Sweet itch advice and Boett alternatives?

[ru-fi-do]

When up the stables to check on Shannon last night as she has been in for another Liver biopsy and had received a text saying that my shettie had been frantically rubbing, he suffers terrible sweet itch and this is my first time coming into sweet itch season with him. He has a fly rug on, fed brewers yeat, garlic and cider vinegar and is always smoothered in fly cream. When I went round to him he was covered in golf and tennis ball size lumps all over his body, sheath, inside back legs and bum and very warm. We gave him some antihistamines and a sachet of danillon and he seemed to settle down after about half an hour, we decided to turn him out as he was going to rub himself raw in the stable and he seemed happier in the field grazing.
I have been up this morning and the 'ball' lumps have gone down and he has some large swelling where they seemed to have joined. I'm going to clip him out and bath him later, he has a very thick winter coat which is making him hot.
My next port of call will be a boett or similar, i'm quite reluctant on a Boett as I have heard a lot of mixed reports about it and he always manages to tear his rugs, i know there are some alternatives but wondered if they are any good.

Any experience or imformation, advice that you can give me, please fire away! I'm feeding him brewers yeast tablets, would the powder be better?

This was him on the 6th march,
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This was him bank holiday Monday,
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[hussar]

What you describe sounds very like a fly attack suffered by my sweet-itch-prone Arab a few years ago. He wore a Boett (which he eventually trashed) and we think what happened is that some kind of cattle fly crawled up under the Boett, got trapped, and laid into him big time. He was on 90 human anti-histamines a day for a week!

Ever since he's worn a Rambo Sweet-itch hoody which offers much better overall protection, reflects the heat, doesn't get ripped and is much easier to put on. I don't know if they make Shettie-size ones though.

 

[conniegirl]

Stan my pony has a boett on all year round no problem and his has lasted 4 years (dispite all that he can throw at it). I tried the rambo and found that on the rounder horses it just would not stay in place and i had to take it off him in the end as it kept slipping round.
My lad is now on the sweet itch vaccine trial.

 

[conniegirl]

oh and try marmite sandwiches they seemed to help stan alot.

 

[Paint it Lucky]

killitch or sweetitch plus shampoos are both good for treating sweet itch, or even just washing in cold water can help sooth the affected areas. You could get a fly screen/ close knit mesh to put over his door to kepp flies out of the stable. Stable him at dawn and dusk as this is when midges are most active. Make sure to keep him away from stagnant water as this is where midges breed, get rid off any, such as in field water trooths that haven't been cleaned out for a few days.

Apparently vinegar mixed with cold tea is very good to rub on the mane and tail and anywhere else affected. Also you could try feeding marmite sandwiches, (this isn't as rediculous as it sounds), marmite is both a good fly repellent and made from yeast extract so will do a similar job to the brewers yeast you're already feeding.

 

[ru-fi-do]

Thanks connie girl, heard marmite can help. How many sarnie's should I give? One per day?

 

[ru-fi-do]

Gosh thats a lot of tablets, did you get them through the vet or buy them yourself, I have been giving him 4, starting from last night then 4 again this morning.

 

[Honeypots]

http://www.divoza.co.uk/product6981.aspx

I've heard they're not too bad but personally I would invest in a Boett. A correctly fitting one should work and not allow any midges in. It sounds more like your pony got a biting fly trapped under her rug rather than a midge attack..poor thing. Hope she's ok now..
With any fly rug though you have to make sure there is nothing they can trash it on as none are as robust as a turnout rug obviously. I would fence her off her own paddock using electric and leave her out 24/7 if possible. If she needs to scratch she can roll and use the floor for releif..

ETA: sorry..I meant he..

 

[Frankstown]

My Shetland, Hector also has sweet itch.

I give him a Piriton tablet in an apple first thing in the morning and another at about 4pm.
It does seem to work, but I don't think he has severe sweet itch.
How much brewers yeast should you give?

 

[flyingfeet]

At the moment I feed my 16hh 2 scoops of brewers yeast at night and one in the morning. (Scoop is probably a generous tablespoon)

Not sure what you need to do to scale down for shettie.

 

[conniegirl]

Stan gets a table spoon a day of it, but he is 14hh.

Stan was on 200 (yes 2 hundred) prednisilone 5mg tablets every other day for the entire season before we got a boett. then we got the boett and we managed an entire season with only minimal rubbing, then we tried the vaccine trail and we are now on our 3rd year of the vaccine trial. the 1st year i got him to mid april with no boett and through the rest of the year with the boett on and no rubbing at all (he normaly starts in february and stopps in november), the 2nd year i got him through to july without the boett and the rest of the season with it, hopeing this year we wont need it at all. So far so good as he hasnt shown any inclination to scratch at all so far.

 

[ru-fi-do]

Wow, thats a fantastic result. Spoken to the vet today as I was quite worried about him there were lumps everywhere and he just wanted to be down in the menage, he was obviously really uncomfortable, then when we took him round to the stable he was rubbing on anything he could get near, he then had a small nosebleed. The vet said there was not much they could give him as they didn't really want to give a steriod injection until it was a last resort incase of causing Lami, so we have clipped him out, took half off his legs where he was itchy, and given him a cold bath in the insecticidel(sp) shampoo and he really seemed to enjoy it. I have covered him in Killitch, Skin-so-soft and Camrosa on his belly and put his fly rug back on and turned him out hedoes seem a lot happier will just have to wait and see if the lumps have gone down. The vet said anti hestimines wouldn't really work and they have to be fed at such a high dosage so the ones I gave him last night and this morn probably had no effect. It's too late for me to go on the vacine trial now, but will definatley consider it for next year. I now need to invest in a proper rug.
I will post pictures tomorrow, he reminds me of a poodle because he has only got half his fluffy legs left in, bless him

 

[Nari]

I think I heard somewhere that garlic can make sweet itch horses worse. Does anyone else know anything about that?

 

[druid]

Garlic is usually fed to imrpove/support the immune system. Sweetitch is an auto-immune over response to a protein in the female midge's saliva - bascially the immune system is on "hyper alert" over a harmless protein...the last thing you want to do is bolster this response by feeding garlic!

 

[MagicMelon]

I used a Rambo Hoody last year and my boy did end of trashing it

This year I bought a Boett, he's had it on 2 months now and is *yet* to do any damage. The only thing is he absolutely detests having it pulled off over his head, I mean REALLY hates it so I ride in it and only take it off to bath him or go to an event.

 

[Pancakes]

hi ur ponie sounds like hes got it bad!!!!
my mare has sweet itch and i use the rambo sweet-itch hoody its really good as its breathable and not tight fitting like the boett blankets so shee does't get as sweaty in the summer. also the price tag is alot cheaper.
hope this helps you make a decesion on rugs

 

[ru-fi-do]

Thank you for all you advice and replies, I went up armed with camera tonight but the lumps have all gone down, but his sheath is still very swollen, so i will keep an eye on this, he is still quite itchy on only seems to be worst after i have brushed and messed with him so think i might be best to leave him and just keep applying his lotions and potions. We are keeping him out this way he can't rub himself raw, definatley need to try the boett(or similar) approach. Will take some photo's tomorrow. Thanks again

 

[monkey100]

I have just got a fal sweet itch rug so far so good but early days yet, fits well doesnt slip

 

[BaileyBoots]

www.dinkyrugs.co.uk

If you have a look at their fly section they have a midge one designed for a small pony. Really good price too!

I had the boet for my Welsh, but they are a lot of money for what they are.

 

[Honeypots]

I don't understand the thing about the cost of these rugs TBH. Correctly fitted and looked after these rugs will last for years. As someone with a severe sufferer, my Boett is literally a life saver for my cob. Without it he wouldn't have a decent quality of life and I would probably put him down. I save a fortune on lotions and potions too. With a properly fenced off area usimng electric there shouldn't be any reason why these rugs won't last..

 

[conniegirl]

i agree with claire. mine has lasted 4 years without me fencing off anything. Also i saved more then the cost of the boett in lotions in the first year!

 

[ru-fi-do]

Do you apply anything when they have thier Boetts on? Or just fly spray, i'm definatley going to order one, the poor little mite is really suffering, i might have a look round for a second hand one too then I'll have a spare, just incase.

 

[Honeypots]

I put a bit of Net Tex sweet itch salve on his face because he won't wear a hood (big head) and some on his sheath but apart from that nothing. A tub of cream last me the season. I don't bother with fly spray...

 

[conniegirl]

erm nope nothing. I dont tend to bother with flyspray when the boett is on and i only put a midge repelant cream on his sheath and face if he starts getting stressed.

 

[conniegirl]

If he is already suffering id be inclined to put some soothing cream under the boett untill it has settled down a bit

 

[Honeypots]

[ QUOTE ]
If he is already suffering id be inclined to put some soothing cream under the boett untill it has settled down a bit

[/ QUOTE ]

yep ..agree. If/when you get the Boett or alternative, give him a bath before you put it on. Once he's had the rug on a while and the itch dies down you shouldn't need anything where the rug covers. If he scratches his head you can buy the hood too or use a cream. It depends alot on the degree of sweet itch. I reckon my boy has it as bad as it gets. I'm sure all this has been said before but the site of his field will make a huge difference. My boy is now high up on a hillside and his filed is very exposed with little shelter and no trees. He is virtually itch free for most of the year now (unless I bring him onto the yard) and all I have to contend with is a bit of sunburn now...

 

[ru-fi-do]

His field is a problem as he is located near the muck heap, we are going to move him to the bottom of the field once the grass has been eaten down, unfortunatley there are no hills around us, apart from the muckheap he is in a big open field with nowhere to rub, he looks really sorry for himself and wants to come in, but if we bring him in his stabel he will rub straight away, his skin looks really good now, all the lumps have gone down, there are just a few raised patches, these are the photos of when he arrived last year.
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Then after 4 weeks of Camrosa
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I will definatley take photo's tonight and post. Thanks for all your advice felloow sweet itch sufferers!

 

[morgan4eva]

We have a pony who is a little prone to sweet itch altho has never developed it fully - without a fly rug her hog thickens and she will rub and rub- as I say the fly rug has been fab and also if she is gets some thickening I apply Benzyl Benzoate (avaliable from the chemist used for treating scabies!) and citronella mixed. This makes a very smelly sticky mess which when applied soothes and softens the skin and the citronella keeps the midges etc away!

 

[ticobay831]

Hi there
My pony suffers with bad sweet itch hes got through two boets.
I bought one of these last year and its just as good but a little cheaper

http://www.solva-icelandics.co.uk/sweet1.htm
Debs x

 

[ru-fi-do]

[ QUOTE ]
Hi there
My pony suffers with bad sweet itch hes got through two boets.
I bought one of these last year and its just as good but a little cheaper

http://www.solva-icelandics.co.uk/sweet1.htm
Debs x

[/ QUOTE ]

I ordered one from here last night, I have heard very good reports about them and they are £60 cheaper.