What to do with SI mare

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Sunshine

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We were given a little unbroken and unreg'd sec A mare as a companion several years ago because the owners had mistreated her and run up a livery debt. However, she had been suffering from SI and rain scald for a couple of years which hadn't been dealt with, so pretty severe. We got her on the vaccine trials, the pills and the jabs and the two years of follow ups. It did improve for a while but the last two summers it has been deteriorating again. Last spring the vet said that the only treatment was ongoing SI rugs,nettex cream and antihistamines - steroids were too risky- and that there was nothing else she could do. I said then I didn't want to put her through another summer if she was so bad but vet wouldn't consider it at that point. Anyway,over last summer she destroyed five SI rugs,and despite being treated with Coopers/Nettex and Deosect to repel the flies, was still scratching madly including her face and the old rain scald area on her rump. She has even been rubbing during the winter on frosty days. I know she hasnt got lice/ringworm etc but I think the skin is so damaged that as soon as it heals she needs to scratch again.
Do I have to let her get really bad again before the vet will agree to PTS or should I try another way? I need to get them to understand how bad it was to see her constantly scratching desperately along the floor even in her rugs. But I cant face letting her get in a state just so the vet will understand that nothing is working.
 
I'd be tempted to address her diet. Sweet itch and other skin conditions can be linked to mineral deficiencies and poor immune system. Getting her diet lower in sugars if possible is another thing to aim for.
Have a look here too. http://www.sweetrelief.co.uk/

I have a pony with mild SI and she responds very well to being fed brewers yeast.but for a severe case I'd try the trial stuff linked above. Also can she be stabled or in a shelter during the day and out at night to avoid the worst times.
 
Whether it is the right choice or not the pony is yours to decide what is best for it, unless there is insurance to consider in which case there will be no possibility of being paid, the vet should work with you when making a decision and accept your reasons for doing so.
I had a sweet itch pony pts a few years ago, he was basically still healthy but he was kept as a companion to my old dressage horse who had to be pts so they were both done at the same time rather than move him to a different field, my vet had no problem with this I told him why and he accepted my decision.
Caring for a pony with sweet itch is really hard work and can be so stressful, it is horrid to watch them so uncomfortable, do not feel guilty about whatever you do decide, possibly consider getting the hunt in if it makes things easier, or just contact the vets office and get the collection booked yourself, it will be hard for him to then refuse.
 
I have a little pony like this - for us, global herbs Skratch has transformed her summers. Unbelievably so.

What rugs are you using? I use ripstop cotton sheets (shires and weatherbeeta do one) as they are cheaper to replace and pretty hard wearing - trying the shires this year but weatherbeeta ones have been fab). I then use a snuggy hood underneath on her neck and face as she pulls masks off to easily

As Amanda says low suar diet - I find hot days make her worse, as does lots of grass and being over weight. She can't tolerate garlic, chaff or mollases either.

I have come very close many a time with the PTS decision but this global herbs stuff seems to have changed everything for us.
 
One of my ponies developed a fly allergy last summer, which left areas, tail and neck mainly very scruffy/scabby so still itchy.
I started applying Neem oil diluted in Almond oil a few months ago and the skin has fully recovered.

I am also feeding brewers yeast and linseed.
 
We have tried everything over the last 8 years, diet - she is fed like my daughter's pony and treated as a potential laminitic with restricted grass and no molasses,tried feed supplements,medications,rugs, vaseline type barrier creams. She is a severe case though, when we took her on she had been untouched for years and her belly midline had been rubbed raw and was weeping open sores.
She is made more difficult to manage because she can be very temperamental due to the previous abuse she had suffered and sometimes she will be extremely difficult to treat or be a devil to catch. She won't be stabled if she doesn't want to - she can jump over the 4ft high door from a standstill. First time she did it was when we took her rug off (ever so gently) and were left holding neatly folded rug in mid air with no pony in sight!

I'm worried about her deteriorating again over the summer, but want to know I would be doing the best thing for her if I did let her go before, or if I should let her try a few months. I keep thinking of the phrase 'better a day to soon than a moment too late'.
 
At the risk of being thought morbid; you don't need the vet to agree to put her down, that is your prerogative so if that's what you want to do (and I don't blame you in the least, it can't be any fun for the poor girl at all to be scratching all year round) and the vet still refuses then get your local knackerman or kennels out to shoot her.
Vets annoy the hell out of me by playing their holier than God card; they have no right at all to disagree with your decision, you are the client, you are paying their bills, they are doing a job for you; the fact they might not like that job is neither here nor there but as the client you do have the final say, don't forget that.
 
Do I have to let her get really bad again before the vet will agree to PTS or should I try another way?
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You don't need the vets permission for your pony to be put down. Simply call the hunt, and they will dispatch her for you.
 
Maesfen said:
At the risk of being thought morbid; you don't need the vet to agree to put her down, that is your prerogative so if that's what you want to do (and I don't blame you in the least,
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I'm sure vets dislike taking a life and they are the ones that have to actually do it. Taking a life should be taken seriously and not done lightly. I have no idea about the horse on this thread this is a general comment and I for one feel very much for vets having to perform this last, terrible deed. It is of course the best decision and a release for many horses I know but I doubt that makes it any easier for the vet. :(

The op is the one who is able to gauge the level of suffering and hope of help this horse may be able to get.
 
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amandap said:
I'm sure vets dislike taking a life and they are the ones that have to actually do it. Taking a life should be taken seriously and not done lightly. I have no idea about the horse on this thread this is a general comment and I for one feel very much for vets having to perform this last, terrible deed. It is of course the best decision and a release for many horses I know but I doubt that makes it any easier for the vet. :(
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But this poor pony is suffering, has done for many years in spite of all the treatments it's had and is going to suffer yet again this year which the vet should quite understand so in this case there is a perfectly valid and honorable reason to do so and to refuse to do so because they don't like doing so is bordering on inflicting cruelty and not to be commended.
 
Thanks all for your thoughts. I see her every day and it tears me apart to know she is sore or frustrated with the need to scratch. What makes it worse is that it isn't something we can cure or guarantee to prevent 100% for the summer.
This time last year the vet kept saying she isn't a welfare issue yet, and was quite positive about the new regime she wanted us to try- more new antihistamines and the skin creams again. I honestly think her skin is so aggravated that it is almost like psoriasis where it thickens and cracks which causes the itch more than an allergy to midges. I can't imagine putting her through another year, but I feel so guilty that I might be 'giving up' for her.
Think if the vet was prepared to back me then I would feel that it isn't just me being too soft, so I will ask the vet again next month when she is due for jabs.
I keep telling myself that at least I'm not going to take her to the sales and let someone else do it when she's frightened or alone. She will go at home in peace, but do I let her go in the middle of the cold and wet spring days or wait until summer when it would be a blessed relief for her (but she would have some sun and fresh grass)
 
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