Lice?

[sleepingdragon10]

Does this sound like a lice infestation to you guys?
Jelly is rubbing bald patches on her neck(one either side about half way down, 1 larger than the other).....noticed another about an inch behind her ear, again, most of the fur gone(wasn't like that yesterday when I checked her over). She's VERY itchy, but her winter coat is coming out in clumps so wondered if she's just generally uncomfortable due to this?Looked and can't see anything moving*shudder* but have ordered some louse powder anyway just incase.

As far as I'm aware she hasn't been prone to sweet itch, there's been no sudden change in her diet...the only thing that has changed has been where we've sourced out bedding from(friend works at a petting farm and gets us the straw from there). Could lice transfer from that?(always thought it travelled from animal to animal so god knows how she's got them if that's what it is?)

Have put some cream on the patches to try to sooth the skin, but any other advice ideas very gratefully received.

Cheers

Bethxx

 

[joanne1920]

Could be lice or mites, mites would transfer on bedding. Frontline flea spray will kill mites, use at two week intervals for 6 weeks, spary and rub in well.
If its mites its unlikely you would see them as skin scrappings normally have to be taken by the vet to look under the microscope.
Lice can normally be seen...
She could be just itching because shes malting as my two are itchy but theyre not rubbing themselves to the point they have bald patches...
i would use louse powder on her and any other ponies she share a field with and see what happens after a week ( as adults should be killed after a week leaving eggs) if she much better then do another louse powder after 2 weeks from the first.
If no better after a week then id be inclined to use frontline (need prescription) on her and all other ponies.
If its any sort of parasite then its normally transfers to other horses.
Maybe you could ask your friend whether the animals at the petting centre have had trouble with lice or mites?

The only other thing i can think of is an allergy... if the straw had been spayed with anything? or allergy to the animals?

Hope that helps...

 

[Llwyncwn]

Eeeek

Unfortunately this does sound like lice. I've been having a problem getting rid of the blighters on a rescued mountain pony. Look in the underside of the main and scrutinise the dandruff. If they move, its lice

I tried louse powder from the vets, when that didnt work the vet suggested I use Frontline (for dogs) which thankfully did the trick so we didnt have to clip her too

 

[sleepingdragon10]

Thanks for that Joanne. She's due to be wormed soon too, so do you think that bringing that forward a week or so (be using an Ivermectin based wormer which, as far as I'm aware will kill the lice IF they were present) would be detrimental to her longterm worming regime?

She's turned out in a little strip paddock on her own(not ideal I know) although she has horses either side of her as she hated it in the big field and her best 'friend' is dangerous to other people, so getting her in and out that field would be a nightmare, not to mention a hazard to whoever was fetching her in!

xx

 

[sleepingdragon10]

You know it'a making me itch just thinking about it

Just don't know where she's got them from as, although there's a pony that's been moved from here to another yard and back again, Jelly has no contact with this pony whatsoever

Will look into the Frontline if the powder and wormer doesn't work.

Cheers

xx

 

[fairhill]

Bringing the worming forward a week shouldn't affect your longterm routine too much.
Our vet recommended giving double dose of Eqvalan wormer (invermectin), every 2 days for 6 days in order to help get rid of lice/mites. This is so it gets them at all stages of the breeding cycle.

Also might be worth disinfecting all grooming kit once you've deloused so that you don't reinfect.

 

[cazza]

Due to the mild weather conditions, we have one of our fields that has a group of 11 horses in it that all have lice, unfortunately before they came to us in November we have only just found out that they were not deloused in October, so they are going through varying stages of losing their coats. So I will be out there this weekend armed with the louse powder to sort them all out. No point in only doing one or two as the whole lot have probably got it!

 

[sleepingdragon10]

Very glad I've only got the one to do, although getting the powder on her will be fun

 

[miss_bird]

do remember, to de-louse her rugs that she has worn in the last couple of weeks also disenfect (sp) all wodden areas of her stable she has rubbed on. lice can live on the wood for a far while.
Also remember to disenfect all her grooming kit and wash any material items (headcollars, numnahs etc) that she has come in contact with.
Sorry to go on but most people do their horse and maybe rugs and forget the other items then have no idea why the lice do not clear up

 

[SpruceRI]

Two of my once feral ponies got lice, once as yearlings and one of them as a 2 yr old. They were in the same field as my mare and very hairy Shetland, and neither of them got them which was weird.

Within 24hrs the two little ones had rubbed the underside of their necks and faces raw.

I got some liquid stuff from the vet to rub into their coat (wearing my rubber gloves of course), and that killed the parasites.

I couldn't see the lice in their coats, but a friend had a close look and she spotted them and pointed them out. They gathered around the mane, shoulder and top of the back.

 

[Jemayni]

Not read other replies, but lice get everywhere, I would say they could easily transfer through bedding. My horse is kept at a dealers, he usually gets lice annually, just due to his rugs touching rugs of the mangey ponies that come over!

Sounds like lice, my best resolution for it (if you cant remove hair) is coopers fly repellent - brill stuff!

 

[joanne1920]

Dont think moving worming forward would hurt at all and well worth trying as frontline is expensive the bottle i got for my cobs legs cost £35 and that only did 2 applications, luckily it wasnt leg mites but if it had been i would have had to buy another bottle... goodluck with the de-lousing and dont feel bad as mine have had lice before and its really common especially with this warm winter weve had! Keep us posted on how she does

 

[henryhorn]

bet you a tenner it's lice! Don't worry they don't just go on neglected horses but on anything handy!
We have been checking our main herd for weeks with no sign, but today there must have been 15 of them with lice when I checked. Bald patches are a dead give away, as are sort of scurfy skin.
Use a magnifying glass if necessary and part the hair further away from the patches, they should appear as pale yellow seeds, with your magnifying glass they are striped like pale beetles...
The most common hiding places are under the forelock, on the neck where it meets the chest and either side of the tail.
Mass delousing here this weekend, I haven't got enough powder so need to wait until my order comes,as every single herd horse will have to be done.
It's been perfect louse breeding weather up to now, and the thick coats and damp conditions suit them well.
Eeeek are you itching now? Just typing about them makes me itch.. Good job they won't live on us.(different type)

 

[sleepingdragon10]

Well couldn't see anything yesterday HH, but she does have the scurfy skin, especially on the mane line......delousing it is...just waiting for the wormer to arrive too. Oh I'm going to have fun this weekend