Sweet Itch!! Need vets or very experienced horsepersons advice!!!

toohorsemad

Victor's Mummy
Oct 1, 2004
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Ireland
Ok as nearly everyone knows Victor is my first horse and is prone to sweet itch! His ears were a little bitten from the flies when I got him! Now they are fine! The stuff I got worked well on his ears but his tail is dreadful! Its very sad! Because he is such a beautiful horse and his tail is going raw and started to bleed in places! He scratchs viotently when hes in the stable and the cream isn't helping very much! A week has gone and its gettng worst! My mum looks after him while i am in school (boarding school!)! And hate the head off her today because it was so bad! She says that shes putting it on but I am sure about it! As she doesn't really have a love of horses! I NEED HELP!! Please I cannot tell him suffer anymore! Does anyone know a cream, oil that he wont be able to scratch of but will clear his tail right up!?!?! :(
 
Don't panic!

I know sweet itch can be such a bain, one of my mares suffers but I use aromatherapy on her very effectively, so much so that over the summer her tail has grown so much I have to pull it every few weeks now!! If your interested in finding out what I use, please email or PM me and i'll be happy to explain the treatment.
 
I can send you the info from Equus #335 (September "05). It doesn't give a brand name though. It says to use: "(early stages) antihistamines. After: oral or topical steroids to stop the cycle & antiflammatory drugs to control swelling & ease discomfort."

"For prevention: limit the exposure of horse to bitting insect. So basically keeping him indoors (if possible) when the responsible bug tends to feed on the horse. Apply insect repellent & keep the horse covered with scrim sheet & fly mask."

I'm at the office right now so I don't have my med text books on hand.

You're positive it's sweet itch? I'm not saying it isn't, but there's also other reasons why horses will rub themselves raw at the tail.

Could you wash the affected area with a very mild soap and thoroughly rinse & dry it before applying the cream?

Did you check on the internet? What did your vet recommend?

Let us know how it turns out ok? And give poor Victor a pat for me.

LMS
 
I use net-ex stop itch salve.. its £20 a tub, but it only needs to be put on once a week.

I did this along with put her in an electric paddock and use fly spray, and she has regrown 2 inches of mane, her tail isn't bald any more and all scabs have gone. I don't stable my mare.. what's the point when they rub themselves raw and undo all the treatment/prevention?

She isn't distressed at all, she always looks happy, and has a roll about if she needs to itch, much less damaging.
 
I have two sweetitchy horses.

I manage them with Coopers Fly Repellent applied on alternate days and use a Boett rug on the very itchy horse and an Amigo sweetitch rug on the less itchy one. I also keep them behind electric fencing, although I have just moved yards and my new field has a natural boundary along one side - was dreading going up to find the Icelandic had rubbed herself sore but so far so good!

For any sore areas I use Gold Label Miracle Gel (Aloe Vera based) fantastic stuff.
 
The best thing you can do is get him in a Boett blanket to break the itch-scratch cycle

Absoultuly. Once the itchings started, there's no non-prescribed cream that can stop the cycle :(

You need to go at it full blast to get it under control, and winter coming up will really help. Get him a sweet-itch rug (boett are the bets, even if they are expensive) - nothing else will help.

Keep him in during the morning and evening (midgy time) with a veiled stable (buy some cheap material from a fabric shop) Rinse his sore bits in some very mild anti-itch shampoo then smother him in camomile or Benzl Benzoate. Then put his rug on over the top. Spray the RUG with plenty of fly repellent - Midge Away really works. Don't put it directly on to sore skin - it will really sting. Try to keep him in the least midgy field possible - ie open, dry and wind swept.

Once he's a little more comfy, he can stay out all day.

You really need to get on top of it before it starts next year - start to rug him form March.

Also, you CAN NOT keep a sweet-itch horse in a field with barbed wire - they really will tear themselves to shreads and will destroy any rug within hours.
 
I'm with augermoon on this, best thing is a rug be it a boett or fly sheet.


Other than that I found half Lyclear and half Surgical Spirits worked on Rhi
 
get a fly sheet or even better a boeto rug , and also put sweet itch cream on his tail and alo vera as it soothes and cooles and when the rug is on spray fly spray over it to!!
i had i pony with very bad sweet itch and once i got creams ect it helped an awful lot.
we spent lots and lots of money trying out loads of producst ect its not easy having a pony with sweet itch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and also get differnt types of fly spray so the flys dont just get used to one this helps 2!!!!


hope i helped a littlle!!
 
I already have a fly sheet although he doesn't have it on him now! :rolleyes: He just rubs off creams so does anyone know oils that I can use or anything?
 
boette blanket will work best, other flysheets dont stop the midges so the problem will just get worse! ive bee where you are believe me! stan did it!! now he has the boette on he has a full mane and tail and no creams needed! i spent over £800 on creams in one year on him to try and stop him, but no worked so i got the boette!
last year stan shreaded his boette and in the 2 days it took to get a new one he had a normal flysheet on and he rubbed himself raw, it stopped a few days after the new boette went on!
 
You could try Camrosa, expensive but excellent stuff. Also agree the Boett rugs are the only rug to keep the pesky midges away.
 
I've had success with this stuff on my poor little sweet itchy Morgan:
http://www.saddleuptack.com/webcat/items/item1117.htm

Apparently it was first made in Iceland specifically for all the exported Icelandics who suffer from sweet itc as soon as they leave.

When we got Fantasy last year, her crest and dock were rubbed raw and she was miserable. We started using this stuff and she had some immediate relief. She stopped rubbing and generally was much more comfortable.

This year, we briefly ran out (they were changing distributors and there was NONE available in the US)...her sweet itch flared up again :( :( and she's rubbed off some of her mane & tail. But we've finally got more again, and she's doing SO much better.
 
Boett rug - or preferably two if you can afford it. That way he can always have a clean one on whilst the other is in the wash/being repaired

Net-tex stop itch salve/cream to calm any itching on mane and tail

fly spray at every opportunity - ditto the suggestion to do it over the rug

And number one magic ingredient - a spoonful of marmite in his feed. We've had the best summer ever this year for keeping pony non-itchy and not bitten using marmite.

Two weeks ago we ran out and since then he has rubbed off all his forelock and has ears covered in bites and scabs - needless to say he is back on it now
 
Some good advice above.

Also make sure that you put the cream or lotion along the midline under their belly - that is where the midges really bite, the itching is primarily a systemic allergic reaction.

Lyclear lotion (used for human head lice) is very good for sweet itch - dilute it half and half with 70% isopropyl alcohol to make it go further. Dab it on the mane and tail and along the midline.
 
Word of caution - if you use Benzyl Benzoate be aware that some horses react quite badly to it and also products containing it and never apply to raw or broken skin.

The Icelandic Horse Society and also Solva Icelandic Horses sell a cheaper version of the Boett, same principle, same material but about 2/3 the price.

I use nappy cream/udder cream on both my mares udder and inside leg bit as I found they were being bitten there, midges dislike anything oily or gloopy as it effectively glues up their mouthparts.

Sweetitch is a pain in the butt to deal with, but it is controllable.
 
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