Itchy skin and hairloss - please help :(

[HollyWoozle]

My Mum got a new horse in November and it hasn't worked out well so far - he is due to go for bone spavin surgery shortly.

As well as being lame, he has developed a strange skin issue which just started out with some flakiness and then him rubbing a bit, especially around his face. In his boredom in the field he started eating some fencing and I thought the skin reaction might be due to wood he had consumed. When the vet came he wasn't sure and suggested that it could be lice (but couldn't see any signs of them) so he has been treated for that in case. He has stopped eating the wood but his skin is just getting worse and worse!

It's like his body is covered in dandruff all over (inc. face, legs and everywhere basically). He rubs and rubs and now has bald patches. He has a fine coat anyway and has been living out 24/7 in just a rainsheet at night. He has become too warm in that now with the mild weather so is staying naked. There isn't much grass so he has been having 2 feeds a day of calm & condition with Dengie chaff, as well as ad lib hay... could it be a food allergy? I think we started him on C&C quite a while before the skin problem but we are changing now as he has plumped up a bit and we want to see if his skin improves without it.

Best photos I could get:

Obviously we will have the vet look at it again (we are just sorting out the surgery firstly) but I just wondered if anyone here had seen anything similar? Any help much appreciated, poor boy is having a rubbish time!

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

What did you use when you suspected lice? If you used any of the powders, you might as well have thrown your money down the nearest drain as they don't work. That's straight from my vets. Battles Louse Powder could be some minor help in preventing an outbreak but that's all. Hard to tell from the pix but it could be lice still. They look like tiny white grains of rice that - if you watch hard - creep very very slowly up and down the hairs. A good test is to lean against the horse and chat about something for 10 mins. When you move, the lice will have congregated where your nice warm body was and you should see little white specks creeping about wondering where you've gone. Check your arm by the way, as they'd be happy on you too. They can live for yonks on wood in the stable, rugs, grooming brushes, YOU, so it's no good just shaking some powder around and thinking you've sorted it. In my experience, the best product is Frontline Spray (dog strength). Spray and rub down into the skin (wear rubber gloves). Spray anywhere there could be lice but especially down the spine, base of tail and mane. Don't spray on the face - spray onto a cloth and carefully wipe keeping well away from eyes and nose. Then wash anything washable that's been in contact with the horse. Then spray door top, walls etc. Then be suspicious of any other horses as lice pass happily around very fast. Then wait 10 days and do it all again to make sure you get the newly hatched eggs. It could also be the start of sweetitch or the legs could be mudfever. Treat one "suspect" at a time or you'll never know what actually zapped it. Good luck x

 

[HollyWoozle]

Hi, thank you for the reply. My Mum treated him for the lice but it was a spray supplied by the vets (she had to wear gloves for it). I've spent quite a while looking at his skin and certainly can't see any lice, and the other horses that he's out with 24/7 since October show no signs either. I will try to your suggestion of leaning on him for a little while and seeing if any lice come to say hello!

Thanks.

 

[sweethearts]

Hi,
Does your horse have any swelling of his legs, face or or under his tummy? As his skin looks quite like a condition one of my horses has.It's called Pemphigus Foliaceous and he has had two major attacks over the 12 years I have had him, where his whole body has swollen up and he's been really really poorly, but then he has also had 2 or 3 mild attacks where just patches of his skin has gone flakey and his hair has come out. Each time I have cut all his food out except just grass and hay and he has been treated initially with a high dose of prednisolone and then this has been reduced over about a month until he is fully back to normal.
Obviously not sure if this is what your horse has got, but might be something to look in to and consider as it took a really long time and several stays in hospital for my vet to diagnose my boy.
Good luck anyway x

 

[lizzi2]

Aloe Vera is good for skin irritations and if you've not tried, maybe worth giving it a go. (can have it as a gel added to feed and also gelly/creme's applied topically) - this vet article has some info in it: http://bit.ly/fc6x5e
Obviously if there is something in your horse's environment which is causing the problem, then using lotions will only mask the symptoms.

hope helps,

 

[daisalph]

I would be worried about using something strong like Frontline when the skin is already inflamed. There are milder things that can be used lfor longer term that don't make the sores worse. I'd try something with tea tree oil in or what I find good for all itchy skin is Biteback lotion or oint-ment. I can get it locally as the company are in the next town and I use it for for sweet-itch but it's suposed to be good for mites as well you can get it on the web - its quiet cheap. Worth a try.