Sweet itch help/advice

clydesdale

clydesdale

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Hi i have had my clydesdale mare 6 years now and she has just been diagnosed with sweetitch :( had to hog her yesterday so we can treat it (this killed me she had a lovely mane minus the rubbed out bits), only seems to be her mane effected at the moment does anyone have any advise/help on treating it? anyone had experiance with it ? ':mad:
 
I find Benzyl Benzate really helps Em, she gets it really bad on her tail, not sure if ive spelt it correctly, but i get it from human chemists, its made for the treatment of scabies, hope this helps :)
 
I keep my mare in a fly sheet 24/7 from march to october. I also spray her with avon skin so soft dry oil body spray- less than half the price than normal fly sprays and I'd say it works even better! I feed her 6 brewers yeast tablets everyday in feed, and nettex itch stop salve on tail area and coopers fly repellent plus in mane- I find the nettex is very greasy when used on mane!
Still yet to find something to help with her itchy front legs- if I use anything on her legs she just licks it off! So I just cover her front legs in repellent. Also sounds strange, but I find vaseline works well on face area...tried many different things but this was the most effective :)

Hope this helps! :)
 
You can buy brewers yeast in powder form much cheaper, last ages as need a dessert spoon a day, it's like marmite for horses and really helps. Benzoyl can also be bought on line, I spent £12 at beginning of season and still have some left. Fly rug on all the time, and home made fly repellant, which costs pennies and works better than commercial ones, there are loads of recipes on this forum, experiment with them.
 
Feed Brewers Yeast (I use the powder stuff from Holland & Barrett) and invest in a proper Sweet Itch Rug or two for next year. I have managed to buy all my Boett Rugs secondhand. Google it, there is a lot of very helpful information out there.
 
Anything oily on the mane will help as mites dont like biting through oil, I alternate Neem oil and Supreme Products mane and tail restorer

Brewers Yeast powder in the food as others have suggested

My vet suggested Deosect insect repellant which is very good and very strong, you dilute it so a bottle lasts ages

A decent sweet itch rug would work wonders too as when a horse is bitten it doesnt always scratch where the bite is (hope that makes sense!)
 
katherine1975 said:
You can buy benzyl benzoate from www.hyperdrug.co.uk
I use a sweet itch rug to stop the horses being bitten and also use benzyl benzoate on their manes and tails. I use nettex itch stop cream on faces. Feeding brewers yeast can also help.
Lots of good advice on here http://www.sweet-itch.co.uk/
Click to expand...

Yes it's great stuff.
You can also dilute it & spray a mist of it on any horse, it keeps the flies away a treat.
 
My welsh D was diagnosed with sweetitch this year too :( 3/4 of her mane was non existent. I have found that using a sweetitch rug 24/7 has helped dramatically and she hardly itches now and even her mane has started to grow back :) I use snuggy hoods sweetitch rug and I know they do a great range of sizes.
I also feed my mare feedmark equidermis which is supposed to help skin repair, I always spray her udder area with fly spray usually naf deet because the rug doesn't cover this area.
This sweetitch management is really working touch wood :)
 
Hi
My goregous youngster rubbed his mane and tail almost raw in one evening - this year has been shocking for midges and I 'feel your pain' !
Several things to try that have worked with mine....
FlyAway do some wicked products - the midge bite will stay in the skin causing the rubbing, so they do a new wash that takes it all way and soothes the skin - sorry it's at the yard and can't remember the name - but I give mane and tail a good scrub with it once a week. Speak to the Fly away people - they will know the product I refer to and they are really helpful! I then use the MidgeAway green sludge and cover him in it once / twice a day. Avon Skin-so-soft is also great, but it can solidify which does make it a little testing!! He also has a bug rug that covers everything. It is a pain to pull on and off, but he stands there happy as anything and lets me do it - it's an additional 10 mins on my time with him - boo hoo! That's the topical bit sorted - now the internal. Feedmark sell brewers yeast and it is fab. They always do offers - I bulk buy and feed 1 scoop in night feed 365 days. It also has a calming effect as it is full of B vits. I have also started in ecchinacea and that also really works well. The only real advice I can give is to try everything you can. I have to mix all of the above - you might get away with a little less, or a little more - but don't be afraid to try it - the skin will heal and the hair will regrow if you get it wrong! Good luck !
 
Have a look at the archives here on HHO as there's a lot there you can dip into.

Don't be too downcast at a diagnosis of sweet itch. My boy has it and TBH if you looked at him now you wouldn't believe it. He's got a lovely full mane and tail and no rubs!

With SI, its a total management package rather than one quick fix you'll find.

I feed: Brewers Yeast - one scoop per feed (fed twice a day); also Clivers (sticky stuff grows in hedgerows - put some in haynet when growing or get as a supplement); plus occasionaly Cider Vinegar and also Linseed is good as it makes the coat oily which is what midges hate.

Take away any sugar or mollasses from the diet - and double check what you're feeding coz some proprietory brands that say they're mollasses/sugar free arn't and have a lot of sugar in them.

Avoid garlic - it stimulates the immune system which isn't what you want.

You need to stop the midges biting in the first place: so firstly cover the horse up at all times (even in the stable) between February through to the end of October (I always think from school half-term in the February, through to half-term in the October). But you still need to be vigilant: last year on Xmas day I was out in party frock putting on a sweet itch hoody!!!

Also you can use topical lotions like Killitch (benzyl benzoate); or I tend to use Pig Oil with a few drops of Neem oil in it and just sponge on - midges don't like anything oily on the coat plus hate Neem oil!

You may need to stable the horse if its a really midgey day from dusk through to dawn. But the best and most effective way of stopping midges from biting is to put on a sweet itch hoody rug. I use a Rambo, but don't know what sort of sizes they go up to. Boett are supposed to be good, I've never used one so can't comment. You can also get ride-on rugs for summer riding - I don't know how I managed without these TBH, they're a godsend.

And look at where you keep the horse: best places are high fields which catch the wind and are away from standing water. Worst places are valley's with streams or standing water which are sheltered with little or no wind. I kept mine for a while at livery where there was an artificial pond, and the midges literally crawled all over the stables - but when I brought him back to my own yard just 9 miles away which is higher up and catches the wind, he was a lot better. Trees are also bad as they attract the midges. So within any area you could move say a mile and it would have a huge difference on the midges factor.

Try the National Sweet Itch Centre: they've got some good advice & links. It may pay you to get the vet out and take some bloods, coz then you'd know what degree of SI yours has.

But don't despair! SI is a bit of a blow when first diagnosed, but it IS manageable. If you PM me with your e-mail I can e-mail you pictures of my boy who's got SI but has a lovely flowing mane and tail so you can see that you CAN manage it successfully. Good luck!
 
Hi
I really feel for you, my welsh cob whom we had owned since a weanling developed SW as a yearling. We did everything possible supplements, ointments, clipping, moved yards, monthly immune injections from the vet, capsules from SW centre and nothing worked! she became unrideable from March til Nov even although in a sweetitch rug from march as soon as they are bitten the cycle starts.

I used to get so upset and frustrated and had almost reached the decision to have her PTS with the vets agreement , however tragically she made the decision easy for me as she received a nasty field kick and the decision was taken from me as her leg was broken.

It was the hardest thing to do as she was only 8 but now 4 months on I know she is looking down on me, itch free and living happily over rainbow bridge.
I really do wish all the very best and hope they find a cure soon for this awful allergy and that your boy finds some relief
 
Thankyou every for your post i am gutted at having to hog her altho she does pull the look off quite well and i am now able to actually treat the problem a little easyier, my vets have made up a cream for me to put on her rubber/soar spots so hopefully we will see some improvmen and will be looking to get her a full rug for the summer to help stop the midges getting to her, altho with her being in 7'3" rugs this is easier said then done :)
 
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