Please help me figure out why my mare is so itchy!

Denbob said:
Agree with this, we have something down here which affects maybe 1/3 of the horses on the yard for about two weeks and then goes again! Mine was incredibly itchy, and he still is a little bit but we've scaled it down dramatically by feeding Piriton with vet approval (am happy to PM you a link to bulk online supplier), removing alfalfa and clipping so he's not hot when he's fly rugged.
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Yes please! I'll ask the vets if they think I should try it and what dose I need to give. Thank you
 
Ellietotz said:
Yes please! I'll ask the vets if they think I should try it and what dose I need to give. Thank you
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SI owners find ceterizine is better as an antihistamine than Piriton, which can make them drowsy. Lots of ebay listings for a decent price - mine gets it to help with his fly allergy. The third one is Loratadine but when I gave that to him he started head tossing. It gave me headaches when I took it so I imagine it was the same for him, but ceterizine doesn't appear to have any side effects.

Going back to the question of salt, how much do you give him and how? Calm Healthy Horses suggest at least a tablespoon in the feed daily and find that horses can't get sufficient from a lick as their tongues aren't rough enough. Mine all get a large scoop a day
 
JillA said:
SI owners find ceterizine is better as an antihistamine than Piriton, which can make them drowsy. Lots of ebay listings for a decent price - mine gets it to help with his fly allergy. The third one is Loratadine but when I gave that to him he started head tossing. It gave me headaches when I took it so I imagine it was the same for him, but ceterizine doesn't appear to have any side effects.

Going back to the question of salt, how much do you give him and how? Calm Healthy Horses suggest at least a tablespoon in the feed daily and find that horses can't get sufficient from a lick as their tongues aren't rough enough. Mine all get a large scoop a day
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Thank you. I'll have a look.
She gets 25g of salt a day, I know it should be 50g really though but she won't eat her feed if I put that much in.
I've stopped the Alfalfa chaff from today to see if it helps
 
Sounds fairly similar to my lad who’s got sweetitch but also overheats really easily!!

I manage this by fully clipping him all year, he’s in during the day and out at night. I leave him a fly rug on at night, but that’s for UV protection as much as it is for flies. In his feed he gets camomile and red bush tea - which has literally been a miracle cure - and linseed oil which keeps his coat shiny.

I also really rate the biteback products, we use the fly spray and sweet relief cream (which my YOs can’t believe how much it calms his itching down instantly!) so you could try the cream for a bit of instant relief. Also my horse really likes a cold hose, but if she shivers maybe not the best idea! I know people have had good results from anti-histamines, but I’ve never tried them personally.

Saying all of this; I’d contact your vet and get a blood test done. Harley had one when he first started to display symptoms and it told us what he was allergic too we could come up with a plan to treat it.
 
Ellietotz said:
I'm not sure what's in them, I'll have a look on the packet.
I may try without alfalfa but she was itchy last year before she was on alfalfa and I made sure it wasn't in anything she was fed. She is UV sensitive though so maybe that could be contributing to it which will help if she is off alfalfa too from what I understand?
She also shivers the second she gets wet if there is a breeze.
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My hypersensitive mare also shivered very easily, she seemed to not have a working temperature control. My mare could actually eat alfalfa, without any problem but almost nothing else. If she had a tiny amount of her 'forbidden' foods, she reacted violently.

I know myself that if I overload my system with environmental challenges, even a tiny amount of the 'wrong' food sets off my eczema.
 
St Johns wort can cause photosensitivity and itching, if it grows in the fields daily contact may be enough to trigger both of her symptoms, I had one many years ago that had real issues in summer as it grew in the fields.
 
Ellietotz said:
I've posted about this before and still haven't solved it so I'd be extremely grateful for any advice please!

- She is only itchy once she has her summer coat
- If she is out naked, she doesn't rub on anything and her skin isn't twitchy but if I put a fly rug on or anything on her i.e. an anti-rub vest or saddle pad/saddle, she is mad with itchiness, constantly twitching and wanting to scratch
- I've given her lots of really good brushes, along the top of her back in the saddle area, it does pick up a fair amount of skin/dirt but not much anywhere else
- Her skin doesn't look scaly and there are no sores. There is one or two small fly bite looking bumps on her rib cage though
- The itchiness mainly seems to be on the saddle area and mane
- I've tried deosect, louse powder, pig oil, bathed in Dermoline Insecticidal shampoo, muddy buddy shampoo, teatree shampoo, rubbed in green oil gel over her back. (Not all in one go!) Still itchy
- She is fed Alfalfa chaff but has been since winter and wasn't a problem with rugs on then. She was also like it last year when she wasn't on alfalfa at all
- I recently bought the fly rug and tried to persevere but even after a few days with it on, she is still twitchy and when it comes off, she loves having her back scratched but she's twitchy again when the saddle pad goes on too
- The rug hasn't been washed yet but the saddle pads have in a non bio wash, these don't cause an issue in winter either though
- She doesn't struggle shedding her coat and she hasn't ever had laminitis so not sure it would be a symptom to anything like that
- She has got a thin coat and rubs very easily. She's pink skinned over the itchy areas too
- She is twitchy the second something is put on her back so not overheating or anything like that

I cannot figure out what it could be unless it is sweet itch but even so, I don't know what I can give or put on her to stop the itchiness. Riding can be difficult when she's so itchy too so I'm desperate to figure it out.

Any ideas please??
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Many reasons mine is itchy to, vet can do a skin scrape, I have delt with these symtoms and causes to itchy horses.


scurfy coat
allergy
sweet itch
casting their coat
overheating
hives
plants or shubs ingested on laid on in field
bites or stings
mites
Bacterial infection
reaction to washing chemical that numnah or rug been washed in once weated up
Fungal infection
allergy to fly repellant
heat rash
sweat rash

I would suggest giving them a bath in hibbyscrub and leave on for a few minutes before rinsing
 
Ellietotz said:
What would I do if it's hypersensitivity? Looking online, there seems to be mixed answers for antihistamines and just feeding omega 3 etc. I'm just not sure what to try
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I think it would be by elimination really
As the problem is on pink skinned areas... A good search of the paddocks for any plants that could cause photosensitivity is a good idea... There are plenty of lists on the Internet, unfortunately I 'think' perennial ryegrass can do it and I'm sure we all have some of that.
Cut out the alfalfa and simplify her feed so that you know when an extra ingredient is added..

If no success , skin scraping, liver function test and whatever else the vet can suggest.
.
 
Mine overheats easily and gets rashes and lumps form his own sweat so he is hogged and I don't put a fly rug on him now.



I would speak to the vet.
Ask about piriton.
You can get an allergy blood
test done.
Cut back all feed to just grass and hay.
See if you can fine out what type of grass your feild have in them.
 
I've cut out the alfalfa so will see how she is in a few days time.
I'm just wondering if it could be where her pink skinned/white fur bits are still a bit inflamed from being out in the sun before the fly rug started going on a few days a go.
She had burnt quite badly recently as it all peeled off not long a go, hence buying the fly rug to help stop her burning again, so maybe it is like wearing clothes on top of sunburn when it feels prickly?
I'm going to get some aloe vera gel to slather on too
 
As I was putting on aloe vera last night, I did notice that one side over her rib cage was bumpy like hives but not the other side, I hadn't noticed this until her fur was all dampened down. The side with the bumps is white/pink skinned and the other side is brown which is fine. Hoping this will begin to narrow down what the problem is but it looks like hives can be caused by a number of things, including sunlight as well.
Hoping the lack of alfalfa might make a difference but if it was that, I feel like the hives would be on the other side too so I'm still not sure!
 
I doubt it is as the timing is wrong, but worth mentioning.

My boy has a sugar allergy. It brings him out in a scabby itchy rash on his back legs. He had it for a good couple of years and we tried all sorts of lotions and potions until we worked out by accident it was feed related. It would start in the autumn, stick around all winter, go mad in the spring before disappearing in the summer and repeat. One Autumn he was a bit too porky so we didn't start feeding him when we normally do and we realised the rash hadn't returned. When we did start feeding him we added everything one at a time - grass chaff was fine, cool mix started it off slightly but wasn't terrible, adding mollassed suger beet made it go mad within 24 hours. We cut him back to the grass chaff and it cleared up. Since then he's been on a sugar free diet and only gets it for a few weeks in spring when the sugar in the grass is high. He's the yard's laminitis monitor - as soon as he gets itchy the muzzles go on!

I'd cut out all food except grass for 2 weeks and see what happens. If she's less itchy, add things back in one at a time and monitor the changes, if any.
 
An absolute long shot, I know, but could it be cushings? One of my horses became very itchy and had difficulty regulating his temperature in the summer long before he had changes in his coat. I had noticed he was drinking more though.
 
The thing about hypersensitivity is that something (sun?) makes the horse sensitive, then other things, whose effects could also have made the horse slightly sensitive, add together to make the horse hypersensitive and you get the effect that you are seeing.

I would have a Cushings test, though, to be on the safe side, skin problems are often a symptom.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
The thing about hypersensitivity is that something (sun?) makes the horse sensitive, then other things, whose effects could also have made the horse slightly sensitive, add together to make the horse hypersensitive and you get the effect that you are seeing.
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Yeah I have bonkers skin and my immune system seems a bit crazy, sometimes just 10 seconds of warm sunlight brings me out in hives in weird places. Yet other days I can be in the sun all day with no problem.

OP, has she had a good once over from a decent physio recently? I have read about horses with weird twitchy oversensitive reactions (esp withers, back or shoulder) that is caused by very tight, pinched or overworked muscles, just throwing that in as an alternative avenue.
 
Ellietotz said:
As I was putting on aloe vera last night, I did notice that one side over her rib cage was bumpy like hives but not the other side, I hadn't noticed this until her fur was all dampened down. The side with the bumps is white/pink skinned and the other side is brown which is fine. Hoping this will begin to narrow down what the problem is but it looks like hives can be caused by a number of things, including sunlight as well.
Hoping the lack of alfalfa might make a difference but if it was that, I feel like the hives would be on the other side too so I'm still not sure!
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Well, you never know. Maybe only the pink-skinned area cannot cope with lucerne (I refuse to call it the American name of alfalfa).

I was wondering if you use a gel pad. I've heard they get hot.
 
oldie48 said:
An absolute long shot, I know, but could it be cushings? One of my horses became very itchy and had difficulty regulating his temperature in the summer long before he had changes in his coat. I had noticed he was drinking more though.
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She has no other symptoms to Cushings so I don't think it is that. It does look like she has hives on her white furred side, not noticeable until you really look though. I think it is "Photodermatitis", it matches all of those symptoms and the sunlight can cause hives too. Just hoping that the fly rug will do it's job keeping the sun off her and eventually the symptoms fade but it's been a few days now, she seems to be less itchy and the slight swelling over the white furred bits is gradually going down. I'm hoping the aloe vera is working. I bought the Barrier Aloe Vera Juice as it's easier to spray over her rather than smothering half her body in the gel!
 
Lois Lame said:
Well, you never know. Maybe only the pink-skinned area cannot cope with lucerne (I refuse to call it the American name of alfalfa).

I was wondering if you use a gel pad. I've heard they get hot.
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Perhaps, I think the pink-skinned areas are sensitive to the sun anyway and the lucerne is probably not helping matters. She's been off that for 2 days as well now
 
milliepops said:
Yeah I have bonkers skin and my immune system seems a bit crazy, sometimes just 10 seconds of warm sunlight brings me out in hives in weird places. Yet other days I can be in the sun all day with no problem.

OP, has she had a good once over from a decent physio recently? I have read about horses with weird twitchy oversensitive reactions (esp withers, back or shoulder) that is caused by very tight, pinched or overworked muscles, just throwing that in as an alternative avenue.
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I haven't had physio out for her for a few months now but her muscles don't seem sore, plus the hives and slight swelling of the pink skinned areas made me think it was a skin issue. I'm kind of imagining it like when you wear clothes after having sunburn and it's prickly?
 
It's been 6 days since stopping the Alfalfa and no improvement to the itchiness so far.
I've also been spraying her in aloe vera juice the last 3 days too but the pink skinned bits still seem inflamed and she is still slightly hivey too. She's still in her fly rug.
I've just read that garlic can make them itchy, is that true? She has about 10g of garlic powder in her feed which I didn't think would cause anything but stopping that could be the next thing to try?
 
My mare itched badly on garlic, having had it for a few years with no reaction. I wouldn't feed it now for various reasons but it's still added to quite a few feeds and chops.
 
GoldenWillow said:
My mare itched badly on garlic, having had it for a few years with no reaction. I wouldn't feed it now for various reasons but it's still added to quite a few feeds and chops.
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Thank you, I'll see what she's like without it in that case. Do you think 6 days is enough to get the alfalfa out her system? I'll still keep it out for the time being as even if it didn't make her itch, it may have made her more photosensitive possibly.
 
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