Sweet itch and very itchy ears

[4horses]

My poor mare is rubbing her ears badly. Any suggestions on products that work to decrease her itching? She is quite miserable. In the past week she has ripped the ears out of 2 fly masks and while I thought she looked better yesterday, today she was back to rubbing her ears again.

I’m thinking of stalling her in front of fans from 7 pm to 7am but it’s sort of a last resort, as I know she will want out.

So far I’m treating her ears with the steroid/antifungal cream the vet recommended and giving her Zyrtec once a day. I gave her ivermectin in hopes it might help… Is there anything else you would suggest or something I should ask the vet about?

[SuzieQNutter]

I use permoxin and now there is a product called Permetrol. You will have to google them and see if you have something over there.

There is other products called Brute and Swat, that are supposed to last longer, however there are a lot of stories of horses being burned by those one.

Permoxin/Permetrol do not burn horses or dogs. It cannot be used on cats.

It is for sweet itch in horses and flea allergies in dogs. It kills ticks.

It is cheap compared to other concoctions you will find. It mixes with water not oil. It drues clear and is not a cream.

It is cheaper to buy the 1 litre than 4 of the 250ml. You mix 10ml to 400ml of water.

If the horse is down to blood, start 3 times a day. Work down to once a day. If you are lucky you can work down to once every 3 days.

Once a day is better, get a soft brush and brush the horse all over with the liquid, including neck, face tummy, ears and dock. For best results allow it to dry before putting on a rug. I only use a neck rug as I refuse to use hoods.

The side affect of doing this is a long mane tail and forelock and people will say. I will never own a horse that has itch. You say well then you could never own my horse then and you see their eyes bug out as they never knew he/she itched.

[sascha]

Swat can help. Stalling overnight will help a ton. Does she have a friend who will keep her company overnight?

If the Swat doesn’t help enough to stop her shredding masks, maybe try something that will numb her ears (talk to your vet or pharmacist?) enough to stop her shredding masks which should allow for healing.

[luvmyhackney]

Up the Zyrtec to 2x a day.

Maybe some dex to get itching under control?

[Demerara_Stables]

Preparation H

When my mare lived in Florida she rubbed many places on her body raw (chest, ears, mane) and she still has scars 10+ years later. Preparation H was the only thing that helped. It was a little embarrassing to buy a family pack of it at CVS… but now there’s Amazon!

There was also an oral product that worked wonders but it’s been erased from the Internet. Called Vetricine and it was a very fine white powder. No idea what it was but she lived on it April through November.

ETA I’ve looked for this no fewer than 10 times and I finally found it! https://www.medi-vet.com/Vetri-Cine-750-mg-Powder-p/17136.htm. Obligatory talk to your vet, but it was a god send for us.

[sorrelfilly721]

My mare gets a super itchy navel. I use cortisone cream and it helps tremendously.

[Xanthoria]

if it’s actual cullicoides midges causing the sweet itch, they can easily be repelled with lemongrass eucalyptus flyspray like Repel or Cutter brand.

also buy some cheap cetirizine pills (antihistamine) online for the itching, and voila.

[Phaedra1]

We had an old Shetland pony with sweet itch. We used diaper cream and slathered it all over her stomach, and wherever else was bothering her, she looked ridiculous, but it worked.

We used Sudocrem Diaper Rash Cream if it was on sale or a purple tub of Desitin Diaper Rash Cream.

[GraceLikeRain]

Max out the Zyrtec (my big girl is on 20 2x/day), slather vulnerable areas with desitin, and rinse often since sweat makes the itchies worse.

[Simkie]

For the ears, is she getting bit up, or is she just itchy?

My guys are more itchy than usual this year and as far as I can tell, it’s just from sweating. It’s been a sticky start to the summer. Getting the sweat off helps a TON. Not like you can hose the ears, but maybe using baby wipes or witch hazel wipes would help?

[sara78]

Hi which cortisone cream?

[Pico_Banana]

@Xanthoria Do you spray the lemongrass eucalyptus all over or just near the itchy spots? I have two with very itchy tails. I’ve tried all of the other options for itchy tails and nothing has worked so far so am wondering if it is sweet itch. I know I have some gnat bites and they are super itchy!

[Xanthoria]

I use just in the itchy area (midline on my horse, or legs as a tick repellent for trails)

[sorrelfilly721]

It doesn’t really matter. I use whatever I can find. Currently it’s Cortizone 10.

[4horses]

Thought I would update. I did one week of stalling in front of fans at night and that allowed her to start healing. Bought a better fly mask and she is wearing that 24/7. Seems to be doing much better.

Do they sell fly masks with leather ears? I was thinking leather ears may keep the deer flies from biting her ears. I know the deer flies can bite right through clothing so I’m betting they can bite right through the fly mask as well.