sweet itch

M

mandy59

Member
Joined
15 November 2010
Messages
14
Visit site
hi, have a small shetland pony companion sufferring from sweet itch, what products does anyone use and to what degree do they work?thanks.:)
 
my gelding seriously suffers from sweet itch. He's so miserable in summer. i got him a rambo sweet itch huddy which seemed to really help. i also feed him garlic and antihistamines. Hes permanently hoged now as his mane wont grow back. i tried him with a snuggy hoods which seemed to damage the hair even more and caused me even more stress! Im considering buying him a boett at the moment. i use a cream called hypercal which you can get from holland and barrats. its like a miracle cream and really helps soothes and heal his sores.
 
I would definitely try a Boett rug. I've tried most others and this is definitely the best. Last year I started using Ruggles sweet-itch salve and shampoo. This definitely helps and the salve can be used on any sore bits. It's neem oil based and is very soothing.

Amber - I would ditch the garlic. There is no evidence that it works with sweetitch or with discouraging flies and there are some health concerns also.
 
My welsh D suffers very badly. Appears on her belly and even under the saddle in bad years. This year we are feeding Global herbs supaskratch, bathing fortnightly in tea tree oil shampoo, Using homemade cintronella based fly repellant and we patch the scabs up with D-Itch ointment daily.
So far the tail is good with just the odd rub and belly has healed after an early attack. She's currently having a good go at her mane and has rubbed a small patch, but we're on it!
Rugs aren't an option for me as she freaks if her tail and neck aren't free.
But as I'm finding out, sweet itch is about daily maintenace. It's just part of the routine. If she has a good hard rub then that bit gets washed in tea tree, itch ointment rubbed thro and the fly repellent stepped up.
The sweet itch midge breeds near/in muck and standing water. So I also make sure the field trough is fresh and poo pick regularly.
Keeping them in at dawn and dusk is also meant to help. Mine would go spare so we run the gauntlet, she's on overnight turn out 6pm-9am.
 
thanks for all the replies,will try some of the suggestions but thought would have to go down the rug route.:)
 
Just seen Kevin Bacon Active Soap for SI,and wondered if, as his hoof products are so good, the Active soap works well on sweet itch ?
 
There is a n expensive feed product you can try, it worked for my horse, don't be put off by the price as your little one will make the stuff last the whole summer. It is called cavalesse and you get it from your vet. It worked for my mare. I also had to buy a Boett for her. Boetts or Snuggy Hoods are pretty much the only rugs that actually keep the midges off them.
 
I have used both Boett and Snuggy rugs over the past few years but one completely trashed last year and the other on it's last legs. Both worked well but very expensive to replace so I'm going to try the new Masta sweet itch rug, which looks very similar to the Boett but half the price. Having said that, after a change of regime and using a feed supplement I've not really needed a rug yet, although I admit it's early days. After feeding garlic for years in the belief it would help, I have now stopped feeding it as I read on a few threads here that it actually can make sweet itch worse (something to do with garlic boosting the immune system & sweet itch caused by an overactive immune system response). I have also been trying a powder called Sweet Relief, which I think is vitamin B based and so far my pony has only had very slight itching. It is very cheap to buy and was delivered next day, all for under £10. I think the Cavalesse might be something to do with vitamin B, as is the brewers yeast and marmite, often used to help the symptoms. You will need to try and find something that works for you but the main thing is to be vigilant and step in with sprays and creams if necessary - you can't afford to let it get out of control before taking action.
 
Ditto what I posted in the cheap sweet itch rug thread

I make a TCP solution to spray on my horses mane and tail, stinks but works, I use a bottle of TCP and put it in a spray and top up with water. Also handy if your horse gets bitten/stung, just spray solution and it'll be gone by the next day
 
horserugsnot4u said:
I have used both Boett and Snuggy rugs over the past few years but one completely trashed last year and the other on it's last legs. Both worked well but very expensive to replace so I'm going to try the new Masta sweet itch rug, which looks very similar to the Boett but half the price. Having said that, after a change of regime and using a feed supplement I've not really needed a rug yet, although I admit it's early days. After feeding garlic for years in the belief it would help, I have now stopped feeding it as I read on a few threads here that it actually can make sweet itch worse (something to do with garlic boosting the immune system & sweet itch caused by an overactive immune system response). I have also been trying a powder called Sweet Relief, which I think is vitamin B based and so far my pony has only had very slight itching. It is very cheap to buy and was delivered next day, all for under £10. I think the Cavalesse might be something to do with vitamin B, as is the brewers yeast and marmite, often used to help the symptoms. You will need to try and find something that works for you but the main thing is to be vigilant and step in with sprays and creams if necessary - you can't afford to let it get out of control before taking action.
Click to expand...

I suffer really bad being attacked by midges, I tried the marmite myself but didn't find it worked, maybe I didn't eat it for long enough, I don't know, I am just one walking buffet to them and have had to have antibiotics several times after being bitten and having a reaction to whatever bit me !
 
NAF midge off worked well on my Shetland, especially on his face. He was bathed every week with tea tree shampoo then slathered in a mixture of calamine lotion/benzyl benzoate. The Avon skin-so-soft worked for him too, and the Barrier Hygiene fly spray.
 
we use Neem Oil for our sweet itch boy, it works wonders, it's a natural product, its a solid at room temperature so needs warming up (in your palm or leave it in the sun for a short while) to rub it in the mane and tail. Neem oil is that stuff that makes head lice shampoo / creams smell horrid so it is stinky. It has anti biting properties and flies / midges hate it. Its used for many pets for the anti biting properties. Brilliant stuff for our suffering neds! It wont suit all so needs a little tester done first , my boy can turnout rugless because it works well for him.
 
This is the 3rd summer that we've poured 10ml of Cooper Spot On down our mare's neck and spine once a month and done absolutely nothing else - no rugs, no fly spray and no bringing her in and it is the third year I've actually had to pull her mane and tail as both are so thick!

You can get Spot On from your vet or a farm store, it's about £40 for 250ml (so about 4 yrs worth for one horse). It is meant to be a cattle and sheep delouser, but kills all flies too. we also use it on our other horses as a general fly killer and they aren't troubled by flies at all.
 
On the rugs front I've used working with various sweet itch horses both Boetts and snuggy hoods head to toe rugs...and the rambo sweet itch hoody is by far the best. Easiest to use, and stands up the best to ponies not playing nicely lol, or indeed to just being itched in! Have had a Boett end up in two pieces front and back following an altercation - like a pantomine horse costume ;) the Rambos stand up to just about anything, and are always easily repairable by our rug repairer if they do get excessively vandalised, so last for summer after summer.

Do use the snuggy hoods masks though as they're about the only type of fly mask our ponies won't get themselves out of.

I don't pull the mane of my current sweetitch one, solo comb it instead so it stays as thick as possible. If he makes himself sore he gets sudocrem on his sore bits which clears them up nicely. Has a nice bath every few weeks through the summer to clean right through the roots of his mane etc, but the rugging keeps it all mostly at bay.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top