Possible reaction to citronella...any vets here??

DragonSlayer

DragonSlayer

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I sprayed my mare today with my home-made fly spray, that good 'ole recipe once found in Your Horse magazine....

She went and rolled today, then came over to us and started stamping whilst we were poo-picking....I thought she had a horse fly attached....but couldn't see one, and she was getting more and more agitated.....

Then on closer inspection, on her left side and left flank, parts of her fur were rising, and on touching, 100's of bumps!!!!

Obviously giving her grief, I thought she must have rolled on a red ants nest, but went to see where she had rolled, and saw nothing but the grass was long......

So I put on her headcollar and sis-in-law washed her down, which she seemed to like, and I lathered on the sudocream, and after a few minutes, she wasn't as stressed, and by the time I left later, althought the bumps were still there, she was grazing and just kicking at herself every now and then.

Bumps are about gone now....and Tia is much happier....

I've used this on her before, but then went to shop bought, but in these lean times, decided to use it again. I've been using it now for a couple of days, and last year on all my horses...but never had this reaction before....and only in this part of her body, nothing on the otherside, of her neck and legs, or underneath her belly....

So, as it was localised, and where she had rolled, is it likely to be nasty red ants, or a possible allergic reaction to the citronella.....?

Thoughts and opinons please!
 
I knoe I am not a vet DS but Nitty did this with a fly spray I bought last summer. The bumps went down and then two days later all her hair fell out!
 
Again, I'm not a vet but my horse does react like this to anything containing citronella. With the home made sprays you often find that the ingredients are not mixed fully (oily residue on top) so could this explain why only one side was effected (i.e. did you spray this side first)?

Hope you get to the bottom of it :)
 
rhino said:
Again, I'm not a vet but my horse does react like this to anything containing citronella. With the home made sprays you often find that the ingredients are not mixed fully (oily residue on top) so could this explain why only one side was effected (i.e. did you spray this side first)?

Hope you get to the bottom of it :)
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...you know I did do that side first....??

AND I distinctly remember saying to sis-in-law, that it needs to be shaken thoroughly!

Maybe bad DS mummy did not shake as well as DS mummy thought she had shaken it....

:(
 
Sounds like that could be the reason then!

Slightly off topic, but I managed to sit on a red ants nest at work a couple of years ago when supervising some orphan cygnets having a swim. I did a frantic 'ants in your pants' dance trying to get rid of them, then gave up and joined the cygnets in the stream. Turned round to find an entire coach load of tourists staring at me :D Off topic, but still makes me giggle.

(and can't believe I wrote effected instead of affected in last post, grr)
 
blazingsaddles said:
Neat citronella oil can cause contact dermatitis and skin irritation....your intentions were good - bottle shaking not so good!:D
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Not using it again, thats for sure! :O

rhino said:
Sounds like that could be the reason then!

Slightly off topic, but I managed to sit on a red ants nest at work a couple of years ago when supervising some orphan cygnets having a swim. I did a frantic 'ants in your pants' dance trying to get rid of them, then gave up and joined the cygnets in the stream. Turned round to find an entire coach load of tourists staring at me :D Off topic, but still makes me giggle.

(and can't believe I wrote effected instead of affected in last post, grr)
Click to expand...

Wish I could have seen that....:D
 
I used a spray containing citronella on my girl a few years ago. The next day she had lots of welts on her, so I thought damn flies and sprayed her even more. The day after that she wouldn't let me touch her (normally comes to me for a good scratch at every opportunity) so I caught her and felt her and her skin was red hot. I hosed her down with cold water, gently hibiscrubbed her and rinsed her twice a day for the next two days. The welts went, her skin was cool and all was fine until the following week when half her hair fell out. I'd effectively given her a chemical burn and you can imagine how awful I felt. Now I make my own flyspray and add a little commercial spray which I know is citronella free, and effective.
 
Also not a vet, but my horse has a similar reaction to Citronella. I used a fly spray with some citronella in it, and soon afterwards he had huuuuuge raised patches/welts all over his body, terrified me before I realised it was a reaction.
 
Interesting as I am using a citronella based spray the one in green bottle, but Toby came with little lumps on the left side of his neck, but this am he has a nasty looking sore on his muzzle :(
 
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