My poor guy is allergic to everything that flys and crawls and is super sensitive to fly spray. The only one we can use is Flicks which is all natural. Last fall we had to do Zyrtec for a horrible case of chiggers and here we are again this spring with hives and welts from fly bites. Anyone else find anything that feeds thru or a pharmaceutical plan that calms down the hypersensitivity from fly bites? I’m already seeing I can’;t turn him out at night because of mosquitoes. He is on 2 cups a day of flax and gets Cosequin ASU . Do you use Zyrtec all summer?
Probably not helpful, but I use Benadryl with my mare when the welts get really bad. She has problems with mosquitoes at different points of the summer.
Yeah, I had one I kept on Zyrtec all summer. Benedryl didn’t cut it. Used the generic product from Costco to save $$.
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How much were you using? Isn’t it like 16 pills twice a day?
I start my guy on 20 Zyrtec pills 1x a day for 3 days then maintain on 10 pills. So far so good.
I use coat defense on any bug bites, not sure if it helps.
Have you tried acupuncture? Vet suggested it to me said she has seen good success with it for allergies.
Blackflies are the first infestation we see each spring. They burrow into the winter hair and bite. Most horses have a welt line across their chest at the base of their neck where the skin wrinkles as they graze. This wrinkle lifts and separates the hair and the blackflies take advantage of the easier access. They also get into the belly line.
Most horses have that welt across their chest. My second horse had two or three welts. I found that if I got him started on apple cider vinegar two weeks before the blackflies arrived, he would get one, smaller welt. So it’s not a 100% prevention method, but I felt the reduced welts were worth it. I keep my horses on ACV all summer. Even though I can’t see a difference, I’m hoping that % reduction in bites carries through.
People will tell you that you must use ACV with “the mother” in it, but I got my results with plain old Heinz ACV from the grocery store.
We rug here, synthetic combos in white for the heat. One of my mares was being absolutely smashed on her forelegs and came up with huge crusty scabs. So I hung cattle fly tags off of her rug, just adjacent to her front knees. Problem solved. The difference was night and day.
The tags I used are called Cylence tags and are horse-safe. I usually hang two per horse, one off the neck rug and one off the tail flap, but this was much more effective.
Prior to the tags, I tried coating the scabs in a thick mud poultice (tuffrock) to keep the flies off but within half an hour they’d burrowed through the mud and the mare had blood on her legs.
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The only thing that helped my super bug sensitive mare was immunotherapy injections. They have been absolutely life-changing for her in the warmer months. She still gets some normal bumps and bites but not the hives she endured before the injections.
Yes, I use Zyrtec all summer. I start at 10 pills twice a day, which is enough to give him a good response at the start of the season, and then up it as he develops tolerance throughout the summer.
Thank you for this idea- I’m bringing in a fly sheet for the first time this year, and I’ll add the fly tags also.
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Cetirizine (Zyrtec) is studied at 0.2-0.4mg/kg every 12-24 hours.
That’s 10-20 of the 10mg OTC pills 1-2 times a day, for a 500kg (1100lb) horse
If I were to do this, I’d start at the high end dose, twice a day, until I saw results, then back down to find the lowest dose and timing to maintain.
I see a lot of vets just generically say 10 pills 1-2 times a day, even for big horses. Then when it doesn’t work, the owner says "zyrtec doesn’t work. What should have been done IMVHO is up the dose and/or frequency to see if it works then. Maybe it will, maybe it won’t, but it’s an unfair trial to start with the lowest dose and declare it doesn’t work
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Ok I have never heard this! I will look into it.
Are you using a fly sheet with a neck or no neck cover?
Yeah I’ve always started at the higher dose, and stepped it down, like @JB describes. Best case is managing on 10 x 10 mg q24.
I’ve also used cattle tags with success but do the Trizap brand. Either attached to a sheet (at the chest and tail) or tied into the mane and tail.
Do note that some tags contain organophosphates. These carry higher risk of toxicity than the pyrethrin or pyrethroid tags. So be sure to read the label & understand what’s being used.
That’s why I kinda like the idea of attaching them on the sheet. Or do they have to touch the animal to be effective?
No, on the sheet is fine.
But still, read the label and stay away from organophosphates.
Is that why you used that specific tag?
One of the reasons, yes.
Neck but no hood (full fly masks)
Tags when first attached. Mare’s wounds are covered in medicated sunblock.
Second photo is about two weeks later. That is a white horse wearing a b&w striped rug…….
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That second picture is amazing!!
What fly mask are you using?
