Mites on cobs...

R

rushyj

Well-Known Member
Joined
1 April 2009
Messages
495
Visit site
A friend of mine has a show cob with mites they have done all the usual.

Injections from vet
Footstomp
Ivomec spot on drops on the skin
Frontline
Pig Oil
All the above with shaved legs

They are sort of under control but not completely I would say but the horse is no longer itching and stamping. He has the thickened skin will this ever go away or is it there for good. Or is there any way to get rid of the thickened skin.
 
Where abouts is the thickened skin? As cobs actually have a breed predilection for a dermatological condition which is just behind their knees. Its minging and cruddy but if you wash it, pick the scabs off and apply antibiotic paste to it, it will clear up :)

Its a perseverence thing

Also, mites live in the environment, so she may have to treat this too to be able to clear it all up!
 
He has got a small grease patch behind the knee but this is much better now. But the itching and thickened skin is down by his fetlocks on his hinds. There are no scabs now just the skin has thickened so looks like rolls..
 
Skin thickeneing is permanent I'm afraid. If it's still inflammed it will go down a little but the true thickening, which is really common, is permenant.
 
the mites? They can do, but if they have them, and their bedding and environment has not been totally changed and disinfected etc they may still be in the bedding/environment.

You can try to minimise the thickened skin, using like vaseline or something like that to soften it up etc........

Sorry not sure I can be much more help than that..... :(
 
They get them from other horses intitially) the vast majority of feather horses (inc even just lightly feather horses) have them - it's the heavily feather horses that it flares up in more.

Sadly there really is little to be done about the thickened skin - Lucy it's not dried outer layers, it's true thickening through all dermal layers and the skin is greasy and supple already, just thick. When it starts to 'roll' up it then creates folds where the mites flourish even more, as does greasy heel bacteria, and whole thing becomes a recurrent nightmare.:(

Rushyj - also have a look for "pastern Dematitis" in clydesdales as it's can be seen in cobs too - my old cob had what I suspect was a mild case, and still does, though it's controlled.
 
Sorry Kali - I am sure you are right. What I was meaning was if it was a subsequent bacterial infection which cobs get it is treatable with topical antibiotics etc (similar to mudfever treatment)

I just cannot remember for the life of me what it is called and so I probably sound like a bumbling muppet! :)

However, if she is concerned RushyJ what I am meaning to say is, it might be worth getting the vet to do a skin scrape, scellotape test etc, and all they have to do is smush up the sample on a slide, diff quick it (stain it) and look under a microscope to see if it is just thickened skin or whether there is bacteria present (in which case it is treatable, or at least manageable!) a cob on our yard had this bacterial infection and we have treated it topically with antibiotics after washing them and loosening/cracking the skin slightly (sound horrid but i cant really describe in any other way) and then drying and applying the antibiotics......... cleared up in about 2-3 weeks, and the skin is now 100% normal, just a bit ganky from remaining skin flakes. :)
 
I am sorry to say but it does not. If a horse has been left long term with mites, they develop thick skin and folds and nothing can be done. This is the only time I say to folks to keep the legs clipped out so you can get into the folds to keep them clean.

If the skin is only slightly thick, you may get away with letting the hair grow back, but you must constantly treat with P&S or just sulphur in summer, you may still need to do the frontline as an additonal precaution.

If you want a huge PM I do about hairy horses and some links to interesting articles, PM me and I will send it to you.

To help, do not bed on straw. Mites live in grass and hop up on to the horse and straw is also another place they like to live. The P&S constantly used all year round creates an enviroment that if they do hop on, they won't stay around long enough to start biting.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top