laceyfreckle
1st Nov 2009, 08:21 PM
Harvey has what we think is a allergic reaction to something.
He came to me with a full mane and tail but had some sores that looked like rainscald that were healing up nicely. My vet saw him not long after I got him and didn't think they were anything in particular as they were healing with no treatment and Harvey was out rugless.
Then later on I thought he might have sweet itch as he was grumpy and quite itchy (about late may/early june time) He rubbed his tail and bottom of his mane and his wither. I bought him a sweet itch rug not long after as he got a large fluid filled swelling on his tummy, I thought it was a fly bite and it went down after a few days. His forehead seemed very itchy so he got a fly mask.
With the sweet itch rug on he did seem better but was still grumpy. He's never been fanaticaly itching but does groom himself with his teeth quite frantically and has been seen to itch his back on tree branches.
He wasn't fed in summer apart from a handful of hi fi.
I took his sweet itch rug off about a month ago he has been itching about the same amount even though there are now very few flies. His mane and tail have stayed full and are not particularly itchy. We gave him some feed as he had lost a bit of condition and he got quite itchy and very grumpy so we cut it out and it subsided a little. We then gave him wheatfeed and he went bananas and itchy so I'm assuming he has a allergy to wheat?
Now, he is on no feed other then hi-fi and hay and is out on grass but a few days ago wanted me to scratch his bum and I found two tiny areas of 'hives' or fly bites? which he wanted scratching.
Today he was clipped and although they couldn't be seen through his fur on his clipped parts you can see loads and loads of little patches of hives. Some of them have little scabby bits on them. They are also where his rug would do up so explains why he goes to bite when you do his rug up recently.
Also on our hack nightmare the other week he was being really really stroppy and spooky about being anywhere near water. The hack followed a river and a local reservoir, His nostrils were flared most of the time and he did have a very slight nasal discharge, could that have a bearing?
Another thing that has been noticed is at times his nostrils get really flared (they were after he's been out in the field grazing but subsided after he came in to be ridden) and sometimes he has a watery discharge from his nostril. (had after being ridden and after hacking). He doesn't have a cough or anything like that.
How much is allergy testing? What is it likely to show up? What does it involve? Is it normally covered by insurance?
He came to me with a full mane and tail but had some sores that looked like rainscald that were healing up nicely. My vet saw him not long after I got him and didn't think they were anything in particular as they were healing with no treatment and Harvey was out rugless.
Then later on I thought he might have sweet itch as he was grumpy and quite itchy (about late may/early june time) He rubbed his tail and bottom of his mane and his wither. I bought him a sweet itch rug not long after as he got a large fluid filled swelling on his tummy, I thought it was a fly bite and it went down after a few days. His forehead seemed very itchy so he got a fly mask.
With the sweet itch rug on he did seem better but was still grumpy. He's never been fanaticaly itching but does groom himself with his teeth quite frantically and has been seen to itch his back on tree branches.
He wasn't fed in summer apart from a handful of hi fi.
I took his sweet itch rug off about a month ago he has been itching about the same amount even though there are now very few flies. His mane and tail have stayed full and are not particularly itchy. We gave him some feed as he had lost a bit of condition and he got quite itchy and very grumpy so we cut it out and it subsided a little. We then gave him wheatfeed and he went bananas and itchy so I'm assuming he has a allergy to wheat?
Now, he is on no feed other then hi-fi and hay and is out on grass but a few days ago wanted me to scratch his bum and I found two tiny areas of 'hives' or fly bites? which he wanted scratching.
Today he was clipped and although they couldn't be seen through his fur on his clipped parts you can see loads and loads of little patches of hives. Some of them have little scabby bits on them. They are also where his rug would do up so explains why he goes to bite when you do his rug up recently.
Also on our hack nightmare the other week he was being really really stroppy and spooky about being anywhere near water. The hack followed a river and a local reservoir, His nostrils were flared most of the time and he did have a very slight nasal discharge, could that have a bearing?
Another thing that has been noticed is at times his nostrils get really flared (they were after he's been out in the field grazing but subsided after he came in to be ridden) and sometimes he has a watery discharge from his nostril. (had after being ridden and after hacking). He doesn't have a cough or anything like that.
How much is allergy testing? What is it likely to show up? What does it involve? Is it normally covered by insurance?