If there is a reaction you usually see it within 3 - 4 days. It could be something dumb like the washing powder you use for your numnah, or your saddle soap. If the cause is removed the lumps should disappear within a couple of days.
Obviously there was no signs of anything when you bought the horse?
 
Hi mine started coming out in lumps about 2 yrs ago and they have never really gone. I was advised to change diet (didnt work) he comes up in lumps if i rug him he comes up in them if i dont.he comes up with them in field and stable,Vet doesnt seem too concerned because they dont seem to bother him(just look bad). He was fine for 1st 3 yrs and i changed nothing so god knows why think he just very sensitive to everything
 
My shettie gets this , he is allergic to loads of things, all sprays, shampoos (except Johnsons baby shampoo), straw, shavings....

The only thing that seems to soothe him is Aloe vera gel.

The only thing to do is to try and cut everything out, feed/bedding/sprays etc and then try to add them back in carefully.
 
I got her from yorkshire and moved her to Wales. No lumps when I got her. They came up after a week of having her. Taken her off all her feed now. She has to come in at night and out in the day. Paddock is all grass and she is on hay at night.

How sensitive can she be to straw? Because all the farms around here are cutting straw at the moment?
 
Girl I was talking about had to do same as you but also took off local hay/haylage and feed think it was Mctiminoy Hay which came in pre packed bags.
 
HI, i had a horse that for 18 months i was told he had sweetitch, after much money, and many arguements with the vet i got him blood tested.. mine didnt come out in the lumps as yours does he just itched (so badly at one point i debated pts)

what i would say is for what you spend on trial products and the time you spend trying to emlininate things, jsut get the blood tests done. not cheap, im in the westcountry and they cost around 200 quid.

if you vet suggests the skin biospy i really wouldnt bother, its not overlly nice for the horse and is unlikley to show up things like reactions to pollens etc (i had the skin biopsy done.).

it may be worth talking to your vet about a course of steriods in the meen time as i think, these should aid the lumps dissaperance. if very a bad alternitive in the short term is bute.
 
hi, i am in the same boat and any advice would be great, my horse has horrific hives!!

They first appeared november last year even though nothing had changed and just went after three weeks.

he then got them again and i took him off all food, changed stables and field and they went away following a high dose of antihistamine and changing his diet. they have come back more recently and has had them for over 2 months now and they are getting worse. Again nothing changed and he is on limited food.

I have tried everything - up to 32 antihistamine, changed his diet, given him a detox additive, rugged him head to toe, clipped him and washed him for mites. none ofwhich have helped this time....

i thought it might be tea tree oil shampoo as a common factor with each time them coming up is when he is washed but they havent gone down this time, thought they started to then he was washed baby shampoo and they are back with avengence.

any help is very welcome!!!!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top