Severe itching, any ideas? Also in vet

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ElleMay

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This summer my pony has had a quite a severe problem with itching her flanks, and I just cannot work out why this is. She has always been one for gettinga bit itchy when her coat is changing and rubs her tail a bit in summer but never anywhere near as badly as she has been rubbing her bottom at the moment.

I've had the vet up who didn't really have any idea what it is, she has a small melanoma under a tail which she thought there may be a possibility of causing the itching but after a couple of weeks of steroid cream, there was no change.

It isn't her tail that she is rubbing, its more to one side of her flanks and she will lift the opposite leg off the ground to really put pressure on the area. There is no external sign at all of what is causing it. The area can get sore, particularly if she lifts her tail over the fence, but this is due to her rubbing, it is not what is causing the itching.

Does anyone have any ideas at all what might be causing it? Its been going on for a few months now, not getting any better or worse in this time. She has alreadt ripped two rugs and broken two parts of the post and rail fencing, which gives an indication of the pressure she is using. I am really worried that she is going to hurt herself with the rubbing if she carries on like this.

The only thing I can think is that is something internal which is causing her the irritation? I have had a horse with sever hock problems in the past who used to lean on his hay bar in what must have been an attempt to relieve the pain, but as my vet said, there is nothing really in this area which could cause a similar problem.

Any help/advice/ideas very very much appreciated!
 
I think of flanks as her side, do you you mean that or her 'bum cheeks'? You havent mentioned anything about your worming regime.. Have you tried having a worm count done on her? Only cost £10 and you can order the kit online.

When I had a horse who suffered with sever sweet itch there was a product called Aroma Pre-itch and we would cover him in that before the midge season got under way as sometimes with scratching it can become more irritated and itchy the more they scratch, even if the original cause has gone. This pre-itch stuff dulls the itching sensation or something like that (cant remember the science behind it) and it worked a treat Also, try giving her a good bath in antibacterial shampoo and rinse her down with warm water with teatree oil in it... make sure you get right into the nooks and crannies around her teats and bum cheeks too
 
Have you washed any rugs with any new products which could irritate the skin? Horses can be very sensitive to domestic household wash powders.
 
To be honest i've never had much experience with sweet itch, but would it be wrong in thinking it would be more her tail rather than her bum/flanks?
She any my other horse (only ones on the yard) are both wormed regularly and she has been done recently. Vet did test for pinworm anyway but results were negative.

Silverbreeze, it is around her bum cheeks, but also further to her right side where I would call her flanks. I will look into the product you suggest, we have been wondering if it is becomming more of a habbit and the endless itch/scratch cycle that is preventing any improvement so it would be interesting to try. She has had several baths in homemade antibac wash (I am a qualified aromatherapist so i make a lot of my own products) and use aloe vera with a mix of oils on the area to soothe it when she has rubbed particularly badly, but this does little to prevent the itching itself. We have done lots of looking around her bum and teats, I look every day when grooming to see if I can see anything new but there is literally nothing unusual to see at all. It is all very frsutrating!

Thank you very much for your replies :)
 
Sorry Izzwizz I missed your post when I was replying. No, the only rugs she has had on this summer are her fly rug which I wash at home using the same detergent I have always used for her rugs, and a lightweight turnout that hasn't been cleaned since new last autumn.
 
Has the vet given her a Dectomax injection?

My cob itches his legs madly and has transferred his attention to his neck since his Dectomax :rolleyes: It might help solve this. It covers worming, also, no need to worm for 6 weeks after. I think it kills pretty much everything!

Has she had a blood panel done?
 
Try giving her a thorough wash with Nizoral - you can buy it from the chemist. Dilute it in hand hot water and work well into the coat. Leave at least 10mins before rinsing off. Works well on my Clydie who is passionate about itching her tail.
 
How long have you had her, and have you moved yard recently? The reason I ask is my mare became very itchy when I moved her to a new yard closer to home...she became a nightmare..if you touched her she would rub against you, and was so angry all the time she became hard to ride. We tried shampoo's dectomax, z-itch, you name it we tried it. I even hated handling her as she was so difficult with the constant itching, my daughter would go nowhere near her.
Any way, I stuck to this yard for a few months, but I wasn't happy as I felt the yard manager was..well a numpty...(being polite) I went to visit my friend at my old yard (she is the YM there) and decided that despite the distance we were much happier there, so I moved back...my mare has not itched any more than your average horse from the first day we got back...odd I know.
 
Only just realised I was reading flanks as bum cheeks. Oh dear, lol! Anyway, I was in too much of a hurry yesterday, but have you gone through her diet/grazing routine? My mare has sever sweet itch which does manifest itself when she's on 'normal' grass. I manage her as a laminitic and thus she also has a low starch diet, with minimal grass.

Some horses seem to have an intolerance to alfalfa, too. No idea if my mare is one as I never feed high alfalfa feeds (other pony goes footy on them!), but try changing her diet. It would take a while to kick in, since once those inflammatory process start, you are in a catch 22 - the rubbing makes it itch more!

I also feed Brewer's Yeast and linseed, both beneficial to hyperallergic/sensitive horses, so I would try adding those to a high fibre feed (Hi-Fi Lite or one of the Allen and Page range, as they're alfalfa free).
 
Could she have come into contact with any noxious substances or anything that could have caused an allergic reaction?

I had a pony become crazy itchy overnight, to the degree he damaged his skin, nobody could see any reasoning behind it. I decided to bath him despite the less than perfect weather and it seemed to ease off his itchiness, after three thorough baths he was back to normal. I think he came in to contact with some noxious liquid that caused him severe irritation, I don't like to think how he came into contact with it as his field is safe and none of the other horses displayed any symptoms.
 
I had a very itchy welsh cob about 2 years ago so severe that she was scratching until she bled started on the legs so just assumed 'cob leg' but spread to her whole rear end numerous creams antibiotics etc to no avail skin scrapes were all negative in the end my vet suggested a mite? Injection I can't remember what it's called but I think they use it for itchy guinea pigs ! I think I gave her one about every to weeks fir a couple of months then a few times as a one off when she started again cleared up and no probs since touch wood good luck
 
Cinammontoast; no she hasn't had any injections .. vet we saw didn't suggest anything along this line but did say we could do bloods if we saw no improvement so this is something I will ask her about.

She has been on the same yard for a number of years on the same grazing, so nothing has changed here. Her diet has also not changed, she is just on a handful of topspec antilam which her supplements go into, and supplements are again all the same as they have been before this started. I also can't think of anything else that would have caused an allergic reaction as nothing in her life has changed for it suddenly to manifest this summer but I will keep thinking.

Thanks for all your replies
 
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