Sweetitch?

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Christmas_Kate

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I've never seen sweetitch before, not in it's developing stage, so would appreciate a little advice.

My children have a shetland pony (incase some didnt know!). he's rising 10 (we think) and apparently never had sweetitch before. He's been trace clipped but is still hanging onto his thick woolies just incase of a july blizzard.....
When I first put him out 24/7 back in March he started scratching on posts. Neighbours had to re-erect their fence he got that bad. Flies were bugging him etc, and i managed to deal with this with homemade fly spray (put on a cloth and wiped on as he's terrified of sprays) and a fly fringe attatched to his muzzle. he HAS to waer a muzzle when he's out as he's a bit of a porker and will eat anything he can.

Today i noticed that he's been rubbing his rump even more, and the hair's broken and gone frizzy. he has dry skin anyway, scurfy, all over but especially round his withers and rump. He seems to be irritated on his rump more than anywhere else, and uses the fence rails to have a good ol scratch. Where he's not rubbed is shiny and sleek, the rubbed bits dry and sore looking.
Do you think this might be sweetitch or just the flies annoying him? We live fairly close to a river (about 1/2 mile away) and there does seem to be alot of Midges.

How can i make things more comfy for him? I'd like to rug him, but always feel sorry for horses rugged up in boiling weather, I wonder if the fly rugs make them hotter?
I don't particualrly like using ointments on him, that's just personal choice.
I've been looking at the silver bug rug with neck and fly mask in Derby House, does anyone know if this will protect him from midges? i really havent alot to spend on a rug, but i do want him to be protected and comfortable when he's out. I havent facilities to bring him in atm.

Any advice would be welcome, and if anyone has any piccies of what sweetitch looks like in the developing stages... i'd be very interested to see if this looks the same.

Thanks
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yes it sounds like sweetitch. best way is a boett rug im sorry to say. however with mild cases i find that if you put the boette on at around 6pm and take it off after 8am the next morning then you dont have the majority of the problems!
also stableing overnight helps if you bring in before dusk and put out after dawn.
Midger repellant creams can help as well as fly spray
as can feeding marmite
 
Sounds like sweetitch to me too, and is quite similar to the level that Chex has. He was starting to cut the skin, but since I've started feeding him marmite the scabs hae gone and the hair is growing back. However, his tail is looking more rubbed (a few broken hairs, nothing major) and I caught him itching his neck on a handy tree today
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. Once the midges get worse he'll get his fly rug on, I don't like rugging all day either buts its better that than being driven mad by constant itchiness. I'm changing from marmite to either brewers yeast, or a vitamin B1 mixture, once I've figured out if that would work
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He's not getting any hard feed atm, though with his muzzle on I suppose I could give him a handful of happy hoof. How much marmite do you feed a day?
 
I use a teaspoon and take a big dollop - I have no idea how much you're supposed to feed though
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. Chex ate it off a slice of bread or in his tea, I think he like it lol.
 
Hard to say. I have a sweet itch sufferer and to me it doesn't necessarily sound like it although it could be mild. Sweet itch (usually) occurs in their second or third year so at 10 he would probably have had it by now if he did although I suppose previous owners may not necessarily tell you. I also have a shettie who is hanging on to his coat and he spends alot of the time itching too. As do my other ponies. TBH, its that time of year..they are still shifting their coats and I imagine this is all it is with yours. My shettie looks quite scruffy ATM what with all the itching. With sweet itch they usually itch constantly and until they bleed and/or the skin hardens like a rhino. Also its likely he would itch elsewhere too. Mine is severe and he rips his face, mane,tail and belly to bits given half the chance and near a water source he would be beside himself. My pony paddock is stream bordered so that doesn't help what with the xtra flies. A fly rug shouldn't overheat him though so if it's really bothering you I wouldn't worry about that. They are for use in the summer afterall. The horse soon adjusts. My sweet itch cobbie (before we moved) spent 5 years in a sweet itch rug and never overheated anymore than he would have done without one. Alot of people rave about marmite or brewers yeast to help itching.
 
Thanks for that. He sounds similar to your shettie, he looks scryffy, broken frizzy coat. He's just rubbed a little patch of skin to day which looks sore but isnt that broken and isnt weeping. he's not constantly itching, and it's only in this one spot, on his rump. He's quite happy in himself and is still playing happily. Having never seen sweet itch I just didnt know what to look for and if this was a sign of it.

I'll try the marmite just to be on the safe side and if it doesnt help him then try a rug. Thanks.
 
This is what little Chantelle did to her mane and tail over night!! She scratched it out with her back legs and rubbed her tail away on anything she could find!

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Up to that point you can see what a lovely mane she had.

chantelle4.jpg


Once it started, I gave her more garlic in her food and marmite. I caked her in Sudocrem. I did try a fly rug and she trashed it. I recultently put her shower sheet on at the worst times of days and that combined with the Sudocrem it worked a treat.

Unfortunately, after the Sweet Itch cleared up, the poor little love went lame and we battled with what we thought was Lami. Sadly she died several months later.
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The Sudocrem really did the trick though.

Hope you manage to sort it out as there is nothing worse than seeing an animal suffering.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Hard to say. I have a sweet itch sufferer and to me it doesn't necessarily sound like it although it could be mild. Sweet itch (usually) occurs in their second or third year so at 10 he would probably have had it by now if he did although I suppose previous owners may not necessarily tell you.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think a lot depends on where they're kept - Chex hasn't had it before, until last year when he was 24! My friends pony also developed it at the same time, and he's 20.
 
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