Sweet itch getting worse

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Emma1703

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I thought I'd managed to keep my mares sweet itch under control this summer but it's all of a sudden gone out of control :( she's now got bald patches starting on her mane where she's rubbing so much.

She's on grass livery so out 24/7 I had been bathing her twice a week in anti itch shampoo, every 2/3 days I applied benyl bezonate and neem oil all over followed by fly spray every day and obviously a sweet itch rug. This was keeping her itching at bay, she'd still pull the camel faces when you scratched her but over the last week she's rubbing herself raw.
Does anyone have any other ideas? Don't want to loose all her mane and tail again this close to the end of flu season!
 
Clip her. Everything is moulting like crazy, growing winter coats, then comes boiling hot days and they're getting itchy from the heat. A steroid injection from the vet can get the itching under control, you need to break the cycle, the itching causes scratching and damage, which then gets hot/inflamed and itches more. Being too hot is hard on a sweet itch horse.
 
Are you feeding alfalfa in any form? It can cause skin problems very similar to sweet itch; and no, I didn't believe this at first until we tried it in desperation! Even a lot of the hoof formulas contain a very high %age of the stuff.
 
Alfalfa sends her crazy so she has no form of it at all!! Has a small handful of agrobs muesli just so I have something to mix her piriton with.
Can't electric fence the field unfortunately as mixed herd grass livery with loads of trees as natural shelter which is what she's rubbing on.
 
As well as everything else I found putting coconut oil on (I mixed it with fly cream of if it was evening/night put it on straight) helped soothe the area and make hair regrow faster.

(I didn't put it on on areas exposed to sunlight otherwise I would imagine you would fry your horse!)
 
Emma1703 said:
She's in an equi theme boett style rug, and yes sorry forgot to add that, 10 portion a day.
Click to expand...

this last couple of weeks my SI horse has gone from 10 piriton a day to 30. I usually have to up the dose in July or Aug thru Sept. Try washing her mane and tsail in a mild baby shampoo and upping the piriton I find it can take up to 3 days to have an effect but mine is itching much much less now. hope this helps.
 
Emma1703 said:
Can't electric fence the field unfortunately as mixed herd grass livery with loads of trees as natural shelter which is what she's rubbing on.
Click to expand...

While she is in that situation you will never win unfortunately. You really need to either move her or put up an electric fenced area within the field at least until the end of the sweet itch season.
 
Thankfully I havent personally had to try to treat/care for a horse with sweetitch but theres a pony on the yard I stable at that has suffered badly every year. This year a lady has loaned/cared for him, bought him a fly rug and used tea tree shampoo and shoo fly sweet itch lotion and she has just posted before and after photos on FB. Im not sure I know how to put these on here but will try in a mo as the difference is massive. He is so much happier and his once bleeding sores have gone.
 
open photo in facebook (you do need to open it)
right click
'copy image url'
paste that here
add the
tags to either end no spaces.
 
I wash my boy several times a week. he gets kilitch on his mane and tail we also have a Rambo fly rug. I personally think washing really regularly is the best thing
 
ester said:
open photo in facebook (you do need to open it)
right click
'copy image url'
paste that here
add the
tags to either end no spaces.
Click to expand...

:( I dont get that option. I get view, copy, copy image location, save, email, set as background, view image info, inspect. Thanks though
 
are you on a pc? I haven't worked out the phone option - sorry about the quality screen shot not great.
21192408_10159407181680438_1636803888278596860_n.jpg


mine say copy image address. but copy image location should work the same, give it a go.
 
Thanks everyone. Will definitely start by bathing her more and uping her piriton. Just feel like I'm banging my head against a brick wall and wasting all my money on products that don't work :(
 
Try bog standard head and shoulders. My vet swears by it and it soothed my old boy's sweet itch more than any other expensive shampoo. He also swears by a potion made up of 50% calamine lotion, 40% benzyl benzoate and 10% meths which seemed to keep my old boy comfortable. Just don't put it on if skin is broken as the meths will sting like hell.
 
I'm new to sweet itch but apparently this year has been very bad compared to previous

I bath mine every 2 days in Johnson and Johnson baby shampoo, an experienced friend on the continent confirmed that there is something in the fragrance of the shampoo that puts off the midges...
 
Emma1703 said:
Alfalfa sends her crazy so she has no form of it at all!! Has a small handful of agrobs muesli just so I have something to mix her piriton with.
Can't electric fence the field unfortunately as mixed herd grass livery with loads of trees as natural shelter which is what she's rubbing on.
Click to expand...

I think the muesli has carrots in it. They are quite sweet and can make one of ours itchy, without sweetitch. I would switch her onto soaked Wiesencobs -ours love them, I should think you could feed the Piriton in that just as well.
 
Bags nearly run out so I'll swap her onto that one and see if it's any difference. Just can't believe how bad the flies are this year compared to normal!
 
I think you have to apply treatments daily. That seems to have made the difference to the pony I've taken on compared to how he was last year. I use Leovet No Rub on the mane and dock -the main ingredient of which is urea- but it seems to work as he has a full mane this year. On his face I use Nettex Itch Stop Salve - the downside of this is it's very greasy but again seems to have worked. He's also on Brewer's Yeast. I wash his rug every week as I read if you keep these clean it helps.
 
I did try her on marmite but made no difference so may try brewers yeast.
Her rugs just been washed and repaired as she scratched holes through it! I've ordered another one too so I can alternate them and wash them as often as possible without having to leave her naked for any time.
 
Ive purchased a horse with sweet itch this year. What works for her is turmeric, brewers yeast and linseed in her feed, biteback cream on any sores, neem oil rubbed through the itchy bits (mane and tail) every few days and a shires sweet itch rug on 24/7. She lives out 24/7 and so far has stopped rubbing and her mane and tail have grown back. I recommend the sweet itch group on facebook, they are really helpful and a mine of information.
 
Ahh that looks nasty! Trying to catch hers before she gets like that, not heard of the products you mentioned before will have a look into it!
 
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