I cant take much more!

[walkandtrot]

Sorry about this rant but to cut a long story short, we bought a pony for my daughter in January, the owners ommitted to tell us it had sweet itch, which it has full blown now, when we questioned them they admitted it and sent us a cheque for the pony and told us to keep it, its just awful, we've been doing everything we have be advised to do, stabling dawn & dusk, sprays, creams, rugs, but the poor thing is still going insane as soon as it gets out, scratching itself raw, I've just bathed her, which has made the sores more obvious, my daughter cant ride it, and there doesnt seem to be light at the end of the tunnel, sorry but had to get off my chest.......

 

[MrsMozart]

Aw hun. What does the vet say? Do you have the sweat itch tablets? The Boett rug (the one that can be ridden in)? Put Brewers Yeast in her feed?

 

[lovecharles]

same thing here, we loan a rescue pony who was 'perfect, easy, no trouble, no vices or issues' oh apart from his chronic sweet itch. i have found, though very expensive, feeding garlic does help.just SOAK in fly spray and wash ear regulary as can get bloody and sore. sudacrem, benzyl benzoate, and though very expensive, a fly repellant for humans called Ben's 100 which is 100% DEET. Tiny bottle is about £15 with an after cream, but i fin if you squirt a little cream into your hands, and one or 2 sprays of the repellent, mix together and rub into ears or mane roots, this soothes and repels.

it is expensive but it's bloody good stuff.
hope it gets a bit better for you. i know how your feeling, and fly rugs are hard to find in tiny sizes.

 

[walkandtrot]

The vet just advised as I wrote, gave me a leaflet that a rep had dropped into the surgery, not that they stock the stuf, how can I stop her itching, she's onto her 3rd rug now, the rest have been wrecked, I hate to see her suffering.

 

[gails]

Oh how horrid for you and pony. It sounds as if you are doing all you can. A small thing that helped one of my old ponies was marmite on a slice of bread, was not a cure but helped

 

[Pearlsasinger]

[quote fly rugs are hard to find in tiny sizes.

[/ QUOTE ]

I pass a shetland which wears one on my journey to work.

 

[spaniel]

Oh dear, you are going to hate me for saying this but if the pony really is that bad maybe it would be kinder to have her pts. I dont say this lightly but unless you can find a real way of stopping that first midge bite you are going to be going through this year after year. If the pony is going insane and scratching itself raw.......

Im am sickened to think that the previous owners have put you and the pony through this especially as she was bought for a child.

 

[lovecharles]

[ QUOTE ]
Oh how horrid for you and pony. It sounds as if you are doing all you can. A small thing that helped one of my old ponies was marmite on a slice of bread, was not a cure but helped

[/ QUOTE ]

LIGHTBULB!
Vitamin B!
Marmite contains yeast which *i think* contains a form of Vit B. It is also recommened to people going to tropical countries, to take vit b for about a month going, as it acts as a repellent! my mum is a pharmacist, and she agrees.

I can't imagine it'd be dangerous to horses, though check with the vet first but it could be an idea

 

[Bowen4Horses]

my mare used to suffer very badly for about half the year! it was a nightmare... but we got it 'under control' to a degree...

-boett rugs are ACE (it's REALLY worth paying the extra for it), our 'spare' rug was the rambo sweetitch one, again a bit costly... but normal fly rugs shred in minutes.
-electric fence round the edge of the field
-avon's skin so soft stuff
-get her away from any standing water
-put her somewhere quite windy if poss
-wash her regularly
-try to keep her in at dusk and dawn (when midges are worst)

xxx

 

[MrsMozart]

[ QUOTE ]
The vet just advised as I wrote, gave me a leaflet that a rep had dropped into the surgery, not that they stock the stuf, how can I stop her itching, she's onto her 3rd rug now, the rest have been wrecked, I hate to see her suffering.

[/ QUOTE ]

Is it the Boett rug? They are the best for sweat itch as far as I am aware.

The things I know of for sweat itch, and others will know more:
In at dawn and dusk;
Marmite/Brewers Yeast;
Garlic;
Sweet itch tablets - don't know what they are called, get them from the vet;
Boett rug;
Oil type stuff on exposed areas to stop the little blighters getting hold;
Keep the muck heap away, and keep it covered in black plastic sheeting;

If you look on the Boett site, you'll see lotions and potions that are meant to help.

Fingers crossed!

 

[Bowen4Horses]

p.s. as someone above said... if she's already starting rubbing, this year might be hard... but you'll know in time for next year to act preventatively... it can make soooo much difference!

 

[MrsMozart]

Just hopping back again - I have to say, that if it is that bad, even if you have all the above items in place, I would pts. Little Lad had a bout of scratching for some reason, and rubbed his head raw: he (and I!) couldn't take that as a regular thing, poor lad was going demented

The only other thing would be to make a play pen inside for him and keep him in when the biting b*st*rds are out of the way.

 

[LankyDoodle]

I would say that because you didn't know about the sweet itch, you put in place the measures after the start of the SI season, so have struggled to keep on top of it.

My 17.3hh beast has severe sweet itch. He was our friend's horse until last summer, and they have their own yard near woodland and a stream, and are quite sheltered. He had a rambo hoodie which would not cover his belly very well due to his size, and that was the area (along with his ears) where he was red raw. He was also difficult to ride as he would stop dead and put himself into all sorts of positions to scratch, with you on his back, which made things very hard.

He came to us and because of the change in location (less shelter, no woodland, no stream, open space) the midge population was less, which has helped a lot.

He gets a bath at least once a week in a dettol/insecticide shampoo mix; after his bath and after rides, I slap on the killitch (BB is the active ingredient). He gets itch stop or sudocrem rubbed around his chin and sheat and between his back legs each day and he gets a homemade fly spray once or twice a day. THE biggest help, though, has come from a sweetitch rug which offers high coverage - he has a snuggyhood which I feel is best. It covers everything except legs and sheath area and a bit of his muzzle. EVERYTHING else is covered, and he wears it March til October. He had it off for 2 weeks to send it back to be fixed and he managed to get a small patch or two of sweetitch which, with the rug, has now healed. He had the rug off the other day when we had horrible rain and winds, which gave me an opportunity to wash it and for him to roll and have a breather from it.

He no longer rubs. His mane and tail are intact and he has very few scabs apart from a few round his sheath (still time yet!).

I would say that fly rugs are USELESS for sweetitch sufferers, unless very very mild. You need to spend out on a proper, high coverage, light and breathable, sweetitch rug if you haven't already.

My boy is out 24/7 which helps him (he only went out to help my cob who has a bad dust allergy) as he doesn't get bored so easily out there and doesn't have things so readily available to scratch on.

 

[TinselRider]

Ok go onto google and search Kill Itch by carr day and martin its expensive stuff but DOES work! secondly bath the pony once or twice a week in TEATREE shampoo and conditioner midges HATE it.
If the midges are in the stable area and if your pony will tolerate it I highly reccomend putting a fan in or by the stable to create a breeze.

 

[walkandtrot]

The sad thing is, having spoke to someone who knows the pony, her first owner bought her a Boett rug, which must have been lost somewhere along the way, what a waste, she's such a gorgeous little thing, she's a shetland x welsh, pure white with some dapples and the most gorgoeus little face, would have loved to have shown her lead rein, I have had moments of PTS thoughts, hopefully if we can get her stablised, we can try and prevent it next year, your comments have made me feel much better.

 

[LankyDoodle]

There is also an injection you can have for SI sufferers. They didn't work on my boy in his last home, but I think the problem was that they didn't finish the course and they need to have them every 6 months or something. They are based on steroids and can be a causal agent for laminitis, so you would have to be careful with that; but a friend of ours has a horse with not quite as bad sweet itch as Lanky, but by keeping on top of the injections, his SI has cleared up and all he wears is a common fly rug (which I would never ever recommend for SI sufferers as they are not appropriate in any way for this level of allergy/irritation).

 

[Tiarella]

Boett rugs are AMAZING!

 

[Sharonr]

I've heard that diluted Dettol works wonders.

It also acts as an anaesthetic so may help immediately.

Apparently there is an instruction on the bottle as to the dilution for itching so may be worth a try.

 

[dsophiea]

i use an aloe-vera after sun gel on my girl when it gets to the summer months when she is really bad, also i can recommend the marmite on the bread, it really seems to of worked with mine. also i have removed anything sweet from my mare's diet, such as molichop, and since doing this she has really improved.
hope you manage to help her, its such an awful condition

 

[welshied]

Someone told me that diluted dettle works really well but i personally haven't tried it says it soothes sweetitch and puts off the midges

 

[f_s_]

I had a pony with severe sweet itch, and Boett rugs really are worth the money.

Feeding brewer's yeast helps as the B vitamins make the horse smell and taste funny.

Garlic, I was told should not really be fed to sweet itch sufferers, as it boosts the immune system, and sweet itch is caused by an over reactive immune system.

Kill Itch is excellent stuff.

You can have a vaccine for sweet itch now, but, be very careful, as it can bring on laminitis.

Finally, a good fly spray, with Skin so Soft added is great, but you must spray liberally, and vaseline on exposed bits.

Hope this has given you some ideas, I know that it is the most awful thing to deal with, and a constant battle. Good luck and I hope that you can help your pony.

 

[Paint it Lucky]

Beware of using too much Benzyl Benzoate or using it too often as it does have side effects, can't remember which at present but think it can indce laminitis (in a few cases), would have to look it up, soz not very helpfull!

 

[Walrus]

If you can get through this year with a combination of what has been recommended already I would thoroughly recommend asking your vet about immunotherapy vaccines for next year. Basically you have to have a blood test done whilst the horse has symptoms to prove it is allergic to the midge bite that causes sweet itch. Then the vet can prescribe the vaccine which essentially desensitises the horse to it. You have to build up with a series of injections so you need to start it 2-3 months before the sweet itch season starts. Thing is you need the blood test to prove you need the vaccine so the vet can get an import licence to get the vaccine. It sounds tricky but it's quite simple and the vet deals with all that side anyway. I would definitely speak to your vet about it for next year as it would be best to have the blood test done whilst pony has symptoms I think. I'd say worth an ask.

Have also heard of something called Cavalesse that has just been released for sweet itch - not sure what it is exactly but it is mentioned in this week's horse and hound where there is an article on sweet itch that you might find interesting if you haven't seen it already.

Good Luck

 

[Walrus]

QR Looking at a couple of the posts above they mention something with side effects of laminitis - I know that something that is used for allergies / bad skin in people, cats and dogs but less so in the long term in horses is corticosteroids - these can have laminitis as a side effect.

 

[palomino698]

QR How much Marmite, and how many times a day would you give a sandwich?

 

[Pearlsasinger]

[ QUOTE ]
also i have removed anything sweet from my mare's diet, such as molichop, and since doing this she has really improved.

[/ QUOTE ]

We also found that removing all sugar from the diet made a difference - it's not called sweetitch for nothing!

 

[Slinkyunicorn]

I would also give aloe vera juice in her feed twice a day as it will help heal and soothe her skin. You can also put pure aloe gel on the itchy patches - again will help heal and soothe. Can buy from the health food shop to try and if it works can be bought online in greater quantites.

 

[PeterNatt]

There is a very good article in this weeks Horse and Hound about treating horses with sweet itch. I would strongly recomend that you read it.