Leg mites??

SatansLittleHelper

SatansLittleHelper

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Horse is constantly biting his legs/itchy with sore patches/bald bits mainly below the hock. He has fluffy heels but not feather like a cob.
Could this be mites and what's the best course of action??
 
My full-feathered Draft horse has had similar problems since before I bought her - her previous owners had just had her injected with Dectomax, when I went to view.
I have tried all sorts to clear the sores up, never having been able to see any mites/lice. Recently I have thought that the sores could be an allergic reaction to wheat in her feed, so I have cut it out completely and she does seem to be much better, although not completely clear yet. I treat the sores with Silver ointment, which she seems to find almost instant relief from.
 
nothing to add, but interested as Ron seems to have something similar this year.

Vet says it's mud fever, but it's nothing like it IMO (or at least not how it usually appears on him) and he's soooo itchy (again, lower legs) he's scratching his left leg with his right and vice-versa.

I've tried everything I can think of - hibiscrub helped a bit but maybe only because it was keeping the flies off where he's scratched himself raw and got scabs. Then we've tried treating for mud fever and that made no difference. I've tried using the hypochlorite spray stuff (hypocare or similar) but that seems to make the itch worse.

I also worked them both with ivermectin the other day, and weirdly, since then the itch has been considerably better.... coincidence? not sure.
 
A friends horse had leg mites and the vet said to worm her twice with Ivermectin to use one and then again 2 weeks later as the mites have a seven to eleven day breeding cycle, the first lot kills the adults ,the second lot kills any that hatch later before they get chance to breed ,so timing is important.

Ivermectin the vet said kills parasites inside and out ,so not a coincidence,JEN Hunt.
 
I use diatomaceous earth. Best way I have found to use it is to wash legs with hibiscrub, allow to start to dry, then apply the DE when still damp.

Leave it for 3 days without brushing the legs at all, then brush out.

If it is mites it will give them relief within 24hrs
 
even though Frank's symptoms weren't typical, as agreed by the vet - perhaps similar to ron jenhunt? He has always been susceptible to patches of dermatitis but this time I just couldn't get on top of it, although localised to front of pasterns etc rather than back where he is feathery. So he had a dectomax injection just incase.

24 hours later he was scab free and I feel I should have done it ages ago. (he will have another after 2 weeks).

I was previously using sudocreme + added sulphur then washing with hibi when the cream got too much! - but he'd come in with new patches of quite 'wet' dermatitis daily.
 
SatansLittleHelper said:
Many thanks for your reply. Have never had any dealings with them before so very helpful :)
Is that Colloidal Silver you use?? X
Click to expand...

Sorry only just come back to this thread! We are using Loevet silver ointment, which we get from Robinsons (they are a reasonable car journey away. But do bear in mind that I have decided that we are not treating mites. I am just about certain that she suffers an allergic reaction to wheat, which presents as a form of dermatitis which gets worse if it gets wet. She has been treated for feather mites in the past but it seems without much success, as she has some quite serious scarring under her feather.
I have used Cooper's Fly Repellant Plus on feather mites in the past with success - which is why I was puzzled when it didn't seem to work for this mare.
 
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