Skin condition

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Footlights

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So my horse has been itchy for a long time, and I have been trying to get to the bottom of it. Last week it got a lot worse and he itched himself so much that he pulled his hair out in places and was bleeding, so I got the vet out.

The vet gave anti-histermines, a steroid injection, an injection for mites and lots of other lotions and potions. Since the visit he has pretty much stopped itching and the sores are healing, but I am worried that the steroid injection is just masking up the problem.

They have sent off a skin and hair sample to the lab to be looked at but I won't get the results until the end of this week.

The vet has also sent me steroid tablets to give him, but I am unsure as to whether or not I actually want to give these to him as he seems to be on the mend and I don't want to take the risk if he is ok?

I am hoping that it is just a bad reaction to mites or something. Anyone else had a similar experience?
 
Your vet should not have treated your horse without first knowing what they were treating for. Skin scrapings for mites can be looked at at the surgery under a microscope. So can be treated straightaway. Where is your horse itching? Sounds like your horse is itching all over. Have you deloused?
 
Yes he was itching all over. I think the vet wanted to hit it hard and fast because he was in so much discomfort.

No I haven't deloused - both the vet and I had a good look for lice but couldn't see anything.
 
The itching seemed to start when I moved him to a new field, so I am hoping he is not allergic to something in the field or he will have to be moved again :(

There are, however, alot of foxes in the field, so mites is a good possibility, but it is strange that the other horse in the field is absolutely fine.

There are so many different thing it could be, I just hope the lab results come back with something conclusive.
 
Just a thought but have you considered a food allergy? My mare was the same as yours, rubbing on everything and everyone she get near, a nutrionist from Allen & Page suggested that she had an intolerance to molasses/sugar, as soon as I cut it out of her feed things began to improve and within a few weeks she had stopped rubbing altogether!
 
Yes I did think this could be a possibility, but there have been no changes in his diet and nothing different from last winter. He is on calm and condition, which I believe is low in molasses/sugar too.
 
You say the itching resurfaced when you moved fields, how long ago was that? the autumn rush of grass will have had a higher level of sugars which could have made the skin flare up again. Hopefully your vets will get to bottom of it before too long.
 
Yes we moved to a field down the road at the beginning of October, I noticed the itching shortly after that.

There was, and still is, a good amount of grass there. That's something I hadn't thought of at all. If the itching starts to come back would you suggest penning a small area off for him and treating him like he has laminitis?
 
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The steroids will have stopped the itching so I would be careful about going against the vet's advice. You don't want the itching to start up again before you know how to treat the cause.
 
Marmite sandwiches are the answer to feeding for us!

I stupidly took pony off it at end of October thinking fly season has gone... She now has crusts all over, hair skin and hair coming off and massive oedema. Silly mum.

I also find milk thistle and nettles help a lot :) as does switching to speedibeet (think she has a problem with chaff as well as mollasses!)
 
That's my fear that the results will come back clear and we will be none the wiser as to what is causing the problem. I will have to give the scratch plus a go if the itching comes back.
 
Most skin conditions stem from the diet so if the horse is well on the inside it will show well on the outside. I'd go back to basics and start feeding brewers yeast and linseed alongside something simple like an unmolassed chaff or oats.

Is he rugged, could he be too hot as this is the mildest winter for years and some poor horses are in HW or even the blasted neck rugs, heat could well be a factor.

As to foxes, you're more than likely thinking of mange, not mites. Have you bathed him in Malaseb or anything to help?
 
Thank you, I will look at changing his feed to something very simple like unmolassed oats.

He is rugged but definitely not over rugged.

Yes the vet prescribed malaseb which seemed to really help, plus he loved it when we were massaging it in with our finger tips, he was pulling all sorts of funny faces and his bottom lip was going! hehe
 
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