Itching -- advice please

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Rachel-Louise

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My horse is very itchy at the moment. He's only just started this summer. He has had lice twice in the past but it cleared up by using deosect. He then got feather mites but had the injection from the vet and it seems to have stopped the stamping. But he's very very itchy atm and not sure if its because of the mites and lice in the past. It's mainly his back, bum, tail and mane. I am worried it's sweet itch.

When the vet came out to do his vaccinations I did speak to him about it. He told me to worm him with Strongid-P first incase its pinworms and if it doesn't stop he can give him an injection. If that doesn't work he'll have to do tests etc. But to be honest I would like to try a shampoo and supplements first before having to receive a vets bill. He hasn't rubbed any of his mane/tail/hair out but he's not stabled so hasn't had the chance. He does try rubbing when I tie him up though.

I've done some research and found several products/supplements. Any advice on these would be much appreciated. Or any others suggestions?

Shampoos..
- Barrier anti itch shampoo (aloe vera)
- Gold Label aloe vera shampoo
- Wahl aloe soothe shampoo
- Malacetic equine antibacterial shampoo
- Gallop medicated shampoo
- Stinky stuff

Supplements
- Linseed
- Brewers yeast
- Seaweed
With the supplements should I buy them all seperate, or I've found something called Herbal Total which has them all in it. Or 'Hilton herbs bye bye itch' has linseed and brewers yeast in it. Anyone used these?

My only worry is that I'll spend my money trying these for them not to work and then have to get the vet out anyway. I don't know what to do :/
Hope this all makes sense. Just looking for some advice really. Or maybe someone could tell me I'm just being stupid and should just pay the vets bill!! Haha :)
 
Have a look at Aqueos horse shampoo, has made an enormous difference to my very itchy cob.
I use brewers yeast, micronised linseed and seaweed. All bought separately as I never found the specific supplements to be any use.
I try to keep him off all sugars and alfalfa as they make him itch more.
It really is a try it and see thing. What works for one won't work for a thousand others x
 
As above, keep off feeds with molasses in. Micronised linseed is great for coat condition. From what I remember reading somewhere, seaweed isn't supposed to be very effective.

Does he wear a fly rug at all? Are you able to keep him in at dawn and dusk away from the midges? Deosect is great, it maybe worth re-treating to see if that makes a difference. Years ago benzyl benzoate was "the" product to use, but it's almost impossible to get hold of on its own these days. However, Carr, Day & Martin have killitch and the active ingredient is BB! It is also found in Sudocreme so for sore spots this is effective and easy to buy.
 
Aloe vera will be useful if there's an itch-scratch-itch cycle going on, it cools inflamed skin and rapidly reduces swelling too. Damaged skin can itch as it heals starting the cycle again.

If you want to bath him Dermolene Insecticidal Shampoo will kill lice, repeat 2wks later to get the newly hatched eggs which wouldn't have been killed the first time.

A glug of oil (I use either Sunflower oil from Tesco or Cod Liver Oil from Countrywide, depending on how flush I am) in the feed can help if the skin is dry and flaky and itchy, as can conditioner after you've bathed them. If you feed a vitamin/mineral supplement, you could try changing to one with an oil base, which sometimes helps. I like Benevit.

Herbs I think don't stop the itching but are useful for accelerating the healing of the damaged skin if he's rubbing up sores. If you feed herbs continuously through the itchy season you end up with a horse who scratches just as much but there's less or no sores. I like Dodson & Horrell D-Itch for this.

Do you use a fly rug? It might be something as simple as tiny flies annoying him. Mine goes crazy with ear rubbing without the fly mask in the field.

It's upto you whether you go the vet investigations route (which may or may not result in a diagnosis, sometimes all they can do is rule things out) then get them to prescribe something if possible, or whether you go for trial and error. Sometimes you don't need a formal diagnosis or even a self-diagnosis to successfully figure out a way to treat a problem, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's the cheaper option.
 
Sorry haven't read all of the post so you may have tried it but Stinky stuff is good. As the name suggests it smells pretty bad but it works really well
 
Thank you for all the advice.

Sugar_and_Spice said:
Do you use a fly rug? It might be something as simple as tiny flies annoying him. Mine goes crazy with ear rubbing without the fly mask in the field.
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Peregrine Falcon said:
Does he wear a fly rug at all? Are you able to keep him in at dawn and dusk away from the midges? Deosect is great, it maybe worth re-treating to see if that makes a difference.
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Yes he's in a fly rug. It's keeping the flies away from him but his skin is still very flaky (no sores) so I need a shampoo to help his skin and then I'm hoping the itchiness will go away. I can't keep him in until his itchiness has gone as he just itches on the stable and broke part of the wood itching his bum once!!
I have re-treated him with the deosect a couple times over the summer as I have heard it's good as a fly spray.. no bot eggs this year!! :)

11bluewolf said:
Sorry haven't read all of the post so you may have tried it but Stinky stuff is good. As the name suggests it smells pretty bad but it works really well
Click to expand...
I've seen that going around on Facebook. May give it a go but it's just not cheap!
 
I've had really good results with my itchy mare with Head and Shoulders Instant Relief - peppermint and tea tree. Definitely keeps the itching to a minimum, gets rid of any scurfy bits and she no longer gets scabby legs in the winter.
 
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