Mites/Lice/Sweet itch or something else?

[Mynyddcymro]

Hi would love your opinions on what you think might be going on with my two year old Shetland colt 'Bolt'. (He is under veterinary treatment)

Bolt has always enjoyed rubbing his bum on the wall of his stable and loves a good scratch. He also sometimes rubs his forehead on the edge of his bucket - normally when his coat is changing spring/autumn.

In the last two weeks his mane has been rubbed to pieces with an 8 inch part with no hair left at the bottom of his neck. It is also very scurfy. I haven't seen him rubbing it. His field is fenced with electric so he's not doing it on that but he does roll and makes pretty obvious craters after a couple of weeks. Is it possible that the excessive rolling could rub his mane out?

I had the vet out on Tuesday to come and look at him. She didn't believe it was sweet itch because of the time of year but hasn't ruled it out. She believed it could be mites and gave him an injection to kill off skin parasites - apparently if he's still itching after 7 days then it hasn't worked and I'm to try switch instead which she has given me.
She also took a skin scraping to confirm mites however that has apparently come back negative.

I'm concerned that I have never seen him itch his mane and bum scratching is 'normal' for him so hoping that perhaps the bum scratching will stop and indicate the injection has worked.
I suggested neck thread worm which she said the injection would kill off if that's the case. If he doesn't stop itching after the injection/switch she said we'll double dose for pin worm but that wont solve the mane.

The vet hasn't ruled out sweet itch but says it's at the bottom of her list. Before the scraping results came back she was very confident it was mites.

It is possible he is developing sweet itch? We don't have bad midges and he's in a very open windy field with no real shelter.

Just to add I introduced baileys lo cal about two months ago but have now taken him off all hard feed incase it was a reaction to that. He is out in the day and has ad lib hay at night. He is turned out on his own currently as my other pony needs his grass intake restricting. The two other horses on the yard aren't itching at all.

I feel sad at the prospect of him being rugged to the eyeballs most of the year!

 

[shetland pony]

Skin problems are annoying and there's a whole host of things it could be but I also think sweet itch is less likely especially as he hasn't presented symptoms over times of high fly/midges could you try a very good fly spray/sweet itch spray and see if it goes/lessens in a few months. Before you try that though I would recommend a lice powder only about £10 (off the top of my head my was battles) put it on and then in about 2 weeks time, and do one treatment on any field mates and treat stable if been in, grooming kit and any rugs and tack he has used etc. This stopped itching on our cob (it was lice-but not to an extent we could see any-good cheap treatment whilst waiting for more ideas from vet. If that works buy a good horse shampoo to get skin in better condition as powder tends to be drying, I like whal oatmeal or dermoline insecticide (left skin and coat soft and shiney as well as giving a double effect on any lice). Good luck.

 

[_HP_]

This is actually one of the worst times of year for midges and therefore sweet itch...I know, I have 3 of them !!
I would imagine that he has scratched his mane out using his hoof.
If he was checked for lice and none found and he has been treated for those and for mites plus he's been taken off all food and he is still itchy then yes, it very well could be the start of sweet itch. 2 yrs old is a common age for it to start.
I would also look at pinworm for an itchy bottom but not neck.
So, it won't hurt to treat as sweet itch and see if he improves.
My advice for that would be a good sweet itch rug and a good repellent
My favorite's are the Rambo Sweet itch Hoody or the Premier Equine sweet itch Buster but they may not go small enough for your colt.
I use a very cheap fly rug for my miniature Shetland and just adjust it slightly myself to fit. It's from Top Horse .
You are already using electric fencing so that will help to protect the rug from getting trashed.
I use Net Tex Stop Itch as a repellent ....it excellent at soothing itchy areas too.

Sweet itch can be a nightmare but once you have it under control its not that bad .

Having said all that.... My non sweet itch Shetland is also quite itchy right now and I put that down to his thick winter coat and our relatively warm temperatures.

 

[Nativelover]

My boy was like this, he was allergic to the mites biting and burrowing. After the dectomax he was good, but I fully clipped him and washed him in a medicated shampoo.
He's had a further dectomax the following winter and he's been fine since!

 

[Wheels]

The midges are awful here, my sweet itch pony is being driven crazy at the moment

As he is only two it could just be that he is developing sweet itch now which is why it hadn't presented itself earlier in the year.

I would get a sweet itch rug and try that along with some soothing ointment where the mane and tail were rubbed

 

[Mynyddcymro]

Thank you for your replies and suggestions. He only had the injection 3/4 days ago and the vet said to give it 7 days then try switch.
Interesting about midges - I haven't noticed any (and I've been specifically conscious of them). I've looked into rugs and think I know what type I will go for if necessary.
I would love to rule out x y and z so I treat/manage appropriately. Disheartened that the skin scrape showed no results.

 

[Wheels]

Even if it isn't sweet itch then a rug might help, they cause less damage to themselves with a little protection and if he is having an allergic to something in his environment (other than food) then it might stop whatever it is getting on his skin