Pig oil and sulphur and sweetitch - any experiences?

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tasteofchristmaschaos

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I am going to buy some pig oil and sulphur to use on Fellas feathers and noticed that on several occasions it was also mentioned as good for treating sweetitch. In the constant battle against the itch, I am always looking for new things that might work. Has anyone used it for this purpose and if so, how effective did you think it was?
Also, where is the cheapest place to get it? Have looked on ebay and it is £25 for 5L plus inc p&p. Can you get it cheaper anywhere else?
Thanks!
 
I have used it for several years and do a very long PM on it - sulphur is soothing on the skin and oil helps protect the hair and create an environment that mites hate to live in.

I don't use it for sweet itch - I use snuggie bodies and a spray I make with skin so soft in it, as in summer I would not want loads of oil in the mane and tail - possible burning and I also show.

I have used in on itchy manes and tails in winter and it did help with this.

Whilst it might soothe things, I don't think it will stop midges - and whilst I love P&S, I think there are better things to use for SI.

If you want the long PM I do about P&S, PM me and I will send it to you, including some suppliers.
 
I have tried the rug route - he has destroyed 2 sweetitch rugs and one fly rug in 5 months!
I use naf d-itch ointment atm which seems to be having some effect, and am also buying some Kevin Bacon active soap which has had rave reviews for sweetitch. I just wondered if it was worth giving this a try too. Maybe i'll give it a miss then, for his sweetitch anyway.
 
The way I cope it to have mine live out in a field with electric fencing from start of May to end of October - nothing to rub on. My two have been fine with the snuggy bodies and if very bad I also use the hoods. They also have the sheath/udder covers which have been great.

On the rare occasions they are in, they have their bodies and hoods on and I also put on a cotton travel tail guard - this keeps them from rubbing themselves bald.

Lots of spray with essential oils, dettol and avon skin so soft helps keep the midges off. I also wash manes and tails with eQuss shampoo which helps the itching. I use megatek on the roots of the mane and tail to help keep the hair strong and it also soothes and midges really hate the smell of it.

I feed linseed, clivers and brewers yeast, combination has also helped with their skins - the clivers is particuarly effective on my two.

Result - no one would know my horses get sweet itch, not a hint of sores, rubs or loss of hair. Mine are not bad cases, so this routine works really well for me.

I have used sulphur mixed with sudocream on Chancer's belly before he had the sheath cover as this I could not stop him rubbing and the sulphur is excellent for skin problems.

Hope these tips might help you.
 
ETS: I see TheresaF posted just above me anyway!

The best thing I've found for sweet itch (and my boy suffers severely from it if not controlled), is a snuggy hood rug (boett are meant to be good, but was never any good for an old horse of ours, as it never lasted). You can use balms and sprays and potions and lotions, but most of them make the skin greasy and irritate the skin of sweet itch sufferers (I've tried many, including killitch and net tex salve), which then makes them itch for a different reason.

I give my boy regular baths using a mixture of dettol (to deter midges) and insecticidal shampoo (TheresaF uses a different mix, including some oils), make sure he's dry, apply some killitch to his mane and tail, rug him and off he goes. I keep him out 24/7 (but at the moment he is on box rest) and this seems to suit him better - although it gives him more exposure to the midges, he has less stuff to rub himself on, doesn't get bored so easily out in the field etc.

He has a little sweet itch round his sheath this year, but nowhere else (rug doesn't cover sheath but funnily enough, I have tried the potions on it and they DO NOT WORK AS HE STILL HAS SWEET ITCH THERE!). This is a horse who last year, when he was still with our friends, and for the years before that, wore a rambo sweet itch hoody that would not cover his belly due to his 17.3hh size. He tore the skin on his belly, sheath and chest to pieces, and the skin round his face and ears was not much better either.

He is a different horse now, and I will not use greasy oils and balms on him because it makes him itch more.
 
How has he destroyed the rugs?
Rugging them is by far the best way as it prevents them being bitten in the first place which is the only way to prevent sweet itch.
If he is ripping them on trees/fencing then you really need to use electric fencing...if its a horsey pal ripping them, then he needs to be on his own for his own good.
I find Net Tex Sweet Itch Salve great but messy. I tend to use it on the face and sheath and rug him everywhere else.
I would also be worried about burning using the P&S.
 
If you are feeling flush at some time, try the snuggy body and the sheath/udder cover.

Last year Stinky had no hair, very very sore and cuts from rubbing his belly and sheath badly - had to get some anti-b cream from the vet. Farra has an outie belly button and it was scabbed and bleeding and again area was very sore.

This year, invested in the snuggy rugs and cover - different horses, no sores, cuts and Stinky rarely lies down and humps the ground. You do have to take the covers off every other day at least - dunk in a bucket with a splash of dettol and put back on, the gelding version has a mesh they pee through) but it is only a few minutes to do so.

If you have a short bodied horse, ask them to make the cover not too long.

Might be the answer to the last bit of SI you have problems with. Mine are so much happier, no stamping and kicking at bellies - well worth the money I think.
 
I always used a solution of 85% calamine, 10% benzyl benzoate and 5% meths on my old boy. It's much cheaper than anything else and it seemed to work quite well. This was in the days before fly rugs and boett blankets. His was fairly mild though and only affected his mane and tail, he never rubbed his body/sheath. It's not greasy and certainly won't burn him. Washing in Head and Shoulders regularly also helped. All this was recommended by my vet who said he'd seen both things work far better than expensive ready-made products.
 
The items in title are usually used for mite prevention in feathers on heavier horses. My best tip and most successful recipe, now used by lots of friends, is avon skin so soft moisturiser mixed with benzyl benzoate (hyperdrug).
 
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