Sweet itch ?

Jasper65

Jasper65

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Is it too early for sweet itch ?
My horse has just recently started rubbing his mane and tail at every opportunity. He now has large scabby flakes in his mane and is becoming bald. I have never had any experience of sweet itch but my horse is allergic to a lot of things so cant give him any supplements and currently cant have a rug on so a few questions.
1 - Is this sweet itch ?
2 - What natural products can i try?
3 - when he can have a rug back on is it worth getting him one of the Rambo sweet itch rugs if this is indeed sweet itch ?

Thanks for the help
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Hi! SI tends to start around the begining of March through to October/November, weather depending... colder it is the later it starts. Well thats what my Shetland finds. He was part of the trial for Brinicombe Equine's Think Itch feed supplement last summer and I was amazed. Jacko's story is on the Brinicombe Equine's website. (I do not work for Brinicombe in any shape or form, I was just a lucky enough that Jacko was considered for the trial.)
It can be a long hard slog but keep trying different things to see what works best for your horse. I tried nearly everything including steroids, rugs, lotions and potions and the Think Itch has worked the best for Jacko after 20+ yrs of the condition.

Never tried the Rambo SI rug as they don't go small enough so cannot answer that one I'm afraid.

Good luck with what ever you try!! :)
 
Although my boys sweetitch hasn't surfaced yet (and touch wood long may this continue!), I have heard others have started rubbing.
It sounds like it is probably sweetitch, but it could also be an allergic reaction to something else. Has anything in hsi routine etc changed?
Can I ask, why can't he have a rug on?
As for feeding naturally for it, I add brewers yeast, marmite and linseed to his diet so they might be worth a try.
 
Answer to question 1. No it is not too early for sweet itch by any means - as soon as it gets warm enough for midges to emerge, i.e. no frost, then you can expect the symptoms of sweet itch to develop.

Natural remedies? No doubt you'll get lots of advice on here. Some say that a product by "Avon" called "Skin So Soft" spray on oil is good. Cheap and cheerful. The "science" being that if you can make the coat unattractive to biting insects by making it oily, they won't like it. So I've used Pig Oil (cheap and cheerful, get it from farm outlets like Mole Valley etc). I mix it with Neem Oil (supposed to be repellent to insects) and sponge it on the coat and brush it through his coat, mane and tail. But do a patch test of pig oil first as some horses like mine with white coat and pink legs can have an allergey to it, especially if you mix it with sulpher. Aloe vera is also supposed to be good.

Rugs? Um, I'm not sure I fully understand why you're not using a rug. Presumably because your horse has raw patches? Because the only real way you're gonna solve this problem for your horse is to cover up so he can't get bitten by the midges in the first place. I use a variety of rugs, currently using a Pessoa sweet itch hoody - absolutely fantastic, but haven't seen them on the market for a couple of years. Also I've tried the Pagony (which is supposed to be a cheapy version of another rug called the Boett - which basically covers the horse's body so insects can't bit. It looks a bit odd once on, but it does do the job). I wouldn't recommend the Pagony though; the workmanship wasn't up to standard IMO and if buying another rug like this I'd go for the Boett.

Good advice is available on the National Sweet Itch Centre website.

Also ....... if your pocket is feeling generous .... there is something called the BioEos (National Sweet Itch Centre have it in stock on their website). Its basically a pill which you give the horse once a week during the sweet itch season. Mine is on it at the mo; a bit early to tell yet, he was taking it last year but was on livery at a different yard so difficult to tell.

More natural remedies: I'm giving mine Brewers Yeast in his feed, plus a scoop of seaweed, plus some Cider Vinegar. Apparently Clivers (the green sticky weed you find in hedgerows) is good; leave a bundle in the stable, or in his haynet, and let him pick out what he wants, is good too. Also Linseed Oil good, as it works from the inside to give a nice glossy bloom to the coat which insects might not like!

IF the horse has got raw sores, then IME a product called "Killitch" is good - basically I think (? - someone correct me??) its the same product as something called Benzyl Benzoate (human medication for scabies!!!). Expensive but good IME.

Also something to consider is where is your horse turned out? Low lying fields near standing water or ponds are bad for sweet itches as this is where midges congregate. The best field for a sweet itch would be as high up as possible, and as windy as possible, as near the sea as you can get! Also any fields near forest/common land areas are bad for a sweet itch.

Stabling between dawn and dusk which is when the cullicoides midge which causes sweet itch is most active, is the best thing. You still need to put a sweet itch rug on in the stable though as some midges will still get inside.

All this sounds very formidable! BUT mine's got sweet itch and it IS manageable once you get your head around the fact that its not just ONE solution, its a total management solution with a variety of components.
 
Hi there,
I cant put him on any powder supplements at the moment (vets decision) but it may be worth trying in the future.

Nothing has changed in his routine as I did think he was maybe allergic to something but nothing new for about 3 weeks now.
He cant have a rug on as he had an allergic reaction to a wormer and decided it wud be a good idea to rub his whithers raw and as it hasnt healed fully yet I dont want to put a rug on and add pressure to it that might cause it to rub again.
Bluming TB's !!!
I will see if I can get any of those and try him with them. Looking for anything that is more natural than chemicals as he even reacted to garlic, and several supplements we have tried him with.

Thanks for the help so far
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Um, meant to say before that with a sweet itch, you're best to avoid feeding garlic. Garlic acts as a stimulant to the immune system; and the problem with sweet itch is that its basically the immune system reacting to a stimulus, i.e. midge bites, so what you don't want to do is to stimulate that particular response! Sorry, am prob'ly not explaining it too well, but yeah, just avoid garlic if you think its sweet itch!

Ditto sweet things, so go for unmollased feed - surprising (and shocking IMO) how much mollasses the average feed has in it.

It might be worth your while asking your vet to take some bloods to establish just what IS going on with your horse; then at least you'd know what you're dealing with.
 
WOW ! Lots of things to try here ! thankyou ! yea he has some very raw skin patches still but was going slightly mad being stabled 24/7 so goes out for a few hours during the day.

His field is the highest on our yard but is surrounded by hedges and trees, will midges congregate here ?

He is allergic to all sorts and vet has suggested not using any chemicals on him for a while yet

ETA i stopped feeding him garlic about a month back when we discovered these allergies.
We had a set of bloods done which showed he was anaemic but was having an allergic reaction to the wormer he was given, he was literally biting great chunks out of himself and itching constantly all over and colic previously

thanks for all the help
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Garlic makes sweetitch worse, so it figures that he had a reaction.
When you come to get a rug, ask around as different people like different rugs. Some people like the boett, but I found them badly made and a right pain in the arse to put on. I also tried the snuggy which some people love, and Fella hated it, only lasted a few weeks. He found it very hot. Both rugs are over £150. Last season and so far this season he has been wearing a regular fly rug by HY, and cost about £35. It is silver so sun repells and he seems happy in it, and it has a belly bit and ear holes to prevent the neck slipping down and I really rate it.
When you can start using chemically things I find Coopers fly repellant good to keep the midges away and for any raw patchs I swear by naf d-itch cream.
When it comes to SI you will come to realise that it is trial and error, what works for one horse may not work for another. For example some people find benzol benzoate (sp?) very good, but it did nothing for Fella.
Oh and finally, I find regualar bathing with lemon and insectisidal (sp? - sorry my spelling is awful!) shampoos helps Fella too. Hope this helps and if you want to ask anything feel free to PM me. Sorry for the essay!
 
that sounds good ! my lad had a hy fly rug last year but shredded it within a week :/ he likes to wreck rugs ! I will ask friends etc when I come to get him a rug and i think he will deffinately be getting regular baths. Have tried the NAF d-itch and it didnt seem to make any difference :/ will deffinately start trying some of these ideas!

Thanks again
 
For sore/raw patches I found really good results with Nettex Stop Itch Salve Complete. Nice and soothing and water repellent. My shetland only had a fly rug as he went through the Boetts too quickly for my wallet.

Lots of great ideas around to try!! :)
 
Masta have just brought out a new sweet itch rug, which looks like the boett but half the price. I might try one as my pony's boett got ripped beyond repair last summer and don't fancy the £170 price tag of a new one. I'm also trying a powder called sweet relief (saw it talked about on a previous thread a couple of weeks ago) but only been using it a week so can't comment on its effectiveness yet. Having said that other horses in the field seemed to be swishing a lot more than mine yesterday evening so I'm hopeful. It was cheap and delivered the next day and I undestand it is based on vitamin B, which is where the marmite/brewers yeast connection comes in. I agree with other posts that there are so many products and suggestions that you might have to try a few to find something that suits but you have to be vigilent to keep on top of it. A soothing cream such as sudocrem, naf d-itch or nettex sweetitch salve are all good to have at the ready if sores occur as you have to be careful with some fly sprays & lotions if the skin is broken.
 
Ditto much of what has already been mentioned - Garlic can cause Heinz Anaemia in horses btw...

Just a thought - What is your horse being fed? Try to keep it very simple. I found this also effective with my SI pony. There is a "small" chance he may have a reaction to feeds which contain Alfalfa.

I started my lad on Echinacea, Rosehip and Seaweed (herbs - not powder :)) around Christmas with the idea of boosting the immune system - without over stimulating it. I also include a little brewers yeast too. So far so good... He is living out atm without a rug on. He is a full maned Dartmoor who has been raw in the past with SI. :(

In my "back pocket" I have Comfrey Root - this is very good for soft tissue, as well as bones, ligaments etc.

May also consider feeding Neem Herb if you can get hold of it as well as using it topically. :)
 
I'm trying my mare on Cavalesse, and it seems to be working as she went through 2 boett rugs last year. Only thing is you have to start it 3 weeks before the so called sweet itch season, so I started her off on it in Feb, it is expensive £82 but if she goes through the year with a full coat and no itching as she becomes unrideable during the summer/autumn it will be well worth the money and more. But don't put Benzle bezolite on an open sore as it stings like hell, you cann't get near my mare, if she smells that and even the ointments with it in, she knows straight away.
 
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