Sweet itch- My Poor boy

[ibot]

hey

so i have a friesian gelding who has not long turned 7.

now i have had to have him put in a field for about 6 weeks as i have been in and out of hospital with operations etc.
now i went to check on him the other day 2nd time and he had dried up rubs on his right side of his neck pretty much no mane but at least he is healing
now two days ago i went up again to see how he was doing and he flinched when i checked on his left side and he was so sore and red.
i went to the yard and got some potions and drenched him and then went up again today and did the same.

now what else can i do to help with hair regrowth and can i give him some sort of antihistimine (p) to help him stop itching. i am gutted as i am normally so hot on this kind of thing but there was nothing i could do

so come on give me some words of wisdom on how i can go forward i have him coming back to the yard on monday so i am going to give him a bath now the weather is better and try and sooth him and use my arsnel of stuff

 

[Wheels]

Does he wear a sweet itch rug? My youngster is doing well this year with a combination of sweet itch hoody a supplement and an ointment.

Is this the first year you have noticed the symptoms and are you 100 percent sure it is SI and no an allergy to something else? Has the vet seen him?

 

[WandaMare]

Agree a sweet itch rug is the only way to relieve the rubbing once the skin becomes sore. I use Killitch lotion and Aloe Vera gel to sooth. The Rambo Sweet Itch Hoody is really good, has been great for my pony who rubs.

 

[Honey08]

This year is horrific - i'm so glad my two sweet itch ponies have gone from our midgey valley to new homes in dryer areas. Even my two non SIers have been rubbing manes out etc. I put sweet itch hoodies on all my horses now, they're the only thing that stops them getting bitten.

I would give him a bath in a lavender shampoo, then cover him with a SI rug if you can asap. Aloe vera gel (like aftersun for humans for example) always helped a lot with our two that itched, and a few piriton tablets too.

 

[ibot]

hey yes he has got a rug on. had it on since march but because ive not been able to keep an eye on him it has got totally out of control

how many piriton can i give him? he is about 16hh3.

i was going to buy some polytar shampoo which i was recommeded by a human Dr who breed horses and it is really good.

i have got some aloe vera gel and he was before he went out on some powders but as he has not been on feed has had nothing for about 6 weeks. and yes this year we noticed the flies really early not to mention now there are hundreds of bloody horse flies

 

[BillyBob-Sleigh]

Agree a sweet itch rug is the only way to relieve the rubbing once the skin becomes sore. I use Killitch lotion and Aloe Vera gel to sooth. The Rambo Sweet Itch Hoody is really good, has been great for my pony who rubs.

My last boy had SI and I bought him the Rambo rug, absolutely brilliant! He never had any itching with the rug on, however there is a Shire at our current yard who has really bad SI and he even scratches with a Boette rug on, poor lad .

OP what rug do you have on him now? Does it cover him from tip to toe? Personally if it is that bad I would call the vets to see what they suggest potion wise, if his skin is really sore that last thing you want to do is aggravate it -good luck! x

 

[_HP_]

As he is itchy, even with a rug on, the only way you can prevent him from doing more damage is to fence off the field using electric so that he has nothing to itch on. He can still rub and use his legs and teeth to relieve himself a little but won't be able to do so much damage.
Covering them well is the only way to really help...is your rug adequate? plus I use Coopers Fly repellent Plus on my lad which seems to really help.
My lad has severe sweet itch and has to spend all spring, summer, autumn in a fenced off paddock otherwise, even with a rug on, he will rip himself to pieces.

 

[_HP_]

Also...my friend has loads of shetlands and severeal of them show sweet itch symptoms ,but we think it may be an allergy to certain pollens becuase it was very bad in June but they have stopped itching now despite still being in the same environment with plenty of access to places to scratch. Some of them has bald and very sore tails and manes and looked like classic sweet itch.

 

[dollymix]

My ID mare is 17hh and when she had an allergic reaction I was told to give her 6 antihistamines a day.

I use a really good soothing salve in my mare, who scratches her face pretty badly. I think it's By net-tex and called itch stop salve complete. This has helped sooth her and stopped her scratching her face. She wears her fly rug permanently!! It seems to have been a particular bad year.. Not just midges and horse flies, but lots of little black 'house' flies?

 

[ibot]

hey all

so paddy started the year in a rambo rug now he is weatherbeeta, its really hard to get rugs to fit him as he is large built and has a big neck on him. touch wood his tail is good at the moment. i would love to get his tested maybe i shall speak to the vet about it.
once i get him back i will be able to manage it i brought some soothing dandruff shampoo today so i shall give him a good scrub tomorrow. he also looks like his scars are heeling a little bit.

yes what are those little black things really annoying keep finding them on me and my kids