help, seriously itchy and miserable horse - ticks

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maggie123

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My mare has been itchy and grumpy for the last couple of weeks, kicking out when tied up and swishing and itching her side. Yesterday night I found a few small scabby lumps under her rug when doing my evening field check and when I picked a couple off a found small bugs inside them!! My vet has advised they are immature ticks, apparently the mild autumn has brought them back out again. My girl is grey and quite thin skinned and is completely miserable, constantly itching at her side and very grumpy with me - so grumpy she leap sideways and cow kicked me today leading her back to the field :eek: when shes normally so well mannered.

What is the best way to get rid of the ticks and stop her itching? I've used flyspray as a temporary measure. Is there some kind of treatment that will kill them off and sooth her itching? Ideally something that lasts for a while not something that needs doing daily.

All and any advice gratefully received, poor girl is really unhappy :(
 
In Africa we dip them just like you dip dogs and cows and anything else that is in grass and can pick up ticks, we do this because you couldnt spray every little part of a horses body where there might be a tick and because they are blood suckers they will have latched on, so to speak and really tweezers are what is needed to remove them with their head otherwise this could stay behind and turn in to a nasty sore, so speak with your vet and see if there is a dip you could use then give her a good ole bath, i know it is cold but a bit of cold is worth more than getting sick from a tick bite, going to check mine tomorrow for ticks thanks for the post it is a reminder.
 
Neem oil!

Wonderful stuff, just mix 5 mls of Neem with 3 mls of a mild shampoo and make up to 1 litre with hotish water and wash over with that. It will cause any ticks or lice to drop off and prevent others attaching.

I used it on the dogs all summer and they never got a flea or a tick.
 
Thanks both.

Foxhunter - I googled neem oil and it says its more of a preventative than a cure, sounds like an excellent thing to use once Ive killed off the blighters living on her atm to stop them coming back

I'll look into a chemical dip - has anyone got any suggestions of effective brands for sale here in the UK?

Thanks for all the advice :)
 
Unusual to get a diagnosis but no treatment:confused:

Coopers Spot On will sort this for you in a couple of days. It's not licenced for horses, but is prescribed for exactly this problem all the time. You can also buy it in 250ml bottles from an agricultural store.

Your vet can dispense a 10ml dose, it's a liquid and you just pour it along the spine from the wither to the tail (miss out the saddle area if the horse is in work) it will leave an oily mark which will disappear in a couple of days.
 
If it was me, I'd remove the ticks a.s.a.p! If they are left on they are able to just die in situ and they won't just fall off. I worked with these little devils all over summer for uni and they are horrible - please use specific tick removers or if you are not confident, get someone else to do it as if you leave the mouthparts embedded there will be an unpleasant reaction. Don't, whatever you do, try and pull them off, put Vaseline round them, etc as this can cause them to regurgitate into the blood stream and transmit disease (Although if they are immature there is less chance of this :))
The vet should be able to give you something to repel them - once they are off, kill them in alcohol (they are hard to squish believe me!) and put some form of antibacterial cream on where they have been.
She will be fine :)
K x
 
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maggie123 said:
Thanks both.

Foxhunter - I googled neem oil and it says its more of a preventative than a cure, sounds like an excellent thing to use once Ive killed off the blighters living on her atm to stop them coming back

I'll look into a chemical dip - has anyone got any suggestions of effective brands for sale here in the UK?

Thanks for all the advice :)
Click to expand...

No, it will kill the ticks.
When I first used it I didn't do the dog's heads and that was the only place they got the ticks, I wanted to see if the ticks would drop off with the Neem or not, they did immediately!

I did the dogs every three weeks and when I was late in bathing them and two of the terriers went off on their own they returned covered in a large flea rather like an earwig in size - they were both smothered. A quick dunk in the mix and no fleas at all.

I have been using it for a year or so and am very impressed with the properties it has. When I finish dunking the dogs I spread the residue on the vegetable garden and there are no slugs or snails near the plants.

It also alleviated itching and keep midges and flies away and last for quite some time.
The downer is that it smells terrible but that wears off after a few hours.
 
Thanks all. Re diagnosis but no treatment I just spoke to vet briefly on the phone who said to buy an insectacide, hence asking you guys for recommendations. If I treat her and she's still unhappy then I'll get her out for a visit. I'll go speak to the local agricultural shop and see if they have any of your suggestions in stock
 
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