Skratch Supplement/Bio Eos Capsules - any experiences?

[WelshD]

My new section A arrived yesterday, Idyllic by name but not Idyllic in body thats for sure! -he has some sort of skin problem caused by biting knats, there arent some of the classic symptoms of sweet itch as his mane and tail seem more or less fine but his underside and sheath are a mess as is the top of his neck and cheeks and his ears are really bad. The parts of him covered by his Rambo bug rug are fine though, his last owners tried very hard but the field was extraordinarily 'insecty' (is that a word?)

I plan to get him a rug that covers more of him (with ears/belly etc..) but am also thinking of other approaches to try in conjunction with the hope that once healed the sores will be easier to keep away

He has some cream from the vet - Aqueous cream/Betnovate/baytril mixture but are injections worth a try to at least break the itching?

Has anyone tried the Skratch supplement? I have been told its unapalatable, what do people feed to overcome that? the pony isnt overweight and is on quite a bare paddock so I was thinking a small handful of mollased chaff or mix?

Has anyone tried the BioEos capsules and have any feedback on those?

Does anyone have any other tips to handle this? sorry for all of the questions but I would really love to be able to get on top of this for his sake

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Went to a sweet itch lecture at the RVC: the vet said he'd spoken to a bioeos rep who warned him off as the capsules are totally ineffective.

Your best bet is don't livery near water/fields that don't drain. Hill areas are best because of the wind. Have a fan in the stable and use an all covering rug.

Summer fly cream or other cream with deet (think 20% is the max for horses) is brilliant.

 

[WelshD]

Thank you, those capsules could be an expensive mistake to make then!!

After less than two days here the skin is much less angry as we have a breezy field which as you say helps a great deal

I have summer fly cream for my sheep so thats worth a try thanks

 

[xMoodyMarex]

I have a mare with bad sweet itch, and I'd really recommend the global herbs skratch supplement (if you can get your pony to eat it!) I literally tried everything to get her to eat it but didn't have much luck...however when she did eat it, it was very effective This year I'm going to try apple chaff and peppermint cordial to see if that will tempt her to eat it. Also worth feeding brewers yeast. My mare also gets it very badly in her ears- this year I'm trying the naf off deet power fly repellent cream. Also avon skin so soft dry oil body spray as a repellent is very very good, and nowhere near as expensive as normal fly sprays- at the moment it's about £2.50 a bottle!! Would love to hear any feedback on the bioeos capsules. Best of luck x

 

[nich]

Neither worked for me I'm afraid. The capsules were a very expensive trial. My mare ate the Skratch to no effect. Am trying some injection this year in desperation. Cavallesse didn't work either.

 

[kellybee]

Brewers Yeast didnt have any effect on my appy, and I struggled to get him to eat the Skratch (I swear the first time I opened the tub I was gagging all over the place!) but once we'd established that peppermint cordial, carrot peelings and an extra handful of applechaff to disguise the smell actually works, he's done amazingly on it.

Do yourself a favour though, get him in a SI rug now, before the midges start biting again and make sure he isn't eating molassed/sugary foods or garlic.

 

[Gloi]

We're now on the third year of using Bioeos capsules on our two with bad sweet itch. They still need their rugs but there has been an improvement in both of them and they were better the second year of having them than the first. They are still itchy but not biting themselves as much as before so they have less damage to legs, sheath etc.

I've used brewers yeast but without any noticeable effect. May try Scratch sometime.