Sweetitch how are you surviving??

[ibot]

hey

so we are now half way through july how are you all doing are you winning the battle or are the flies?

Paddy has sores all in his ears (yes he has a fly mask on in the box )and bites on his face and on his legs but on the plus side he still has a mane and tail and forlock

so maybe i am doing something right

but i must say the horse flies are savage ive never seen them like this

Nicky
xxx

 

[almorton]

im having the best year for it ever and im sure its down to the linseed off simple systems which is fab quality and well worth it! and she is GLEEMING. she never shines!

 

[Honey08]

We were doing really great up until this week. They are out in rambo sweet itch hoodies by day, stabled at night. I came home from a week working away, and poor 13.2 has a bloody tail - top 2" of tail missing. So he is on antibiotics and steroid cream to clear it up.

He is going to a working hunter championship on Sunday - normally I can cover up any patches with a tail plait, but not this one! To top that, his fly rug has rubbed half his mane out! God knows what I'm going to do! Everyone keeps saying hog him, as he is a coloured cob, but, as a typical sweet itcher, he hates anything near his ears, and it would be a big battle - that would have to be repeated every fortnight! Also he suits a forelock, and looks plainer plaitted. I keep saying that it doesn't matter, as he's plainly not a show pony, and wont win, however he has won every working hunter he's been in so far this year, as he jumps so well and goes nicely on the flat, so he may have a chance! Perhaps I should do tiny plaits in whats left of his mane, and just start his tail plait two inches down! The sunblock may camoflauge the pink bare patch! Any ideas welcome....

Sorry, that was an "all about me" rant! the ones that don't get sweet itch are suffering from the horse flies quiet badly!

 

[horsecrazy25]

My Mini Shetland has sweetitch and his is going pretty well as good months than go bad!! Bloody Flies!!

Honey - awww bless him, if you did decide to hog him you could get the vet to sedate him! Could he go in the stable in the day and out at night? As then flies wouldn't irritate him as much!!

 

[ibot]

honey yu poor thing i totally understand ive never known them to be this savaage. i have started putting paddy out during the night and i am not sure how impressed he is with me but it seems to help
during the day as i said he is stabled with fly mask on he looks like a court jester but what every works.

so where are your weak spots? paddy seem to be top of tail and ears and face and legs lol it just goes on and on but he is looking goodish

how much linseed are you feeding? paddys coat has totally dried out he is on oil but not seeming to help

 

[DragonSlayer]

We hogged the shetland to get the benzoate stuff on him, and that seems to be doing the trick now, he DID have one of them posh rugs on but he killed it, so he ain't getting another....we just keep drenching him in the BB and fly-spray, it's not doing too badly at the moment!

 

[bj_cardiff]

I thought my mare was coping really well till we had rain last week, she was out in a rambo overnight and came in with a bitten face and ears, since I've had to stable her overnight and put her out 7am till lunchtime when the horseflies get too bad.. she seems to be coping with that ok

 

[Ellies_mum2]

Although Bella doesn't suffer with sweet itch this year she has some nasty fly bites mostly on her belly Have been using home made fly spray which seems to be helping.

One of the mares at the yard has sweet itch and this year has had to resort to a fly rug as well as dousing her in BB and fly spray


Good luck with the battle against sweet itch



Just thought does anyone think its worse this year with flies and midges due to the weather?

 

[somethingorother]

Marmite sandwiches (or a scoop licked straight off the wooden spoon- Messy ) are doing the job for sweet itch but nothing is working against the horse flies.

 

[_HP_]

So far so good...best year yet

I got his rug on in good time and for the first year I am feeding Brewers Yeast.

He is a severe sufferer...but so far all we have is a few rubs on his face and ears. Still full mane and tail

 

[savannahmelody]

Another one here who was doing well up till this week.
Combination of sweet itch rug,coopers fly stuff,brewers yeast and boiled linseed really seemed to be working this year even still had a mane apart from where the flippin rug had rubbed but then this week she has really started to itch again so bringing in during the day and slapping on the benzyl benzoate.

 

[ibot]

i think this is my first proper year with a horse in england and were i was in ireland we did not have anything like the flies that you have here. they are so mean but i have lost count of the amount i have killed (does that make me evil )

i wonder if it is a blood thing with sweet itch as i know with mozzies i always get destroyed by them where my OH does not get any...... maybe sweeter blood

 

[tangosmum]

My boy has been very itchy and I am panicking that he will be a sweet itch sufferer...he is 3 and I have only owned him 5 weeks.

I think I am winning the battle over most of his body but I do have problems with he very dense feathers.

He has been getting bitten on the legs and is chewing his feathers off. He has a couple of sores in his feathers from chewing. He has them washed once a week to stop them going too greasy and fly repellent but I am seriously considering zipping them off.

Anyone dealt with sweet itch symptoms in heavy feathering? Please help!

 

[clairefeekerry1]

not too bas at the mo. think as its so hot, and more of a hot dead heat rather than a muggy humid damp heat the midges are not so bad. i'd go as far to say that mine, all rugged up in her boett actually looks one of the more comfortable as the others who dont have sweet itch dont tend to have fly rugs on and the flys and horse flys are bad at the mo....but they dont cause SW!!!!

had mine in today for soothing cold hose bath and sudo cream on sores the clean boett put back on, looked okay!!!

 

[Cahill]

My boy has been very itchy and I am panicking that he will be a sweet itch sufferer...he is 3 and I have only owned him 5 weeks.

I think I am winning the battle over most of his body but I do have problems with he very dense feathers.

He has been getting bitten on the legs and is chewing his feathers off. He has a couple of sores in his feathers from chewing. He has them washed once a week to stop them going too greasy and fly repellent but I am seriously considering zipping them off.

Anyone dealt with sweet itch symptoms in heavy feathering? Please help!

this sounds like feather mites.
you cannot see them,they are minute and burrow under tne skin.
treat with frontline then pig-oil and sulphur keep them in tip-top condition.

 

[ibot]

so i thought i was doing so well and then today i was brushing paddy and i lifted his forlock and it was all rubbed and sore my poor boy so benzod it and put his face mask back on.

 

[dilbert]

Frankie has been a lot better since I took him off alfalfa and put him on fast fibre and added in brewers yeast. He also itches a lot less when he has been muzzled and can't get at so much grass.

 

[abbieandfiona]

Really well have full mane and tail on shetland only one tiny rub mark on her face. Other one who has severe sweet-itch still have a tail and mane its growing lost half of it last year when she was on box rest. Legs no rubs or marks at all, she does have special fly boots on which help. Face is better than past 2 years just around her ears she is just so sensitive to bridle or anything near it.

 

[Honey08]

Hi, thanks for the earlier comments. Well we did the champs today. Didn't hog him. Plaitted as small as I could, so they didn't stand out too much! I was quite impressed with his tail. The sterroid cream and antibiotics took the red and sores away over the last few days, so I plaitted it as normal, just starting a bit lower due to the 2" bald patch! I clipped a few spikey bits above the plait, then put a total white sunblock over the bare pink bits - you didn't notice much at all. In fact they came 4th in the WH, and won the prize for the best turned out - so couldn't have looked bad!

My vet gave us a lotion called switch, that he said is better than other midge repellents. You only put a tiny bit on once a week. Has anyone tried it?

We can't put them out at night as thats when the midges come out here in the pennines - its second only to Scotland for midges!

 

[Andalusianlover]

I'm doing absolutely brilliantly but thats because my boy has a Snuggy Hoods sweetich hoody and full suit on. Havent used any sprays, gels, creams nothing so far.

If you didnt know him you would never tell he has sweetich. Initial expense for the snuggy hoods gear was high but he now doesnt need two fly rugs per month (kept wrecking them) or any sprays etc so saved myself a fortune that way. Its turned out cheaper in the end!

 

[Andalusianlover]

[My vet gave us a lotion called switch, that he said is better than other midge repellents. You only put a tiny bit on once a week. Has anyone tried it?

Tried it, was beter than most things but didnt work well enough for me to keep using it!

Snuggy Hoods work if put on early enough in the year.

 

[mja]

Got totally attacked by blood sucking cleggs on hack yest so going to invest in fly mask can ride in as stressed horses out.

Turning out with herbal flyspray and rambo Flybuster rug and mesh mask to stop one getting conjunctivitis from flies and badly bitten and the other from rubbing her belly and face raw and bald!!

Feeding neem as garlic does not repel midges that casue sweet itch apparently and need also helps with allergies and skin irritations.

Me I get eaten alive too but the herbal spray works on humans too xx

 

[Andalusianlover]

Feeding neem as garlic does not repel midges that casue sweet itch apparently and need also helps with allergies and skin irritations.



Oohhh definately dont feed garlic. Garlic only accelerates the immune system making your horse more itchy. Sweetitch midges follow the CO2 a horse emits so garlic is useless.

 

[kerilli]

Not to bad so far... horse living out 24/7 in a Rambo Sweet Itch Hoody, with fly repellent all over her face, tail (lightly scratched once or twice only), chin and tummy - she gets bites all along her tummy line. nothing scratched raw so far...

 

[ElphabaFae]

My vet gave us a lotion called switch, that he said is better than other midge repellents. You only put a tiny bit on once a week. Has anyone tried it?

We use it on one of the ponies at the RS It's working well for us!

 

[Flummoxed]

Am just about to end a (first) course of Cavalesse - and can't say it does anything to help, so won't be shelling out another £80. We are continuing with Marmite, Barrier Superplus flyspray, Naff repellent cream, cortisone cream and Sudocrem (as necessary) and, of course, wearing the Boett rug (except when riding). Can't leave him in his stable as he just uses any available surface to scratch on. There is evidence of rubs on tail (despite rug) and the lower part of his face (below face mask). Thankfully, his ears are better this year due to the Boett mask. Mane is thin anyway, but rug has rubbed some of it off. Although his paddock is surrounded by electric tape, the wooden posts are wobbly where he has been scratching and we are replacing them one at a time by plastic posts.

Hey ho!

 

[ibot]

Am just about to end a (first) course of Cavalesse - and can't say it does anything to help, so won't be shelling out another £80. We are continuing with Marmite, Barrier Superplus flyspray, Naff repellent cream, cortisone cream and Sudocrem (as necessary) and, of course, wearing the Boett rug (except when riding). Can't leave him in his stable as he just uses any available surface to scratch on. There is evidence of rubs on tail (despite rug) and the lower part of his face (below face mask). Thankfully, his ears are better this year due to the Boett mask. Mane is thin anyway, but rug has rubbed some of it off. Although his paddock is surrounded by electric tape, the wooden posts are wobbly where he has been scratching and we are replacing them one at a time by plastic posts.

Hey ho!

i am understanding where you are coming from my poor boy was scratching so badly so i put some benzo on him where i think he was scratching but i am hoping that he still has a mane left tomorrow i am not sure what to do any more every day i seem to find another wound on his face or somewhere he does have a mask on but!!!!!

 

[Rosehip]

My friends Hackney x is a real sufferer, and she has spent hundreds upon hundreds overr the years trying to help him - he has had the jabs and steroid cream, all the rugs you could name etc etc, but to no avail, he wont keep a rug or mask on, and wont be stabled even under sedation, so usually by this time of year he looks as if he has had hot oil poured all over him - however, we have been using (I look after him and her other 3 times a week) a cream by Lincoln (it smells of sulphur) but I cant remember the name, and Kill-Itch lotion (basically benzar Bensoate) twice a day, and he looks amazing! his tail is actually growing some hair (normally bald and raw most of the length of the dock) and he doesnt have the raw withers either this year....can thoroughly recommend it!! ->
http://www.horseactive.co.uk/index....itch&x=0&y=0&gclid=CMy5q57u5qICFdGX2AodbgjlYw

 

[ibot]

my poor baby i touched his mane yesterday and a clump of mane came away!!!
not happy about it at all.
might have to keep it just incase i have to weave it back in

 

[Fransurrey]

im having the best year for it ever and im sure its down to the linseed off simple systems which is fab quality and well worth it! and she is GLEEMING. she never shines!

Same here. Only my second summr with her, but she doesn't even have sores on her ears or face, or even baldy bits. Full mane, full tail. Success!!! She's barely worn a fly rug, either!