smolmaus
Well-Known Member
I did!
I wouldn't risk taking a rug off and just relying on potions and AH tho!
Sweet Itch
- Thread starter PurpleSpots
- Start date
I wouldn't risk taking a rug off and just relying on potions and AH tho!Exasperated
Well-Known Member
Anti histamines can be useful, but generally need industrial quantities, expensive, got to keep shovelling them down, and of course doesn’t prevent bites in the first place - which rugs and barrier applications have a good chance of doing.
Great they helped your pony, definitely go and live in an exposed and breezy location if at all possible, but for most, antihistamines just won’t cut it. Plus, the permanent fuzzy head can’t be much fun - if horses are anything like people!
smolmaus
Well-Known Member
Cetirizine hydrochloride is a "non-drowsy" anti-histamine and is the type most commonly recommended for horses. I don't feed the 20-ish that some people suggest, I do a rough equivalent human body weight which works out at 7-8 a day (15p/ day, £5/ month), but zero changes in behaviour and a noticeable difference in itching.
rabatsa
Confuddled
It also needs remembering that sweet itch is hereditary, so caution is needed if thinking of breeding from affected parents.
Steerpike
Well-Known Member
That's interesting that it's hereditary, I have the dam here of the one that has sweet itch and she doesn't itch at all, I wonder if it was on the sires side.
smolmaus
Well-Known Member
Can be hereditary! Not always. Like any other auto-immune condition it can just develop under the right (wrong) circumstances, or a horse can be genetically predisposed and never develop any symptoms. But still not ethical to breed from affected horses as you can't know.
Gloi
Too little time, too much to read.
Don't bother with fly masks.
Get a Boett hood to fasten to your Boett or otherwise rug which is securely fastened, leaves no gaps and they can't, in my experience, remove.
I had two with bad sweetich and did not stable as that gave them the opportunity to rub. Just kept them in an electric fence, securely rugged and with creams on all parts not covered by the rug.
I did feed ceterizine in peak season.
Mrs. Glittery Jingle Balls
Well-Known Member
I have had three or four SI horses over the years and have to say that with treatments and rugs available now have really made it very possible to keep a happy, healthy and contented SI horse. Even kept outside 24/7 in a very midge friendly climate here in Ireland I have been lucky enough to find a system that worked very well for two of those horses I had. The other two I owned when I lived on a very breezy cliff top so it was barely an issue there.
I personally advocate NOT letting them itch, i.e electric fence the whole available area (we managed to do this quite cheaply on 13 acres) for starters. I am not sure though if I would go as far as not allowing a stabled horse to itch, the confinement alone would have them itching through sheer boredom a lot of the time and you would hardly put them in a stable with electrified walls. It is a circle of destruction once they have been badly bitten and at that stage very difficult to get back under control. Always start before you need to. Make sure you have enough clean switch itch rugs available to always be able to change as the current one gets dirty and smelly. Get the rugs on BEFORE the summer, late winter, weather permitting I would swap a light waterproof turnout for a SI rug. I tried almost every make of rug but always came back to the Horseware Rambo Hoody, one in particulare sweltered in Boetts and anything similar. Biteback products are the very best IMO. And I always did their belly line, inside back legs and around their ears and mane area every day. They were hogged purely for convenience to get the cream on where it was most needed.
I did try ride on fly rugs but didn't really find them great to be honest, and if you do get anything with wings stuck up underneath one it can make for a very interesting and unwelcome ride! I just slather in Biteback and spray before riding, plus look out for routes with a nice breeze or even high winds if possible.
Personally I would never breed from a SI horses even though their is some evidence that not all SI mares or stallions pass it on.
I personally advocate NOT letting them itch, i.e electric fence the whole available area (we managed to do this quite cheaply on 13 acres) for starters. I am not sure though if I would go as far as not allowing a stabled horse to itch, the confinement alone would have them itching through sheer boredom a lot of the time and you would hardly put them in a stable with electrified walls. It is a circle of destruction once they have been badly bitten and at that stage very difficult to get back under control. Always start before you need to. Make sure you have enough clean switch itch rugs available to always be able to change as the current one gets dirty and smelly. Get the rugs on BEFORE the summer, late winter, weather permitting I would swap a light waterproof turnout for a SI rug. I tried almost every make of rug but always came back to the Horseware Rambo Hoody, one in particulare sweltered in Boetts and anything similar. Biteback products are the very best IMO. And I always did their belly line, inside back legs and around their ears and mane area every day. They were hogged purely for convenience to get the cream on where it was most needed.
I did try ride on fly rugs but didn't really find them great to be honest, and if you do get anything with wings stuck up underneath one it can make for a very interesting and unwelcome ride! I just slather in Biteback and spray before riding, plus look out for routes with a nice breeze or even high winds if possible.
Personally I would never breed from a SI horses even though their is some evidence that not all SI mares or stallions pass it on.
lar
Well-Known Member
You can buy them in bulk from Amazon quite cheaply. No rug ever is going to 100% stop them getting bitten so it's surely better to try to relieve the reaction?
KC31
Well-Known Member
We give all of ours Piriton (or whatever comes off Amazon) started them back in March our rescue SI boy has been so different. On cooler days he is out with no rug on, i religiously apply Benzyl Benzoate twice a day and he has a full mane and tail and no sign of anything sore. He does have the occasional itch, but they all do. Looking at him now you would have no clue he has SI. Spoke to our vet who said have his stable cool and with as much airflow as possible.
smolmaus
Well-Known Member
Piriton (Chlorphenamine) is a drowsy/ sedating anti-histamine! One of our cats is also on them for different bloody itches and small animal vet recommended Piriton for cats over cetirizine for reasons unknown. Just for awkwardness maybe, since me and the pony are on cetirizine and I have loads Since cats spend 20 hours a day sleeping anyway, any extra sleepiness has been hard to notice, but I think I would still be a little bit wary using a sedating AH for a ridden horse 
Since cats spend 20 hours a day sleeping anyway, any extra sleepiness has been hard to notice, but I think I would still be a little bit wary using a sedating AH for a ridden horse paddy555
Well-Known Member
yes I have a mother and daughter. (I didn't chose to breed them) Mother didn''t have SI, the child started at 2 and then about 10 years later mother started at over 30. Very difficult because the mother looked perfect when younger and there was no reason not to breed from her. It didn' show up till much later.
can anyone link colour with SI? I have had 5 greys/white and no SI, 2 blacks no SI. 2 duns no SI, can't remember the rest
current SI is bright bay and chesnut and some in red roan. Another I came across was brown.
crab flies prefer certain colours over others. What about midges?
Smogul
Well-Known Member
Antihistamines didn't help my pony at all. Nor did brewer's yeast or any of the other pills, supplements or creams people suggested. Only thing that kept her sane was Boett rug.
smolmaus
Well-Known Member
This is just how it goes sometimes
No easy answer that works for everyone, other than "keep them covered".
JenJ
Well-Known Member
I saw someone mentioned feeding garlic - it's suggested nowadays that garlic is NOT used, as sweet itch is an immune response the garlic may boost the immune system and thus actually increase the reaction.
Gloi
Too little time, too much to read.
Plus garlic is bad for horses.
Spiritedly
Well-Known Member
I mentioned I fed garlic to all of mine and tbh I did take my boy with SI off it when I heard it could cause an adverse affect and found it made no difference to his itchiness whether he was on it or not so he now has the same amount of it as the other pony as they lock each other's bowls anyway
In regards to it being bad for them, again I've read things for and against and my mare is coming 25 and been on it over half her life and no one who meets her believes she's that old...including the vet...so it's obviously not doing her any harm.
I don't know about SI being hereditary but, despite what he may think, my boy isn't able to procreate so he won't be passing it on to any offspring.
smolmaus
Well-Known Member
I dont really believe garlic does anything either way in the quantities its fed tbh. Like with turmeric, to get any statistically significant effect you'd likely have to feed a lot more than most people do.
Last time my partner was away I ate a TON of garlic (as that is just my cooking style) and it didn't stop me being bitten in the butt cheek by a cleg
Last time my partner was away I ate a TON of garlic (as that is just my cooking style) and it didn't stop me being bitten in the butt cheek by a cleg
Fleece Navidad
Well-Known Member
It definitely affects some badly, my gelding was much itchier on garlic.I dont really believe garlic does anything either way in the quantities its fed tbh. Like with turmeric, to get any statistically significant effect you'd likely have to feed a lot more than most people do.
Last time my partner was away I ate a TON of garlic (as that is just my cooking style) and it didn't stop me being bitten in the butt cheek by a cleg