sweet itch

[slimdizzy]

hi queary does sweet itch get worse with age ?can it be effectively controlled? do they ever recover and never get it again all opinions welcome . would you ever buy a pony with it ?

 

[threeponies]

In my experience it gets better with age, my gelding has gotten progressively better with age. It can be effectively controlled with rugs etc and provided I could afford rugs for it, yes I would buy one.

 

[ru-fi-do]

My shettie came with terrible sweet itch and he was very uncomfortable, you really have to try and prevent it rather than cure it and I have have to be very strict with routine. I wouldn't say I wouldn't buy a pony/horse with sweet itch but you have to be prepared to be strict with things like rugging, spraying and general stable management to help the horse. Hope that all makes sense!

I'm not sure wether they ever recover from it but theres always a hope!

 

[wizzi901]

as above post says, the trick is to try and start doing stuff now before they get bitten and get the reaction in the first place, once they get the slightest nibble it doesnt matter what you do they are then terrible for the rest of the season....

I find neat tea tree oil (Austrian Healthcare one from QVC!!!) is great but some horses may be sensitive to it neat so be careful!!

 

[bracken1]

try Global Herbs skratch or Super Skratch, really works

 

[slimdizzy]

thankyou for all your advice. i was looking at a really nice pony but decided against it as my other horse keeps ripping everyone elses rugs and i dont think i would be able to cope seeing him in agony .

 

[welshies]

Hi ( forgive me if i am telling you anything you already know but i tend to bamble on) Once a horse has had a bout of sweet itch it has it for life and if left to it's own devises it will get worse year after year. This winter has been a bad one for sweet itch as the only thing that kills the 'midges' that cause it are the frosts. Generally the sweet itch season runs from early April the end of October but with mild wet winters you will find the problem won't go away in the winter months. My horse got S.I for the first time as a 7 year old after moving yards. Ideally that should be kept in an open field on the side of a hill with a strong breeze in the warmer months as midges can't fly in wind, and kept away from water (streams/rivers/ponds etc) as this is where they breed. Stabling from dusk til dawn (4pm to 8am) has been said to help but only if you can keep the stable midge free, but in servere cases can make it worse due to bordem (nothing better to do than scatch!) Rugs are the best way of stopping the reaction, as you need to stop the biting in the first case. Lotions and posions can help (individual preferences) but then you are treating the symptoms not the cause. The cause is a fault in the immune system, when the midge bites a horse the immune system produces an antidote the saliver but in horses with sweet itch they produce too much off the anitdote and end up attacking their own immune system, thus causing the syptoms of sweet itch. So, as i said you need to stop the reation the first place my stopping the midges biting. The boet rug is said to be the best and is designed toe be worn 24/7 duing midge saeson. There are current some trials of a combination of injections and tablets being run, but have to wait and see on that one, not convinced personally! If you want anymore info try the sweet itch association. They can give a lot of help and support. To be honest i would not buy a horse which already has it, it is an evil evil disorder ans i dred every summer with my horse!!!!!

Hope that helps.