Seriously itchy pony help?

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katymay

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poor pony, he seems to be itchy all the time, as soon as you turn him out he heads for the nearest tree or similar to have a good scratch, its not just back end its all over and he can stand there for 10 minutes as a time scratching.


It cant be sweetitch as I'm sure the midgies are not stupid enough to come out in the cold?

his old owner said he was always really itchy and they used to give him a full clip every winter which eliviated the problem, unfortunately I dont have access to clippers and have yet to find anyone who does a mobile service :(

not sure what to do to help him, his coat is so thick so he is unrugged,
any tips or ideas?
thanks
kate
 
Live are my first thoughts. I would treat with frontline.
My cob foal has been v itchy and iv never found a reason for it until A few days ago when I finally found lice after weeks of looking. Deep down in the mane.
 
Thanks all, I did wonder about lice but his field companion doesnt itch at all and he would have caught them wouldnt he?
he is currently bedded on Straw, was on shavings before hand and still just as bad,
he has turnout with a bare paddock during the day, soaked hay / straw mix overnight with a small amount of fast fibre and a handful of Hi fi lite, ive tried eliminating the alfalfa but it didnt make a difference :(

I do wonder if its just habit now, he never itches in one particular place and hasnt made himself sore anywhere,
which frontline do I use? I might treat for lice on both of them anyway and see if it makes a difference, will I need to disenfect stable etc?
thanks x
 
I think some are more prone to lice than others which maybe why other isn't itching.

We loaned a pony with lice last year, so full clip and baths in an insecticide shampoo sorted him out.

We have a pony now who gets sweet itch in summer- so I've fully clipped her so she can have a good groom every day. It does make me sad though as she doesn't get 1 day without a rug (of one description or another) on all year around as left uncovered she'll rub herself raw- with a rug on she doesn't even try!
 
Coopers spot on for lice, I don't know why folk bath and faff around with other products when this is one spot on the withers three weeks apart, job done.

You can see lice with the naked eye, you may not see them however, and yes it is entirely possible one has them and the other doesn't. If you part the coat where he is itching you might catch sight of one, if there is one, there are hundreds...!
 
One of mine is itchy and keeping him cool really helps, even fully clipped I only put a medium rug on him. Avoid molasses and alfalfa, and do not feed garlic. Be careful as it can be hidden in some feeds like Fast Fibre. It does not state it as an ingredient on the bag but look at the little label stitched to the bag and you will see it listed there. As he is itchy his immune system is already stimulated. Garlic stimulates the immune system, which is the exact opposite of what you want for him.
 
I'd second a treatment with Coopers just to be sure it's nothing crawly. Coopers really is good although I use the fly spray not the spot on. Definitely gets ride of lice though, it's amazing stuff.
 
Thanks all,

I will definately try the spot on solution, might even invest in some clippers and have a go!

he has a mineral lick in his stable, the red block one (cant remember the name!)
he has bitten chunks out of it so is definately using it, I might stick a himalayan one in too or try the salt in feed,

thank you
 
katymay said:
he has a mineral lick in his stable, the red block one (cant remember the name!)
he has bitten chunks out of it so is definately using it, I might stick a himalayan one in too or try the salt in feed,

thank you
Click to expand...

OP if you look on the website - it will not suffice to offer a salt lick if your horse has a potassium imbalance. It was found that horses force fed salt in their feed still sought to lick their salt lick on top of that. They cannot ingest enough salt through a lick alone.
I stress this because a friend has had exactly the same with a horse so itchy it had to be turned out in an electrified paddock for 18 months - it couldn't be stabled or even groomed. 2 weeks on a tablespoon of salt a day added to his feed and he is back to normal :) It was as simple as that for him and so cheap and easy to rectify. She had spent literally £000's on blood tests and investigations.
 
YasandCrystal said:
It could be a potassium imbalance. If you feed him a tablesspoon of salt a day in his feed see if he improves within a couple of weeks. This website may be of interest:

http://www.calmhealthyhorses.com/solut/salt.html
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Thats a really interesting read, so im going to try that for a few weeks and see how he goes, its funny because the other mini ive got loves to lick your hands, and I did wonder if he was after salt!
 
Perissa said:
One of mine is itchy and keeping him cool really helps, even fully clipped I only put a medium rug on him. Avoid molasses and alfalfa, and do not feed garlic. Be careful as it can be hidden in some feeds like Fast Fibre. It does not state it as an ingredient on the bag but look at the little label stitched to the bag and you will see it listed there. As he is itchy his immune system is already stimulated. Garlic stimulates the immune system, which is the exact opposite of what you want for him.
Click to expand...



Perissa this is quite interesting and I have seen a few posts about this recently linked to SI.

My horse suffers with SI and I was given coopers by the vet which really seemed to help initially and I also put him on Naf D -Itch which I note has garlic in it. I noticed a real difference with him on this (only started it last month) but this last week he has a small area on his mane which seems quite tender and scurfy (sp?) again.

With the garlic in the D-Itch does anyone know why this is included in the product if the above is correct? Is it because it will only be a smaller amount as opposed to feeding garlic as a supplement on its own? Considering if I should try another product now.

these are the listed ingredients btw:

Licorice, Bitter orange peel (ripe), Ginger, Glutamine, Thorowax, Methyl sulphonyl methane, Garlic (dried), Ginseng (Panax), Milk thistle seeds, Omicha berries, Skullcap, Product from the processing of plants.


PS sorry to hi jak thread OP!!!
 
Finkins said:
Perissa this is quite interesting and I have seen a few posts about this recently linked to SI.

My horse suffers with SI and I was given coopers by the vet which really seemed to help initially and I also put him on Naf D -Itch which I note has garlic in it. I noticed a real difference with him on this (only started it last month) but this last week he has a small area on his mane which seems quite tender and scurfy (sp?) again.

With the garlic in the D-Itch does anyone know why this is included in the product if the above is correct? Is it because it will only be a smaller amount as opposed to feeding garlic as a supplement on its own? Considering if I should try another product now.

these are the listed ingredients btw:

Licorice, Bitter orange peel (ripe), Ginger, Glutamine, Thorowax, Methyl sulphonyl methane, Garlic (dried), Ginseng (Panax), Milk thistle seeds, Omicha berries, Skullcap, Product from the processing of plants.


PS sorry to hi jak thread OP!!!
Click to expand...

dont quote my on this but I thought garlic was good for the blood and it would discourage the midgies that cause SI as they dont like the taste? I will be checking all feed to make sure there is no hidden garlic in there!
 
I have a very very itchy pony and have just brought some Coopers spot on (but not used it yet). However Blues field mate is incredibly sensitive (allergic?) to Alfalfa, and as they tend to swap feed bowls I offered to buy an Alfalfa free feed to stop Mare getting his. I got the feed delivered last Thursday and yesterday I realised I hadn't seen him itching. I've got him on The Pure Feed Company food called 'Pure Easy'. Its a mix and he loves it. Going to give him a dose of the Coopers Spot on in a few days because he's just had his jabs and I don't want anything reacting.
 
My horse was itchy on Fast Fibre. I think the oatfeed, and wheatfeed and soya ........... just didn't suit.

I changed him to Simple Systems blue bag grass nuts. Just grass (summer value), no fillers or other nasties, and to be honest he rarely bothers itching at all now.
 
There are midges that come out in winter in the evening. A friends horse has got mites and is on a course of injections. I believe garlic and alfalfa cause itching as well.
 
i have just removed fast fibre from my cobs diet as i think it could be causing him to itch hes been on this for about 2 yrs now , he started being itchy 2 yrs ago in spring so thought sweet itch but it never red=solved in winter, removed all alfalfa a yr ago and changed bedding etc no difference it has gradually got worse so has now been 2 weeks fast fibre free and itching is not as aggressive but a lot calmer, will also try adding salt as i didnt know that it could be due to a deficiency, he also has a Rockies red and himalayan lick up
 
Hi, although calling a vet to itching seems bit of an over kill it may be worth it if his itching continues.
I tried everything including a full clip and treating for lice even though I couldn't see any, changed bedding etc
I had the vet out several times because we thought he was colicky turns out he was so intensely itchy he'd throw himself on the floor and roll madly. From here we did a skin biopsy this showed the problem was with his immune system.
Sadly we lost him not long after the test (to something unrelated) so I can't comment on the treatment but I really wished we'd carried out the biopsy much earlier and maybe I could have helped him.
Good luck
 
Have you wormed him? My new mare was like this when I bought her last summer she had no mane and tail. We did her routine worming and she had pinworms lots of them, within days she had stopped itchy. Hope it helps
 
He is due a worming, as im not sure of his worming history, when I asked his previous owner she was non commital at dates etc, I was going to do a worm count first, will this pick up Pin worm? other than that I guess do a five day panacur to get it all, bit wary of this though as my other pony went down with a bout of colic after I last used it, he also came with an unknown worming history :rolleyes:
 
A worm count will not show pin worm, it also will not show encycted red worm, which is what you should be worming for at this time of year anyway. It is known that pin worm are becoming very resistant to most wormers but the more old fashioned ones still work. With this in mind a 5 day panacur will do both things - the pin worm and encysted red worm.

Sometimes they can be unwell for a few days if they have a heavy worm burden. Its probably a good idea to have a word with your vet but 5 day panacur is recommend to give to horses with an unknown worming history as it is one of the gentler chemicals.

Good luck, I know how frustrating and upsetting it is to have an itchy horse and not know why.
 
Perissa said:
A worm count will not show pin worm, it also will not show encycted red worm, which is what you should be worming for at this time of year anyway. It is known that pin worm are becoming very resistant to most wormers but the more old fashioned ones still work. With this in mind a 5 day panacur will do both things - the pin worm and encysted red worm.

Sometimes they can be unwell for a few days if they have a heavy worm burden. Its probably a good idea to have a word with your vet but 5 day panacur is recommend to give to horses with an unknown worming history as it is one of the gentler chemicals.

Good luck, I know how frustrating and upsetting it is to have an itchy horse and not know why.
Click to expand...

Thank you that is very helpful, will buy some at the weekend and worm the other one too, will run it by the vet first
 
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