Help, itchy horse

Dizzykizzy

Dizzykizzy

Well-Known Member
Joined
9 August 2007
Messages
1,351
Location
North Yorkshire
Visit site
My friend's horse not mine. She arrived here in September, she had been grazing on the moors prior to that.
As the weather got colder she seemed to be looking to rub more and more, she broke a fence rail and then nearly took the wall out of the stable when we brought her in. Vet was called and thought it was an extreme allergic reaction so gave her antihistamine. It didn't help, came back the following day to see her in daylight and said she had lice :-(, not loads but they could see eggs in her mane.
Treated with some spray the vet gave her, all rugs sent for cleaning, 2 weeks later still itching so treatment repeated.
Another week on and she is still going mad if you bring her into the stable, friend rang vet this morning but I'm not sure what they've said yet.
Could anyone shed any light on this? Could it be the treatment didn't kill the lice or could it be something else? She's not clipped so we know it is more difficult to get through the hair but she is rugged up and not really woolly.
 
Could be neck threadworms - commoner than a lot of us realise, someone's experience here: http://ihdg.proboards.com/thread/128742/neck-threadworms-sweet-itch. Worth trying a good wormer - if she uses Pramox at this time of year that contains moxidectin, a lot of the cheaper ones contain ivermection. Probably worth doing (if she hasn't already) and see whether the symptoms subside. It shouldn't be a grass or midge allergy at this time of year.
Other than that there is a blood test for allergens but, as ever, it ain't cheap - maybe she could run this stuff by her vet.
 
There maybe one cause. My pony gets sweet itch but he also had pinworm which caused him to scratch his tail like mad. He still gets sweet itch but has a full tail now the pinworm has been treated
 
Sometimes it can be very difficult to get rid of all the lice. Treatments will not always kill the eggs which hatch out and keep the cycle going. Ivermectin will kill bloodsucking creatures too. I'd treat more times and eventually you should get them all. It doesn't take many to make them scratch. Did the rugs get treated too to kill any on them? You can buy louse treatments for henhouses which you can treat rugs and stables with.
 
Last edited:
I would say pinworm!! they are hard to detect on a worm count, VETRAMIN from viovet is the wormer under £8 and it kills hair skin and pin worm, well worth giving him a dose to eliminate that problem xx
 
Gloi post very good, well worth treating him for lice mange and get his rugs all done at the same time, that is 3 big problems tackled in one go with the above postxxx
 
Thanks for more help, I looked up pinworms but they are found round the anus and this mare is itchy on her neck and rump.
Vet agreed with worming her again so she has now had pramox. His next suggestion is to clip her right out and re treat with the spray. This is a bit of a rock and a hard place as she can't come in while she is so itchy (she literally burst the stable door open rubbing on it) but she is already rugged up in her heavyweight rug with neck cover so it is a worry how to keep her warm. Hoping she will be better from the wormer.....
Rugs were cleaned professionally then sprayed as well. Vet said the eggs can't live without a host more than 10 days.
 
Dizzykizzy said:
Thanks for more help, I looked up pinworms but they are found round the anus and this mare is itchy on her neck and rump.
Vet agreed with worming her again so she has now had pramox. His next suggestion is to clip her right out and re treat with the spray. This is a bit of a rock and a hard place as she can't come in while she is so itchy (she literally burst the stable door open rubbing on it) but she is already rugged up in her heavyweight rug with neck cover so it is a worry how to keep her warm. Hoping she will be better from the wormer.....
Rugs were cleaned professionally then sprayed as well. Vet said the eggs can't live without a host more than 10 days.
Click to expand...

She may just be too hot if she is in a heavyweight ... it's not that cold yet lol
 
Think you are doing everything that you can!! pramox is very good!!!! yes pinworm makes them itch around the anal, but you can get hair and skin worm which makes them itch everywhere!!! thevetramin will kill them worms maybe worth re worming her after the pramox, i know horses can have a reaction to some straws oat straw and some with barley, mybe change to wheat straw??? wish you all the best xx
 
Another thought .... its been very mild so far this winter and the grass is still very green. Our retired mare who has still been living out until this recent wet has had bouts of itching .... neck and bottom. If we cut her down her 'intake', like reduced meals just as a carrier for medications, 2012 hay and stop strip grazing field then the itching goes away. Its almost as if she is getting too much goodness.
 
thank you all for more replies.
She can't be stabled due to the rubbing so can't be bedding.
She is in her heavyweight because the middle weight went off for cleaning/treatment but it started before the HW went on.
She has been strip grazed since she arrived in September. I don't think she's getting too much although she is not being ridden at the moment due to my friend just having a C-section.
 
Dizzy Kizzy - what is the horse being fed when she comes in?

She could have a general fungal infection - that can be exceedingly itchy - if you can bath her with Nizoral shampoo - dilute with hand hot water and work well into the hair to reach the skin.

A quick kinder way to do this in nasty weather is to fill a pump spray with the mix - I use a 4ltr weedsprayer - pump it up and spray in areas, as you spray work the mix into the hair - then move on to the next area - less water and just as effective - you can leave the mix on the coat to dry - no need to rinse.

My mare is like this - she gets extremely itchy, rubs the fence posts out of the ground - I worm her with a good dose of quality wormer (with a mectin base) it will also kill the lice too and neck worms. I then also wash her with the Nizoral.

Food wise - if she is on a premix - stop feeding it and feed Meadow Chaff, Fresh ground or Micronised Linseed and Sugarbeet.
 
Tnavas said:
Raw WHOLE Linseed is poisonous - it needs to either be ground or boiled. Linseed though is good for the coat and if freshly ground for joints as well
Click to expand...

It isn't but it isn't digestible thanks to the hard shell. So it needs to be ground, or soaked, but soaking it releases prussic (I think) acid which needs to be neutralised by heat, hence the need to boil it. Buying micronized is much easier - has had the heat treatment and is ground so the shell isn't an issue.
I did hear recently that it is now considered safe to feed soaked whole seeds but I'm not sure I would take the risk - anyone else read that?
 
JillA said:
It isn't but it isn't digestible thanks to the hard shell. So it needs to be ground, or soaked, but soaking it releases prussic (I think) acid which needs to be neutralised by heat, hence the need to boil it. Buying micronized is much easier - has had the heat treatment and is ground so the shell isn't an issue.
I did hear recently that it is now considered safe to feed soaked whole seeds but I'm not sure I would take the risk - anyone else read that?
Click to expand...

Never heard about feeding soaked and raw - the reaction happens when the outer husk is exposed to the inner seed.

Feeding whole Linseed is not a good idea - its a total waste of the nutrients - as you say it is very indigestible but I will still say that to feed raw whole Linseed puts the horse at risk.

When boiled the gases produced are evaporated off - and it seems that you are likely to inhale those gasses while you cook it.

Feeding fresh ground Linseed gives the double benifit of the Omega Oils for coat and joints
 
I have an itchy horse also, but presume it is because it has been warm (for the time of year) and wet. I would agree with Tnavas that it is probably a fungal infection.
My horses which have full coats only have rainsheets on - it has barely dropped below 5 degrees here in the SW, a horse which has been living out without a rug would be massively overheated in a middleweight let alone a HW - although if you are in the highlands or somewhere I appreciate the weather will be very different.
I am using a mud fever cream on mine, which sounds a bit odd, but it has an antifungal, antibacterial & a steroid to reduce the itching, it is doing the trick, though I would otherwise use a generic spray like hypocare.
 
Dizzykizzy said:
thank you all for more replies.
She has been strip grazed since she arrived in September. I don't think she's getting too much although she is not being ridden at the moment due to my friend just having a C-section.
Click to expand...

Would try not moving fencing, mine have been striped grazed as well and I my old girl has gone very itchy. She is not carrying an excess of weight, but if I reduce her calorific intake then the itching stops.

Could still be the lice as well as they can be devils to get sorted especially at this time of year.
 
Echoing what someone else has said, if this pony has been out on the moors (unrugged presumably) is there a possibility it could simply be too hot if it's in a heavyweight now? Even my clipped horses aren't wearing HW yet!!
 
I looked into wormers when my horse i rescued never stopped itching!!! bathed in deosect and still itched!!! when reading about wormers after my vet told me worm for pin worm, i found the vetramin killed hair and skin worm has well has pin worm!!! i gave her vectamin and yes the itching stopped i also de loused at the same time so something worked!! good luck hun xx
 
More thanks...
She is a 16hh BSJA reg mare not a moor pony, she came here in early Sept and wasn't rugged until the weather turned wet, she had a rain sheet before the middle weight, she has only had the heavyweight on for a week since the middle weight went for cleaning and she does not appear to be over warm, I feel under her rug every day when I go out.
She doesn't come in as she has become a nightmare in the stable. she does get fed twice a day, I'm not exactly sure what as I said she is not mine but I know she gets chaff and sugar beet as well as a broad spectrum vit supplement.
if it was fungal would the vet not have suggested treating for that? She still thinks it is lice and wants her clipped right out and re-treated with the spray. I think friend is resigned to clipping her out, we have both looked and can't see lice or eggs but she is grey so it isn't easy.
 
Dizzykizzy said:
More thanks...
She is a 16hh BSJA reg mare not a moor pony, she came here in early Sept and wasn't rugged until the weather turned wet, she had a rain sheet before the middle weight, she has only had the heavyweight on for a week since the middle weight went for cleaning and she does not appear to be over warm, I feel under her rug every day when I go out.
She doesn't come in as she has become a nightmare in the stable. she does get fed twice a day, I'm not exactly sure what as I said she is not mine but I know she gets chaff and sugar beet as well as a broad spectrum vit supplement.
if it was fungal would the vet not have suggested treating for that? She still thinks it is lice and wants her clipped right out and re-treated with the spray. I think friend is resigned to clipping her out, we have both looked and can't see lice or eggs but she is grey so it isn't easy.
Click to expand...

With vets I sometimes wonder!

Wet weather brings on rain scald and mudfever - both are fungal and unbearably itchy. Clipping right out is a sensible option and then a good hot bath with the Nizoral will kill any fungal problem. A good worm with a mectin based wormer should knock the lice on the head internally.
 
Mine had this - itched for weeks and weeks and I thought his sweet itch had just lasted forever! Then I found the beginning of his scabs and within a week he was covered in rain scald scabs. It's taken 5 weeks to get the last of them off and his coat is beginning to grow back through.
 
FinkleyAlex said:
Mine had this - itched for weeks and weeks and I thought his sweet itch had just lasted forever! Then I found the beginning of his scabs and within a week he was covered in rain scald scabs. It's taken 5 weeks to get the last of them off and his coat is beginning to grow back through.
Click to expand...

If it's been raining and mine get itchy the first thing I do is bath with Nizoral - if to cold to seriously bath I spray the mix into the coat and work up a lather with a plastic curry (they enjoy the scratchiness) then leave the mix in - as the horse is not too wet they don't chill.

Nizoral can be bought from the chemist in 1% or 2% strength - is also sold under the name Sebisol as well
 
update in case it helps anyone else..
Mare was treated 3times with insecticidal liquid with no improvement. Vet insisted she was clipped right out and treated again. She got much worse. They took skin and hair samples and it turned out to be bacterial and probably spread by being clipped. She has a huge sore patch on her side, has to be washed in hibiscrub everyday and oral antibiotic for 2 weeks.
The moral? don't always assume your vet is right :-( this poor mare has been suffering far too long.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top