Treatment recommendations for feather mites

[roz84]

My horse came in yesterday with what I thought was mud fever, however a friend has suggested it looks more like mites. I am going to get the vet out, but know for a fact that the practice is completely snowed in at the moment!

Anyway, her legs are basically going bald on the fetlocks, on the inside of the leg if that makes sense, and she does seem itchy and stampy, and irritable. There is some scabbing but the hair is just falling out with the scabs. I have scrubbed with hibiscrub and kept her in.

I have so far read about ivermectin wormer, dectomax, frontline and neem oil as treatments, but some of the threads were a good few years old so it would be good to know what is current!

 

[blitznbobs]

ivermectin wormer doesnt work. frontline has resistance issues, dectomax works if you use it properly and pig oil and sulphur isn'tgood for inflamed skin so all in all I'd go with the dectomax.

 

[Mule]

My mare had feather mites years ago. I can't remember the exact treatment but I know I used hibiscrub. The hibiscrub solution was applied and left on for 15 minutes before rinsing. I can't remember whether the treatment was 3 or 5 days.

 

[SEL]

You'll need about 3 x dectomax injections to catch the lice at their different life stages. Changing the bedding each time helps too - straw is a nightmare for the little b******!

I'd also recommend clipping feathers off.

May well be mallanders / sallenders as they seem to go hand in hand with lice.

 

[DD]

my vet recommended the dog shampoo Selene for my horses feather mites. wash at 3 week intervals 2 or 3 times and get rid of straw bedding. hope this helps.

 

[PeterNatt]

I use a combination of dectomax injectons two at two weekly intervals and Selsun shampoo.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

I'd be inclined to wait till the snow clears and your vet can get out to you; at least then you'd know what you were dealing with and can treat accordingly.

Do be aware that your horse is probably quite sensitive and sore in the area, and might not welcome you messing around down there!

Especially be careful of slapping stuff like pig oil & sulphur on; which a lot of people will recommend (always do!). It can be VERY very caustic, and if you're going to try it you need to patch test first.

Best to get the vet to have a look IMO in the first instance and go from there.

 

[Gloi]

Found neem oil to work well

 

[jojo5]

Also be sure to avoid baby oil which quite a few people recommend ( they will say ‘it’s ok for babies so must be safe&#8217 - some horses are extremely sensitive to it and it can be very irritating and can cause inflamed skin.
Mites can be a lifelong trial unfortunately - you can have less, or more, but it’s hard to really really eradicate them. There are lots of threads on here with all sorts of suggestions. Different things are useful for different horses - wait until you get into the feathers or no feathers debate!

 

[roz84]

I always said I'd never, EVER want a horse with feathers. This horse is new to me, and as I had my heart shaped blinkers on when I bought her I didn't even consider the fact that she is a bit feathery - her grandad is a traditional cob so although not full bushy feathers, they're still pretty decent. Am going to invest in a really good set of leg clippers, they will be clipped FOREVER!

 

[little_critter]

Mine had the dectomax injection a few months ago, then a 2nd one 10 days later. Seems to have done the trick.

 

[windand rain]

deosect worked well on my livery he had his legs clipped and I applied it to the bits that were not sore I guess it is a systemic thing but it did work and he has stopped stamping and has no sores at all now

 

[ester]

In wiltshire, but never in somerset even since he went back come april Frank got a mites problem, he was always prone to scabbiness but this would get to the point that I couldn't control it with treatment. Treating with dectomax he would be pretty much scab free in 24 hours (which is unusual apparently) would always do second jab and then use deosect over the rest of the summer every few weeks which seemed to work.

 

[sport horse]

One of my old horses (24) showed all the symptoms a few weeks ago - sore legs, itchy etc - and I got the vets to give him Dectomax. He improved greatly after just one injection, but to catch the mites at all stages of their development, the horse was given a 2nd injection 2 weeks later. All seems fine now. As regards bedding, he is one of 20 odd horses all bedded on straw and he is the only one to suffer. It is the same straw, from the same field used around the yard.