Itchy Tail rubbing it raw. Habit?

Spottyappy

Spottyappy

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Any help or advise please!
My horse, whom I bred and is now 15 years young, started to itch and rub his tail out about 2 winters ago- never having done it previously. He only does it in the stable. He is only stabled for about 3 months, in winter.
The vet reckoned it was nothing to worry about, but the skin was dry. So,deloused, and having tried a million potions and lotions, nothing makes any difference, even though by using a cream the dock no longer appears dry.
I purchased a snuggy rug, which wraps his tail, and that genereally stops the damage, but he is STILL rubbing it on any available surface.
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I have now put electric tape all round the stable in an effort to stop him, but rugs mean he can still itch if he is brave!! (usually when I have failed to notice the batteries in the energiser are failing!).
Is it some biazzare ritual
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that he has gotton into the habit of when being stabled, or has anyone else come across anything similar, or have any other ideas or suggestions?
Many thanks.
 
My biy rubs his bum/tail in the stable and somehow rubs underneath his dock raw at times. I put Dermobian (got an old tube still) on it and it seems to dry up. He turns his bum to me, so that I will itch it for him.
 
It may be behavioural - BUT in my lami pony this is one of the signs I watch out for - when he is starting to get into a bad place this is exactly what he does. Rubs himself raw. Then we see the other symptoms of LGL appear.

So keep an eye on sugars, no molasses, limit or avoid cereals, no feed balancers etc....

We got stuff from LeoVet - I think it was called NoRub that seemed to help soothe things down a bit.
 
Thx. I have changed the bedding, but whatever I use, he still itches. I don't use alot of any of it, as have mats.
He does, like yours Louby, LOVES his bum and tail being scratched. He also turns his bum for a scratch- to the alarm of any one who doesn;t know him as he is 16.2hh!!
Have tried cowboy magic oil, which made him sore,and it bled. Baby oil is ok, but doesn;t seem as good as cream.
I'm desparing, as it seema so sad to have to electrify the whole stable to stop this behaviour.
 
Hadn't thought about sugar intolerance. He,touch wood, isn't laminitic. He is fed D and H Build Up, ( he doesn;t hold his weight in winter otherwise) and Spillers Happy Hoof. Supplements are Oilavite- been on that before the itch- and Chrondoitrin sulphate.
If it could be the sugar in the Build up( and I only use this in winter, switch to pasture mix through summer), any suggestions of weight maintaining feed with less sugar? I can't feed beet or grass nuts, as they seem to upset his gut- he had colic surgery and that maybe why.
 
Wow! Digital angel, you are a genius! Not sure if could be his sheath, but he is an incredibly sensitive boy! If it needs doing in the summer, he bucks like mad to tell me! As he's turned away now, it could be a sign that all is not well. Hadn't even crossed my mind it could be related, but now u say it, it could well be the reason. thanks!
Will investigate as soon as I can take warm water up field, as having to use all suitable containers to keep drinking water going,as had a leak on water pipe,and now we're frozen anyway so having to cart truckloads up!
 
Could be the Chondroitin - this mucopolysacharide has been known to cause skin issues and some horses don't get on with it.

Depends on the individual horse - some are more sensitive to sugars than others. Look for other signs such as a slight crest, fatty pads, ripples (however slight) on the dorsal hoof wall - it may add up to a picture.

But if you think it may be diet related rather than behavioural then there is nothing wrong with trying an exclusion diet where you just feed hay for a couple of weeks and see if that changes anything.

Happy hoof (4% starch, 3% sugar) is low sugar, but still has MIloglo - a soy and molasses compound

Somethign that might be worth considering is Linseed meal (Charnwood £25/20Kg) - it provides Omega 3 and 6 in good quantity which will help with skin and inflamation, but also provides mucilage which is soothing and calming for the digestive tract - and it will help him to hold his weight.

It may well be that the Linseed can replace your Chondroitin anyway - I have an arthritic horse and he sdoes very well on the Linseed meal - where the (rather expensive) powders did not very much over the two years I fed them by the shovel full! (they cost so much I believed they might be, but the evidence didn;t bear out the hype!)

There are other grain free and low sugar options such as the Staycool Copra meal which will help to keep condition on (some of the foks I know use it for hunters) - made with coconut meal.

Worth thinking about. The tail itching is a sign that all is not well.
 
Thx SMID.
I have not heard of the Staycool feed, would need to find out if anyone near me stocks it. Likewise the linseed.
Think if I just fed hay,even for short time, horse would, sadly look like a toast rack.He drops it over night! Although I ahve just purchased some readigrass so is maybe possible I could use that for s hort time instead
I have to feed seomthing like happy hoof or hi fi (which he dislikes) as due to the colic operation I was told to keep fibre feeding him, to prevent further problems.
 
Scooby gets a very itchy bum when he is too warm - if I put a rug on him that's too heavy he rubs himself raw, but as soon as I take the rug off him and let him cool off he settles down. Could your horse be too warm in the stable if he has a stable rug on? I think too much sugar was also a factor in Scooby's itching at the beginning, as when we got him he was very overweight, but he's on a strict diet now and has really slimmed down so I think it's just the heat now. We find that NAF D-Itch works well for him (when whoever's doing feeds remembers to give it to him...)
 
I don;t think it's a too warm problem- he does it in the stable even if unrugged, sadly.I do think he is a horse who does enjoy a good scratch, though.He will stand for ages if I scratch him, or indeed if he itches himself on something....
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However, now a few people have added their ideas, I do wonder if it is sugar relatead,and maybe the sheath.
Did try D itch, which didn;t seem to make any difference, but could give it another go, thx.
 
[ QUOTE ]
my boy goes through stages or rubbing his tail/being itchy. im using gold labels itchygone with good results.

[/ QUOTE ]

I would reccomend this too as toto rubs a lot of his tail out in the summer and found this helped. Maybe worth a try as it's pretty cheap
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My boy rubbed his tail raw when I fed him linseed oil ( i had made it myself and made it a bit too rich) so could be a feed issue? I also used to use D & H Build up

I know alot of people on my yard feed allen and page calm and conditiom ( does what it says on the bag apperently. never tried i so cant comment)

Hope you find out what is bothering him.

I like the sheath theory too x
 
I'd assumed the vet would have checked for pinworm

You don't say where you are. Charnwood Mills in Macclesfield area can supply Linseed (and brewers yeast which is also worth considering) - but many good large feed stores will stock Linseed meal and Copra.

We can even get it up in wild and wooly Aberdeenshire!

Many of the lotions etc. will contian Aloe and this would soothe nicely, but may not resolve the original issue.

Hmmm...on the Readigrass - the flash dried chops like that are high in fructans and I would not be feeding that to a horse that might be sugar sensitive. Pelleted are better as the peleting process destroys some of the fructans. Also the flash dried chops can have mould inhibitors/antifungals that can cause issues for very sensitive horses.
 
Once again going by the rule that says the most common things are the most common, it's probably lice. I know you've louse powdered but my vets advise that none of them is much cop. Try Frontline spray worked well into the skin. And whatever you use you have to repeat it in 10 days as the unhatched eggs are unaffected and will simply re-infest your horse again. You also need to wash rugs, grooming kit etc. I understand what you're trying to do by electric fencing the stable but stop and think it through. If you had an insane itch that drove you mad day and night (anyone ever had thrush after a course of antibx???) how would you feel if someone tied you into a straightjacket to stop you trying to relieve the terrible itch? You could end up with a very depressed and unhappy horse. I'd try to get to the bottom of it (pardon the pun) but do try just one thing at a time and give it a chance to work (or not). Otherwise you could just be making the condition worse and worse. Poor lad.
 
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