Untreated sweet itch! Help needed urgently!!

B

Babybella

Member
Joined
14 January 2014
Messages
24
Visit site
I have recently bout a new horse and have noticed she has a very scabby dock and is itchy on her face. The old owner only had her for a couple months and thinks its due to her having sweet itch untreated. How should I treat her now? I was going to give her a medicated bath and have already hibi scrubbed her dock!
Thanks in advance!!
 
Are you able to post a picture??

If you've bought her at this time of the year, i.e. outside the normal sweet itch season which is normally anything over 11 degrees C, then I would suspect a condition other than Sweet Itch to be honest, tho' to be fair it has been quite mild recently (i.e. over the temperature when midges are or can be active) so its not impossible.

I saw this because my trad-lad has sweet itch; and at the mo I'm not worried about his sweet itch; he's able to be out and about without being covered.

I would ask a vet to have a look in the first instance, as my immediate suspicions (sorry!!!) might be lice:( or some other skin condition or allergy.

Yes - SI can be very nasty if left untreated, BUT if the previous owner had her, and did nothing in the way of treating her, then passed her on to someone unsuspecting like yourself, that's awful TBH.

Something called Killitch is a good topical application to soothe the itching; but there are a whole lot of other factors involved in "treating" Sweet itch, such as turnout, feeding, supplements: but THE most important thing you need to do is to be aware of the sweet itch time-span, i.e. when the cullicoides midges are active, which is normally round about March through to October, but you need to watch the temperature because they can activate at any temperature above 11 degrees C; so you need to be vigilant throughout the year.

The best, and most immediate relief you can give to your mare is to COVER her up with a specially designed sweet itch rug. Choice is yours. Good makes are Boett or Rambo Sweet Itch hoody. There are all sorts of cheaper alternatives (my fave is Premier Equine rugs, cheaper, and serviceable - but this just my personal choice).

Look up "sweet itch" in the archieves on here: there is LOADS of info.

But you'd need to be sure first that yours actually HAS this condition; although it makes good sense to keep horses covered up anyway if midges are active. You wouldn't be doing any harm, and might do an awful lot of good.............
 
You need to establish whether the itch is due to biting insects, in which case a good barrier rug is what you need, or an allergy of some sort. My itcher is set off by too much grass, others are certain pollens (again, wrong time of year) and sometimes it is a problem caused by neck threadworms. You need to observe what sets it off and speak to your vet - they can blood test for allergies (not cheap though) and do a biopsy for neck threadworms. Rubbing itchy tails can be pin worms - it is a mine field lol
"Sweet itch" covers a multitude of conditions, only one of which (real sweetitch) is an allergy to the bite of the culicoides midge.
Good luck, it can involve real detective work, but neem oil is good for soothing the itch, keeping midges off and healing any broken skin.
 
Have a word with the vet. My vet supplied a cream which was an aqueous cream base with Baytril and Betnovate in which is good for flare ups and cheap too

I like Medivet wash for rub downs between full baths and like Dermoline insecticial shampoo for baths.

I always use a rug with a tail flap even if its just a cotton sheet as even a minute of tail rubbing can wreck a tail

The problem you may have is that the rubbing has become habit, my pony still rubs his face so I never leave him unattended with a headcollar on just in case

Get a fly rug (I have several but the Snuggy Hood one is the best imho) on at the end of Feb and keep an eye on the temperature as mentioned above
 
Babybella said:
Hi, she was treated for lice, not that long ago. Could it possibly be that? It's mainly her dock which is scabby?
Click to expand...

I think you need to ask your vet to come out and take a look and take some scrapings from the affected area; when you say "not long ago", how soon exactly? I can't remember what the life-cycle for lice is......... no doubt someone on here will!!!! Because that could very well be the problem.

Um sorry, meant to add that if it IS lice............ then you'll need to be aware that it is contagious and you'll also need to disinfect things like rugs/grooming kit etc. Also your YO might like to know so other horses can be isolated (I'm a YO and I'd DEFFO want to know!!!).

Without wishing to frighten you OP - you need to KNOW exactly WHAT is affecting your horse, so you need to get the vet out to see the horse PDQ; don't delay.
 
Last edited:
I have a pony with sweet itch, we use Camrosa products with him. Give him a medicated bath to calm his skin and then apply an ointment. They're brilliant products! I would also suggest getting some brand of fly rug, boett or Horseware vamoose are fab. Best of luck hope this helps x
 
Thank you! Ordered medicated shampoo so going to do this soon, once it's warmed up a little. Then will get the vet out. Thanks for the help!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top