It was a bit of a problem where I came from but seemed to become full blown when I got down here. I think trailering 3,000 miles would have gotten her immunity down so that could have been a factor too. I really don’t know what all the variables would been but I do think the DD worked.
It absolutely works!
My experience:
All summer long my yearling and I have been in a battle against “summer itch.” I tried every tonic, supplement, etc. on her, but she continued to lose all the hair on her face, under her jaw, her neck, her chest, her belly, and then she started attaching her tail. Everyone agreed I was going to be stuck with this itchy, ugly horse every summer for the rest of her life.
Well in one of my CoTH searches, I came across this thread with ChocoMare’s suggested Equimax treatment. At that point, I was willing to try just about anything so I ordered a couple tubes. And for that, I have ChocoMare, and her farrier, to thank. After a summer of no hair, constant itching and scabs, I have my filly back! Within 2 weeks after the first double dose, she completely grew back all her hair. I wish I had before and after shots, but I was too embarrassed of how she looked to take the before shot. :lol:
So ChocoMare, you have another groupie! And a huge thank you from Izzie, the no longer hairless filly, and me!
My boy definitely seems to be afflicted with this, he’s chewing at his shoulders and has little bumps all over and loses his facial hair. But it’s fall, and I was planning on doing a PowerPac. Do I do the DDEP and then the PowerPac? But what if I feel he needs continued ivermectin, how does that work with the rotational?
bump
Thanks Guin… yup, now’s the time to gear up for another NTW season. Sic 'em! 
Just started yesterday with my mare. :yes:
Thanks for the reminder. Our goal in 2011–Sadie keeps her mane and tail and sports dapples summer as well as winter!
Bump!
I DD’d my guy with Equimax 2 weeks ago, and am getting ready to do the second DD.
Over the past two weeks, he has been shedding like crazy. He has “cannon crud” on both hind legs, but now has similar crusties on his back. The hairs that curry up seem to have tiny white scabs attached to them. He is losing hair in some areas instead of shedding normally, but what’s coming in behind the old hair looks darker and sleeker.
Funny thing is, this horse usually HATES being curried. Yesterday I went to town on the “crusty” hairs with the nobby side of my jelly curry, and he didn’t even flinch. :eek:
He is still bald behind his eyes, but I think I see some hair growing in. His eyes are also not as runny, and his legs not as wind-puffy.
The mega-proof for me will be if he can go through this spring (post-shedding) without any gnat-bite hives.
Fingers crossed!
Hope you’re taking Before/After pics SBT… should be interesting to show the vets. wink wink
Good bump just in time-I’m waiting for my ordered wormers. My mule just started again with the bumps.
One of my horses has had a horrible problem with his belly and sheath every summer (lasts four to six months) for the past few years. (It just started this year.) The line down his belly including his sheath starts to get itchy, then bumpy and bloody. I thought this was from gnats, but could it be the worms? His face, neck, chest are fine. He does rub his tail, though. He never did this in Oregon, but started a couple of years after I we moved to Kentucky. None of my other horses are afflicted, and they are all on the same worming schedule.
Can this be from the worms you guys are talking about?
I guess I can just DD to find out, but I hate to do it if it’s not going to help.
Bacchus, while we are waiting to hear from De Wormer experts, I can add that my thin skinned boy has an oozy spot on his belly too. It lasts from about now to fall (Central Texas). It was a little crustly, then when I wormed with Equimax it got bloody and oozy. I asked the vet about it, and she said the reaction could be a worm die off. Do they collect and live in the that area, I wonder.
Yes, Bacchus and Nines… the NTW take up residence in the soft tissue (since that’s where the gnats bite and lay their eggs to burrow in). The microfilaria then migrate into the body, to settle in and grow… they also migrate into joint spaces.
Sooo, when you DD Equimax, they start to exit big time. Hence why case after case has reported an increase in itching post-DD administration that then slacks off over time.
I highly recommend you read some of the links posted within the first 6 or so pages. It’s most enlightening!
Possible injection site reaction - please help
I’m new to this site and cannot seem to figure out had to post a new thread. I’m going to post it hear as I’m very concerned about my mare but if someone could give me info how to do this I would greatly appreciate it.
My mare became very ill with a serious bacteria infection in her intestines and wasn’t expected to make it. I spent 6 night living in the barn monitoring her IV, giving her loads of meds both IV and IM. Well I happy to state she made it through the worst of it. During her treatment, I was giving her 30ml of penicillin in her butt area twice daily. Her last dose was on Sunday April 3rd. Other than obvious soreness in the area from having so many injections, she was recovering pretty well. Her appetite wasn’t great but she just went through an entire week of eating nothing so we were gradually increasing her feed. We have our horses at home and they are fed 3 times daily and she has been groomed several time and we didn’t notice anything out of the norm. Every injection was given with a new needle and the injection site cleaned very well wtih rubbing alcohol before each injection. I did reuse the syringe about 2+ days before getting a new one, but it would start out as a new sterile syringe and I would rinse it out with very hot water after each use. It was only used for the pencillin and given only to that horse. I only reused the syring at the recommendation of her veterinarian with the understanding no other medications would be placed in that syringe.
As we neared the end of the injections she began bleeding more easily at the injection site so I placed a tripple antibiotic covered pad over the injection site and held it in place to stop the bleeding.
Yesterday when I took off her blanket to groom her I noticed the entire area of both sides of her butt where I administered the injections was oozing a sticky yellowish substance with no odor and it was slightly warm. I cleaned the area very well with nolvasson surgical scrub and warm water.
Today she is much more painful, doesn’t want me to touch it at all and it is oozing much more. I’m wondering if this is a possible reaction to the pencillin or is it possible she is reaction to the antibiotic ointment that I used since the injection was an antibiotic as well. I’m already into this over $2100 and that was with me doing all of her care so pretty much just for meds. Although I do have an appointment tomorrow about 12:30 with her vet, if there is anything I can try at home to help I would greatly appreciate the advice.
Heatherc, there is a button near the top left-hand side of the Horse Care Forum, says New Thread, click on that, and a new screen will be displayed for you to input along with a title for your thread.
It might be helpful if you copy and paste all that you already typed in here first.
Hope that helps.
Need Help - Conjunctivitis from Onchocerca after Equimax?
I need help from the experts on this thread. I used a full tube (not DD) of Equimax on my horses last week.
My 24 year old gelding - who has had various “sweet itch” type of issues in the past 5-6 years every summer - well, his eyes have become a conjunctivitis nightmare. I have been treating per vets orders, with the ointment, and they were getting better, this morning they were clearing up nicely, and tonight, he was back to swollen, with pus discharge, UGH!
So, I thumbed through my vet manual, and read that in some cases the conjuctivitis can be caused by the larvae of Onchocerca cervacilis during aberrant migration.
Treatment is ivermectin according to my manual, which he just got the full tube last week (1300 lb dosage for a 1000 lb horse).
Anyone here have any experiences like this???
Jumping in to say that I did the second DD of Equimax about a week ago. My boy’s coat is shedding out DARK and SUPER shiny. No bug bumps, no bald/itchy/runny eyes, and “windpuffs” (worm-puffs? :eek: ) greatly reduced. He looks GORGEOUS, and he even has some dapples. I have NEVER seen dapples on this horse in the 8 years I’ve known him. Just incredible. 
OK – I’ve read through this entire thing. And like the rest, now am itching and scratching and gagging.
Question: Before and after the prescribed double dosing protocol, is anyone doing anything specific to boost their horse’s immune system? I believe that deworming and vaccinations are a huge stress to the horse’s system (albeit one that can’t be avoided). Especially the liver and kidneys which have to filter all those toxins.
So has anyone detoxed their horse after this treatment? Done any immune support? Just curious what others are doing for systemic support while doing this treatment.
Also – if, like some of the posters have suggested – susceptibility is due to immune factors (I think someone posted that in a room of five exposed to the flu, one gets sick and the other four don’t… or something like that), wouldn’t nutrition and supplementation that supports the horse as a total being be a good idea?
And, (if this was already covered here, forgive me – reading 72 pages of posts will make one forgetful – hope there’s not a quiz at the end!), what about resistance to deworming? If there are no new drugs on the horizon to deal with growing resistance, is this treatment for the NTW’s ok? Everyone in our neck of the woods is going in for the strategic deworming protocol. I know from this thread that NTW’s don’t show up in fecals, but can they be detected in an ELISA? All our horses have clean fecals and we deworm twice a year now. I’ve got two on the farm with “sweet itch”. One is the picture of health (dapples, fit, sound, etc) other than the midline dermatitis and itchy mane. The other I would easily say is “compromised” in many ways.
For those of you who have broached this subject with your vets, how have you gone about it, and has anyone had a positive response?
All that said and asked, my own horse who is showing these symptoms might be finding himself staring down the barrel of a tube of ivermectin right soon!
Great discussion!
Thank you for sharing. success in the new studies. Waiting.
Neck Threadworms
Do I hear Crickets chirping…?:eek:
