How do you guys manage sweet itch?

[tasteofchristmaschaos]

I went up to get Fella in yesterday for the farrier and found him covered in sweat from his sweet itch rug. It was muggy but not even that hot. The lady who was poo picking the field said he keeps on trying to get it off because its making him uncomfortable. I took it off and am not putting it back on until it gets cooler - but what do I replace it with?
He is having a daily wash with benzyl benzoate and being sprayed with fly repellent - but he won't always let the lady who looks after him on the days I can't get close to him to do this. (I do him 5 days a week most weeks but am worried about him being itchy the days I can't get up there.) Also, where his sweet itch rug hasn't been (basically his sheath, top inside of back legs and the back of his belly) I can't do with benzyl as he has small cuts there from rubbing it.
I really don't want to feed him anything as he definately needs to loose weight but I am thinking this may be the only option now he can't have the rug on. I have been suggested garlic but after doing some research found that can do more harm than good, so I was thinking marmite and brewers yeast.
Do you guys think there is anything else I can do to reduce his itchyness without feeding him?

 

[thedunthing]

kill itch is fab but im not sure if you can use it allover them i have a feeling it is only for manes and tails. could you not just give him some chaff with marmite?

 

[f_s_]

Marmite or brewer's yeast definitely feed.

Not garlic, boosts the immune system too much, and sweet itch is an abnormal reaction to midge bites by the immune system.

Lots of fly repellent, barrier cream/gel on exposed parts, ie: sheath, between back legs etc.

Sweet itch rug should not be making him sweat. The Boett ones were great when we used it on our little pony.

Good luck, it's a hard thing to manage. Think there have been a few posts recommending products that have worked well.

 

[kerilli]

what sweet itch rug do you have? my mare's got an Amigo Bug Rug on and hasn't sweated yet, she'd be the first to let me know if she wasn't 100% comfy, and would rip it off with her teeth probably.
are you watering down the bb to wash him with it? i used it at full strength.
i now use Killitch by Carr and Day and Martin because it's definitely more effective, i know chief ingredient is bb but it works better than just that somehow.
what about good old-fashioned fly repellent sprayed on the bits he won't let you smear bb on?

 

[tasteofchristmaschaos]

Thats what I would give him if I decide I have to feed him, but I am reluctant to give him anything as he is overweight having been out of work and being a very good doer. And the spring grass is only just coming through in his field, so I can't think of a worse time to start feeding.

 

[Cahill]

if my cob starts to get too hot i will clip her out but not had any probs yet.
she has been rugged since before the midges came out and i spray her with deosect once a week.
she has not itched at all this year.
deosect is the only spray that i have tried that really works.it is expensive but has to be diluted so goes a long way.

 

[tasteofchristmaschaos]

He would let me put BB on it, but it's not suitable for broken skin.
I have been using it at half strength - maybe I should up the concentration?
I have been warned away from putting creams on, people saying it attracts the flies.
He has a DeMeulenkamp "Itch-Off" rug, very similar to boett. He takes a 7'6 rug so there is very little option to change the type of rug as most places don't do rugs that big.

 

[JRT]

I have been trying Feemark's Equi Dermis Plus since February this year and so far he hasn't been too bad, I think it really is helping. I always smother his sheath and along his belly with Vaseline which keeps most of the midges at bay. Mine is only in his lightweigh turnout at the moment when it rains, but I am sure he will need his Boett very shortly.

 

[HelsB]

Global herbs "Skratch Plus" is amazing stuff - a scoop in feed and the horse smells so bad the midgeys don't come near!

Everyone I know who has tried it says it works or them

 

[LankyDoodle]

I will be honest with you: the only thing that is going to stop the sweet itch is a combination of a good, high coverage rug which is light enough and breathable enough that they won't sweat, weekly (at least) baths using mixture of dettol and an insecticidal shampoo, a homemade flyspray using essential oils as well as vinegar, tea and meths, killitch after the bath and one other time a week all over the mane, tail, around the belly and legs and down the spine (NOT on the sheath, sudocrem/vaseline/itch-stop cream on the sheath and muzzle and any other exposed areas. Also, if you can, keep him in as open a space and as far away from natural water sources as you possibly can (high on a hillside is best

).

Sorry to say that, but it's my experience. Last year, my boy was owned by our friends still. He's a big lad and they struggled to find rugs to cover his belly. He was in a rambo sweet itch hoodie, and his belly was red raw, his ears were read raw (as couldn't keep a mask on him that had ears in it and the hoody has none), his sheath was red raw. He was kept in a sheltered paddock next to a stream with lots of tree covering. He was sprayed before rides using a normal shop spray, and they used itch stop all over his scabs. He was in during the day and out at night from March to Sept (when we bought him) due to the midges.

Now we have him. He has a snuggyhoods rug and hood set which covers everywhere except sheath and legs (I bought the legs but they are flippin' USELESS!). I put sudocrem around his sheath area. I had a muzzle guard built into the hood so that it protected his muzzle as well, but I put sudocrem there as it doesn't cover the whole area. I also had a fly fringe built in. There is a built in tail guard and built in ears. He is out 24/7 at the moment (mainly to help my cob, who's resp problems have recently got worse), which has helped him no end as he doesn't get as bored and there's not so much readily available for him to scratch on. He is sprayed once or twice daily using my home fly spray. He has a bath once a week and is plastered in killitch after that bath and one other time a week. He is groomed regularly as loose hair will make him itch more as well. He is in a very open, large field with no natural water source nearby.

In April, I had to go 2 weeks without a rug as the seem was faulty and it had to be fixed (free) by snuggyhoods. During that 2 week period he did develop two very small patches of sweet itch on his belly. Now the rug is back on, these have cleared up. The moment he gets ANY scabs, he is covered in sudocrem in that area to soothe it and to stop any further biting.

Apart from those two little patches he is free of it this year, for the first time since he developed it, aged 3, 4 years ago. The first two years they had him (before they started taking it seriously), he was covered head to toe in scabs and lost lots of hair where he itched. Last year he was better with the rambo but it DID make him sweat up a lot and just looking at him in it made me feel sweaty (the inside is a plasticy material). Last year he also lost about 75% of his tail and it's taken til now for it to grow back). This year he has a full tail and so far, no itching there.

Some people go for the injections. Lanky had them in his last home and they did not work for him but, until this year, he was a particularly severe case. I know it is eatly yet (still 4 months of torture left and worse to come yet) but I am quite proud that the changes I have made, have meant he is much more comfortable and almost sweet itch free!

So in short, get a rug which won't make him sweat if you haven't already, as once you remove the rug and he starts getting bitten (particularly in this damp but muggy weather), you will struggle to get back on top of it.

 

[tasteofchristmaschaos]

LankyDoodle - The only other sweetitch rug that I can find that do rugs in his rize are boett, which are made from the same material as his present one.

 

[Tiarella]

Clip out fully & use a boett rug, theyre amazing!

 

[LankyDoodle]

What size is he?

My boy takes a 7'3" rug and snuggyhoods make one big enough for him. They also have little ponies in them on their website.

I had bad experiences with boetts (and a few friends did) so I didn't go there. I nearly bought one when the seam went on mine, but snuggyhoods were very good and it was a case of the seam being faulty rather than the rug being rubbish.

 

[LankyDoodle]

Out of interest, what rug is it that you've got? Is it a pagony?

 

[jojo23]

I use the shires fly rug on my horse who is driven mad by midges and she does not sweat.

 

[tasteofchristmaschaos]

He takes a 7'6 rug and I believe snuggyhoods only do up to 7'3.

 

[tasteofchristmaschaos]

No it's not a pagony - it's from the same company but the more expensive version.

 

[LankyDoodle]

I think the shires fly rug has little holes in it, though, so I don't think it is suitable for sweet itch.

 

[LankyDoodle]

http://www.snuggyhoods.com/index.php/Size-Guide.html

They go upto 7'6"

 

[Cahill]

i have the pagony from divorza

it`s thinner than the snuggy but it works.
the 1st year my pon had SI i could not even stable her because she rubbed on the door frame and knocked a block wall down with her bum-rubbing.she has this on this week
....

and she has one of these but it`s too big and pulls back a bit

i would rather have a pon covered up and a bit hot than bitten.

 

[LankyDoodle]

The snuggyhoods set is highly breathable and my boy has not sweated one bit in it. He did sweat in the rambo, and he was also sweating in a lightweight turnout back in March, so he does get warm. I think the SH set is so light and breathable that it doesn't really make them hot. They recommend that people buy the colour closest to their horse's colour, to help with the heat issue, for some reason.

 

[LankyDoodle]

I am thinking of maybe getting a pagony as a spare, as they do look quite good coverage.

 

[tasteofchristmaschaos]

Thanks LankyDoodle. I'm not sure how much he would like the face part as he can be a little funny with things around his face, but the snuggyhood is a definate possibility.

 

[LankyDoodle]

Yes, my boy is like that I must admit, but I HAD to have something with a face in it (you don't have to have the fringe or muzzle parts) as his face and ears were particularly badly affected.

 

[Honeypots]

TBH I would rather my horse was sweaty than ripping himself apart with sweet itch.
I don't know what that particular rug is like but the Boett and tbh, most sweet itch rugs should be breathable so maybe yours isn't or maybe he was sweaty because of being sweet itchy rather than too hot.
I manage my guy with an Amigo Bug Rug or Boett and with this (Theresa-F) Avon Skin so Soft Flt recipe
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/3077263/an/0/page/0#3077263

I've had terrible trouble in the past with my boy's sheath and legs and tail but this year with this fly spray he has a full tail and no sores on his sheath yet...mainly I reckon because its cheap and I can cover him liberally and regularly. By not spraying him a couple of days a week you are leaving him vulnerable to the midges so you'll never stop the cycle. I have to do my lad twice a day..

 

[Donkeymad]

Our boy gets SI pretty badly and we have tried numerous lotions and potions (including Killitch which was useless.) Benzyl benzoate works but by far the best we have found is spraying with deosect, then applying Nettex Itch Stop Salve to neck and dock, then rugging with an ordinary fly sheet. White sheets will help keep the horse cooler as it reflects the sun rather than dark ones, which draw in the sun rays.
Also helpful if you can stable at dawn and dusk, when the midges are at their worst.

 

[NotAnotherChestnut]

I use benzyl benzoate on my girl who suffers from SI. Have found that to be the best potion in addition to the bathing/rugging as discussed above.

One additional question.. Where do people get their BB from?? I sometimes really struggle getting mine from the chemist as it's often out of stock from the supplier. (I'm talking about the big bottles).

 

[Cyberchick]

This wont be any help on the rug front but it has some other hints and tips which might help.

http://fsr.emv2.com/cyber_check/web/images/sweetitch.html

 

[LankyDoodle]

Ginger_girls:
I'm not able to buy BB anymore. They stopped supplying it to people a few years ago, which I think was something to do with carconogenic thingamies.

I use Killitch which has BB in it. But I use it a max of 2x a week. You are not meant to apply BB daily.

 

[LankyDoodle]

Thanks, cyberchick. Really helpful. The 2nd pic down is what my big horse was like all over (and with much less tail) a few years ago before they started using a rambo hoodie. Then it was just his tail, belly and ears like that. Now he just has two smallish patches which are clearing up with the rug back on. A real improvement with the right rug, ointments and management.