I just recieved my sweet girl about a month ago. She came to me this way unfortunately… if anything, she looks somewhat better but she is just so itchy. Her face, tummy, left side of her neck, and her withers are the worst. Vet will be here tomorrow, but might as well ask the internet as well!
Oh goodness!! I’m no help on this one, hopefully others will chime in and your vet will get you sorted out in short order. Poor pony!
Omega Horse Shine is a great
All purpose skin improver.
Also what is her diet?
Are you using a good, quality fly spray everyday?
When was she last wormed and with what product?
Good for you in trying to help her.
Sweet itch, reaction to bug bites. There’s several historical threads you can search listing various things you can try.
6 Likes
My gelding reacts to fly bites like this.
Mainly his neck & under his jaw.
But as the grass grows, elbows, chest & hind cannons.
Not much on his midline, but at 16h, I think he’s clear of whatever bug lives where he grazes.
Benadryl gel gives him some relief & seems to deter further bites applied daily.
If I could find a larger bottle or non-aerosol spray I’d be thrilled. Pharmacies only seem to have 3 or 4 ounce sizes.
Oh geez, poor girl. You can use zyrtec until the vet visit, which should hopefully give some relief, but hydroxyzine or even a steroid (both require an rx) are probably in the cards here.
I use zinc oxide ointment on open sores or raw skin, which helps from a soothing/healing perspective, and also as a barrier.
1 Like
I would definitely want to cover up the open sores. For this kind of thing, I really like Curicyn. It’s very low tech - it’s basically clay with an essential oil or two. But it’s soothing and it dries so it provides a nice barrier. Zinc oxide is also good but requires more frequent application.
Look up threadworms also on this site. Not sayings that’s what’s it is but there have been years long threads about midline dermatitis and neck itchiness.
2 Likes
My gelding is like this. I fight it and can keep him relatively comfortable if I stay on top of it. The things I find that work the best are: bathing (at least the trouble spots) with Equiderma Neem Shampoo, using some sort of salve on the trouble spots…I like Equiderma’s wound ointment, their Zinc Oxide, and Swat, and using an effective fly spray. I also feed a lot of flax and try to steer clear of anything too inflammatory (for mine that’s soy, cereal grains, and alfalfa). I’ve done spirulina this year as well with what I think are good results, though I’m not entirely sure how effective it is. I’ve recently stopped it because he’s going through anhidrosis and I’m doing a bit of an elimination diet at the moment. It’ll be interesting to see if his itchiness changes.
Keep pastures mowed short, keep horse inside and under fans during peak bug times.
That’s about all I can say. Vet may be able to offer more.
1 Like
If that’s sweet itch, it’s an allergic reaction to midges of the Culicoides genus.
Start with a full coverage fly sheet - coverring the head, neck body and tummy at the bare minimum.
Add a repellant that works on Culicoides: lemon eucalyptus (eucalyptus citriodora) really works, and Repel and others make human bug sprays containing this extract, and it’s cheap! You can also find horse ointments with the same ingredient to treat those sore spots.
Lastly to break the itching cycle, get the horse on a class 2 antihistamine like cetirazine with doses of 0.2-0.4 mg/kg bodyweight administered at 12 h intervals. You can buy cetirazine cheaply online.
Your vet may suggest a series of allergy shots too. I’m not sure how well I thought that worked for my itchy guy.
Good luck!
2 Likes
I million thank yous to this post!!
Based off reading through this I am really thinking it is thread worms. Will be doing the deworming protocol for them today.
1 Like
