Itchy Tail....scabby dock

Potless

Potless

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Took Teddy in for vacs today and mentioned to the vet that his tail is very itchy, has been rubbing like mad of late. He is wormed and we have been using various lotions / potions to ease the itching. It has got to the point where the underside of his dock is scabbed over from so much scratching.

Vet seemed disinterested and murmured "could be sweet itch" :( so off I trot and invest in a bug rug and a gallon of deet.

I'm not convinced it's sweet itch but would rather take precautions just in case. Lots of ponies seem to be struggling with the current infestation of flying beasties of all descriptions.

Due to his fat belly, he is stabled during the day on limited hay and let out in the evening, but that does seem to give him more opportunity to have a good scratch at his bum.

At the moment I am cleaning his dock with a weak warm solution of hibiscrub / water and blathering it in sudocream. Any other ideas??
 
Naff D-Itch is a great product, it seems to soothe and relieve itching tendencies in all the horses I've used it on. I would combine that with washing the tail with a normal horse shampoo every 3-4 days (Equine America do a citronella shampoo which deters the fly's a bit).
Lot's of horses itch at this time of year but it may not necessarily be sweet itch. More just itching because of the hot and dryness.
 
Thanks, haven't tried that as yet, this is the first year he has had any serious itchy problems :) will give it a go..... hate seeing him so uncomfortable
 
When Jack gets a little bit itchy I put listerine original mouthwash (the orange one) on him. It works, but I would probably not use it if he was scabby because it would probably sting. Maybe useful as a precaution next year though?
 
Oh another thumbs up! I need to change his rug tomorrow, the one I bought was a wee bit tight (due to him being a greedy bugger, with an oversized crest) so will invest in some then! Just hope it gives him some relief!!


edit: we had been using a smidge of listerine but probably too little too late and as you say (Jackson) would smart a bit atm so have laid off that. Will certainly try again next year. There just seems to be so many products it's a bit hit and miss I guess as to what works for each individual horse :/
 
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My Pony Rolo gets this most years, luckily so far this year he hasnt got it as i have been putting sweet itch lotion on everyday.

When he used to get scabby i used to cover the area in calamine lotion to help relieve the itching and then cover it in sudocrem to help stop infection and it healed in no time.
Hope this helps.

Louise
 
have you thought about worms

there was an article in h&h a while back ,think it was pin worm that live in the back passage ;) my horse had sympoms ,so i wormed him and rubbed a little wormer around his bottom and the itching stop in a few days

as i can remember it is because these worms live in the anus or there abouts and modern wormers are so good they are absorbed and gone long before they get there :)
 
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