leg mites or maybe not

sjmcc

sjmcc

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has eneyone had this problem. i noticed my cob has some sores behind his knees so put sudacream on them also noticed it had started to travel down behind his canon bones a very thick scaley hard raised skin . so i called the vet he said leg mites n gave me a sulphur shampoo that worked out a dear do i used it once and it didnt agree with him £20 for nothing . so i rang him back and he came out gave him a detromax injection antibiotics and bute with an other injection to follow in 7 days . it seemed to go for around 2 weeks then the scabs behind the knees came back and the thick hard raised skin down the back of the canon bones . so hes turned out full time now so i thought flies so i smotherd his legs with vasaline and th my suprise its started to take the hard scaley skin off and clear the sores up iv also washed his legs with hibi scrub has eneyone came across this am i right in thinking maybe its not leg mites and its more a dermatitis maybe from the mud
 
Hi

he most likey has chorioptic mites, the dectomax injection should be given twice - ten days apart as you also need to kill any eggs. The skin can be treated with a special silicone shampoo (selene I think it was called - to soften the crusts) then can keep on top of them with some other cream - speak to vet

hope this helps - but the mites and eggs must be treated else its a nasty cycle i'm afraid. my cob had them for last 2 years, also know some folk used front line!

fingers crossed as its painfull if they get open cracks.
x
 
Sounds like mites/mallanders/mud fever!

I treat my boy with Frontline spray (for cats/dogs) and also use oil mixed with sulphur to coat the feathers - it kills off mites and keeps mud away from their skin.
 
I had a similar problem with my horses last year and frontline spray made no difference, after asking for opinions on the forum someone suggested using an ivermectin wormer and this cleared it up straight away!
 
My Maxi cob has the detromax which stop the mites itching but he does get the flakey bit behind his knees & if left these can scab up, get sore & bleed. I was lead to believe that this was a form of dermatitis which when the horse lays down the blood flow is restricted to the ruffles of skin behind the knee & so the surface skin cells die - causing the crust - which in turn cracks because of no blood flow.

He is hogged and clipped out so the next bit is a bit easier for me than others with hairy types - i use trimmers to clip the effected area as short as possible so i can treat the area best as possile, currently i use an alovera gel just smeared on the sore bits before his bed time. This appears to have sorted them out - they dont go insantly but the do go in about a week or two.

i have also tried just rubbing baby oil on (i suppose the same as you rubbing Vasaline in)- this made the flakey skin come off but he has sensitive pink skin & i didn't like how pink it made his legs go. also it didn't prevent the flakey-ness it just got rid of it once it appeared. Also its hard to get off of their fur which can make dust & other bits stick to them & not look very nice.

Sometimes i use Savlon if they have been looking a bit sore.

I wouldn't use hibi scrub too often as this will dry your horses legs out an may make it worse.


I think its about keeping the area moisturised to stop the skin drying - i have only gone on what other people have said & this has worked for me. i dont believe they are mites as they are in too much of a concentrated area - if they were they would be in front of the hock too - surely?!?

I know each horse is different but this is what worked with my horse - i hope you clear up the problem soon :)
 
This is exactly the same problem I have with my piebald cob for the last 9 months. The vet has been out a number of times but has no idea what is wrong. Initially he did have mites when I first bought him. He has been treated a number of times for mites, dectamax, frontline, seleen, ivermectin,pig oil, plus a skin scraping was negative.

He has really sore scabby areas behind his knees on his front legs. Antibiotic cream stops it getting any worse but if I stop applying the cream, the area get more scabs and even sorer. He also has big flakes of skin in his hair where he should have feathers. (cut off feathers to try to help).

Nothing seems to get rid of of the big flakes of skin or stops the sores. I will give Aloe Vera a go. If any one has any experience of this condition I would really like to hear how you treated it, and if you managed to clear it up.
 
Hi,
Sounds like mallanders to me. If you google it you should find out more but I believe it is a bit of a mystery but is quite common in heavy/feathered horses and can also occur on the front of the hocks (sallanders). I have a cob on loan who suffers with this behind the knees and I just try and keep them moisturised to stop them cracking.

The poor thing also suffers with mites in his feathers - characterised by stamping his feet and biting at his feathers. So I'm afraid all his feathers come off and he gets a regular shampoo and we have also used frontline spray in the past - but this doesn't help the mallanders. I hear pig oil and sulphur helps?
 
Hi my cob gets this and after I have made sure there are no mites by using frontline spray, the best thing for behind her knees and down the back of her legs is dermisol ointment. It gets rid of it within a few days. Rub it well in and it soon heals and all the scabby stuff drops off. It is easier if the legs ar clipped first.
 
rang vet today its mites again so hes haveing another course of detromax injections again this time 3 hel have had his 1st one today and after sores have gone its the frontline spray hope it works
 
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