My Poor itchy pony

ILOVELUDO

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13 February 2008
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My poor little pony has a really bad itch.

We had the vet out just before christmas and he was taken of feeds which have gradually been built up again. And he had some injecttions. But it has recently come back. We've had the vet out again, and he was given 2 more injections, and is on special medicine which goes in his feed.

He itches everytime we take his rugs or saddle of, and it seems to be mostly on his back and sides. Whereas before it was all over his shoulders and kneck. He has begun biting himself till it bleeds.

We know it can't be his feed, and all of his brushes where washed and his rugs are clean. Could be just due to old age, he is 29, but the vet reckons it is an allergy. And we use special itch cream which s put on the sore, scabby bits.

I hate seeing him biting himself and constantly itching. If anyone has any idea what could be causing it, it would be much appreciated. I just want my pony to be better soon.
 
Did the vet do blood tests? I know liver damage can cause itching and it's v common in oldies. Could it be just that he's too hot now the weather is warming up (though not this weekend Lol). There's a mare at the yard who is terribly itchy and only stops when her owner (rarely) takes her rug off. I guess you've thought of washing powder allergy etc.

My youngster is very itchy, no prblems, he's just that sort, I had him on Global Herbs Super Skratch last summer and it helped amazingly. Don''t know if your vet would be happy for you to try it?
 
I no it sounds strange but my boy was allergic to somthing in his hay, still dont knwo what it is.
he came out in lumps and he scratched himself.
i put him on hayledge and within a week he was fine.
However i had to change hayledge suppliers last week and he started itching agin and he had a few lumps come up on his neck. Need to get hay and hayledge analised now, try and find out what it could be.
Allergy test waste of time, if its an allergy then it just a case of illiminating things from his diet. A biopsy will tell you if its an allergy or fungi infection.
Good luck, it took me four months to find out it was the hay, it was the last thing i stopped in his diet
frown.gif


Debs x
 
With a 29yr old I would definitely investigate lice, mites and liver. Were the injections 10 days apart and for feather mites? Have you tried louse powder? Apparantly Battles is best but your vet can advise. Also, sometimes the initial itch might have been sorted but the horse will have so badly injured himself from scratching, scratching, scratching that his poor skin will need time to heal. I'm wondering if a low dose of bute for a few days might help him. But I would for sure have a blood test done to check for liver damage as chronic itching is one of the symptoms. Any other symptoms like off his food or depressed or standing in corners not interacting with anyone? Worrying in an oldie. Good luck.
 
Try Coopers Fly Repellant Plus (kills mites/lice/helps itching/sweet itch).
Not saying that it could be any of the above, but it might help to ease the itchyness though, worth a try.

My lad was always itching as soon as I took his rugs off, just on his sides (he's bend round to bite/itch himself) plus he had little tiney scabs on his back (not visible) but if you dug in with your fingers you could feel them and pick them off. He loved you scraching his back/and belly, didn't rub his tail top of his mane.

Anyway I checked for lice/mites, nothing visible but did him with louse powerder all the same, made no difference, had his rugs cleaned, changed his feed, disinfected his grooming tack...no difference.
Did him twice in Coopers F R Plus and stopped his food suppliment (which was CLOP) and hey presto...its gone.

Might not of had anything to do with what I did, might of been some kind of reaction to something else but its worth a try because it seems to have worked for my horse...and he's only 3.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Try Coopers Fly Repellant Plus (kills mites/lice/helps itching/sweet itch).
Not saying that it could be any of the above, but it might help to ease the itchyness though, worth a try.

My lad was always itching as soon as I took his rugs off, just on his sides (he's bend round to bite/itch himself) plus he had little tiney scabs on his back (not visible) but if you dug in with your fingers you could feel them and pick them off. He loved you scraching his back/and belly, didn't rub his tail top of his mane.

Anyway I checked for lice/mites, nothing visible but did him with louse powerder all the same, made no difference, had his rugs cleaned, changed his feed, disinfected his grooming tack...no difference.
Did him twice in Coopers F R Plus and stopped his food suppliment (which was CLOP) and hey presto...its gone.



[/ QUOTE ]

That sounds just like what he has!
Thankyou
grin.gif
 
Hi
I have a 13.3Hh 16yr old piebald mare who is exactly the same.
She was fine when she was younger but suddenly started to icth all over becoming bald in several areas.
I also have a horse with sweet itch and am able to control that which didnt seem to work for my pony.
My vet refferred her to a skin speacialist who completed allergy tests and it seemed that she had developed allergies to almost every thing from the dust found in hay to certain types of leaf.
We have had to make alot of enviromental changes to try and ease her, she is clipped all year round as the hotter she is the worse the itching gets also this allows us to clear her skin of flaking, her hey net is wet and she is on neds bed pro.
We have also been advised by our vet that when she is bad to give her piriton which she can have upto 25 per day however we have only gone up to 20 she has now come off these and has them only when she is really bad.
Hope this helps a bit but idf you have any other questions about her just ask.
 
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