My vet has me give .2mg/kg twice a day. But that’s for the asthma. I have not been told to up the dose for the skin itch. I don’t know how well it would work for insect bite related allergies anyway. Honestly, he might need dex but I don’t want to do that for a few reasons (including that he’s pretty overweight due to restricted movement).
My itchy QH does well on a combo of Benadryl and Zyrtec.
We started at a fairly high dose and then lowered to lower doses to maintain.
I personally would start with the high .4mg/kg dose of cetirizine until effects were had, then work down to find the lowest effective dose
My vet described 20 Zyrtec twice a day as the max dose for my horse, who’s a pretty average 1,100-1,200 lbs. It works out to right about 0.4 mg/kg.
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Thank you, I would rather try a higher dose of zyrtec before going to a steriod. I was giving a big dose of hydroxazine that kept the hives gone (13 3 times a day) but the vet thought that was too much (it was within the range). My guy is about 1,300-1,400 lbs
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My guy has hives. The hives are hot and cold compresses makes them go away enough to ride him. Riding causes them to go away (and then I cold hose over him, which really makes them go away) but then they come back.
This is the generic Zyrtec I buy with vets’ blessing: Amazon Basic Care All Day Allergy, Cetirizine Hydrochloride Tablets, 10 mg, Antihistamine, 300 Count https://a.co/d/4opCosJ
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My mare had sudden onset of allergy itchies in January this year (likely cause was straw bedding in the paddock that probably had goldenrod in it). She was prescribed a round of hydroxyzine along with 3 pumps (previously was on 2 pumps, so added one more) of camelina oil. After the round of hydroxyzine we continued on with the camelina oil (3 pumps). It’s a regular part of her feed regime now.
At the time I did ask whether I should add a different oil and the vet did say we could use flaxseed as well, but they advised camelina is just as good/better/easier overall.
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Have you tried allergy testing? That sounds like a contact reaction if cold hosing helps so much. Like my guy did that rolling in one brand of shavings at a show when he was hot and sweaty.
I have not yet tried allergy testing. He has never ever had hives before and he is on the same bedding he has always had. I did try removing the bedding for a month and using Hemp bedding ($25/bale!!!), but it did not cause them to go away. I would suspect contact, but more likely a combination of things is causing this–and my pastures are full of weeds that I can’t spray for yet because it has been so wet that my equipment will still get stuck out there and he rolls in it. We have record bugs, including bugs I’ve never seen before. (As an aside at how crazy our weather has been–20 inches of rain in one month–I had a turtle show up in my back yard and frogs in my arena!!!) Crazy! Anyway, he was so horrible again on Sunday that I sent pictures to the vet (the vet who had me switch from hydroxazine to zyrtec) and she suggested trying Dex. I have an appointment tomorrow, but I also increased his zyrtec to 20 BID and added SmartImmune supplement on Monday. Guess what, he looks almost hive free today. It is illusory, however, and he has gone a couple of days hive free before breaking out again. But tomorrow, when the vet comes, he is likelly to be clear of hives…because that’s the way it goes.
My bay horse was going bonkers in turnout the other day, so I brought him in, and he had the day off anyway so I didn’t hose him off. The next day, covered in hives. I gave him an oatmeal shampoo bath and they were gone the next morning aside from a few clear bug bite welts, but if they hadn’t cleared up my vet wanted me to give him a dose of Dex. Pic is just one patch of them. It’s definitely a banner year for all sorts of irritants!
I wanted to make a contribution to this thread based completely on my personal experience with a particular supplement.
I have an appaloosa that has major skin issues in the summer. He usually rubs himself bloody (gnawing at legs and rubbing himself on anything he can find). He gets welts and hives from insect bites, and horrible bumps and scabs all down his belly/midline. Summer has been the bane of his existence for many years, and I’ve done and tried everything I can. The only way to keep him halfway decent and comfortable has been to stall him during the day with a fan, but even then, he gets plenty of misery turned out at night and comes in lumpy and itchy. Where I live it’s usually too hot for a fly sheet in the summer (lots of humidity…eastern NC), but he does wear leggings and a mask when out.
He has been on Omega Horseshine pretty much since he was a yearling (he’s 15 now). The skin issues persist in the summer.
Last summer I tried him on Zyrtec and he did a little better, but not enough in my opinion. He was stalled during the daytime with a fan, but still rubbing and gnawing (biting his leggings) heavily whenever he could, plus getting significantly stiff in his arthritic socks from being in a box for 12+ hours a day.
This summer he’s out 24/7 but does have access to a stall with a fan whenever he’d like (which isn’t as much as I’d like, but horses are gonna horse). I get to tinker with his diet because it’s a self-care barn, and he basically gets pasture, hay, KIS Trace in Timothy pellet mash, OHS, and a smattering of other supplements. Because I can add and take away as I’d like, I think I’ve pinpointed the ONE supplement that has been miraculous for him in the case of allergies and itchy skin issues: CocoSun oil.
I say this because I started it on a whim and noticed pretty quickly that the itchies and bumps that had started up went away. I let it run out, figuring it was just a coincidence, and kept feeding everything else and replacing the CocoSun oil with canola oil. The itchiness started creeping back. But I wasn’t convinced because the humidity and bugs were also ramping up significantly, so I figured that was the more likely culprit.
I decided to try the CocoSun granular supplement instead of the oil, but the itchiness continued. I ran out of it and OHS at one point and the horse’s coat faded and got brittle and he was still itchy. OHS and CocoSun granular were restocked and I started feeding them and his coat improved but the bumps and itchiness remained.
I relented and ordered the CocoSun oil again. He’s been back on it about two weeks, and I swear he doesn’t have a single bump on him and I rarely see him scratching. The humidity and bugs are just as bad as before, but it’s like the bugs don’t even bother him as much as the other horses now.
I chose CocoSun over CocoSoya because I’ve been keeping him off soy due to some sensitivities I think are present. I’d do CocoOmega but it’s so expensive and he’s already getting a buttload of flax from 2 cups of OHS a day. I don’t know if it’s the coconut oil or sunflower oil in the CocoSun, or maybe it’s just oil in general (canola sure didn’t cut it), but the difference is so noticeable that I had to share.
I’ll also say that I don’t believe in one-size-fits-all when it comes to feeding horses. Just because CocoSun oil is the ticket for my horse doesn’t mean it’ll do squat for another horse. I just wanted to offer up my experience on finally finding a supplement that seems to benefit my itchy boy.
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I cut canola this summer and left mine just on W-3 and she seems a LOT better for itchiness. Mind you, she’s on an assload of other allergy and respiratory supplements so I don’t know if taking the canola away had that much effect, but I’m not about to experiment at this point. I may add it back in the winter when she needs more calories.
I finally did the allergy testing. Results in a few weeks. I have had to give two doses of dex now and he’s on zyrtec. I have all the Equishield products and am switching from the SmartImmune to the Equishield immune supplement as I heard that it is more effective. I am afraid to give him too many baths with the medicated shampoo, but cold water baths seem to help a lot, as does cold compresses.
Owner of a highly sensitive/allergic and itchy mare here …bloodwork for serum allergy testing and immunotherapy shots-this isn’t a quick fix but helps tremendously in the long run …next is supplementing with Spirulina (Uckele or Mad Barn) , stabilized ground flax -I use Triple Crown Naturals, and msm…if more help is needed then I add Zyrtec (Ceterizine) 1 tab/100lbs body weight
Does anyone use a spirulina PELLET that they like?
I’ve been using the Mad Barn spirulina powder, but (1) my horse hates it and doesn’t eat it very well, and (2) it makes a huge mess when scooping it out.
Only pellet in the US I know of is SmartPak’s. Haven’t tried it personally. There are some others sold in Europe.
I got the NextImmune results back on my horse and no surprise he’s allergic to ALL the bugs (except mosquitos), dust mites (660 score!), some molds and some weeds and trees, especially a few that are high pollinators here. Makes sense with his IAD and IBH and worsening of symptoms. We are going to try the allergy shots.
I recently used the SmartPak pellets and they are highly palatable! Even my pickiest eater would eat it out of my hand like a treat. They smell nice too. I think SP will give you samples of their brand supplements to try (or money back if they are no good) but I have a small amount left that I could mail to you if you’re interested.
After two years of allergy shots without any success this protocol has mostly worked for us:
Soy free tribute ration balancer
40 Zyrtec/day
Ground stabilized flax
Monthly steroid shots
Hosing 2-4 times/day depending on heat
Desitin midline and anything bigger than a pin head of bare skin
Hydrocortisone spray the tail head and base of mane
Daily application of vitamin e oil to mane and tail
With this combo we’ve only had a few bare spots from itching and one unfortunate 4” section of mane rubbed out. Historically, this time of year she would have large hand sized bare patches, a bald tail head, and a crusted missing mane. Her allergy panel is high for grasses and other hard to manage allergens.
For her, steroid shot and daily hosing has been the most effective I think. Sweat is a massive trigger for her itching and she sweats very easily.
I’ve had very good luck this summer with Histall. One of my mares was rubbing herself raw, especially her face, and had started sneeze/coughing at the beginning of rides. She’s been on the Histall for a few weeks now and her face looks so much better, her coat is glossier, and the coughing has subsided. It does have a very strong odor, so I imagine picky eaters might refuse it, but she eats it no problem.
