Sweet itch!!!

ladyluxor

ladyluxor

New Member
Apr 11, 2008
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norfolk
ince we have had my daughters shetland in sept last year, she has been constantly scratching herself..

mainly her under neck area and top of bk legs..

she was tethered for a lil while as she was escapeing and tht was the only means we had for her to beable to stay out, she obviously couldnt itch herself on n e thing then but at the same time didnt seem frustrated tht she wanted to, she would just graze happily...

Now she is bk in the open field she is rubbing herself on anything possiable n starting to in her stable aswell.

How do i know if this is sweet itch of ppossiably flies/lice??????????

she doesnt have any sores.
 
it could just be the time of year, all of mine are scratching and looking moth eaten as they are just changing coats.

i sprayed them all at the weekend for lice just in case.
 
What is a good product to use if you suspect lice?

My mare has sweet itch anyway and has just started scratching but I was thinking it might be a good idea to treat for lice just in case - don't want to just make the assumption, there is no reason she couldn't pick up lice as well...
 
I tried the lice powder twice tht i had from the vets and it hasnt done anything. i think i will up it to the one i have to mix with water, ill giv her a gd dose of it today and see how she goes... im hopeing in a rather unusual way it is tht.
 
Lice powder generally doesnt kill lice - it just repels them so helps to prevent them.

Also you have to do the treatment weekly for about four weeks as the life cycle of a lice is 30 days - the treatment doesnt work on eggs, so you kill the adults on a weekly basis as they hatch trying to prevent them laying more eggs, but the eggs take up to 30 days to hatch before you can kill them.
 
Thts the stuff i got from my vet and i have in the tack room so when it gets a lil bit warmer im gonna give her a gd covering in it. fingers xed.
 
I go with Ivermectin wormer plus repeated doses of louse powder. I am not keen on Deosect as it can give problems by being almost too powerful.

It may be she is just hot...have you thought of clipping her then treating for lice? We do it routinely with older ponies that do not shed coats easily.
 
I mentioned clipping her to the other lady at the yard n she said its the wrong time of yr and it will make her coat not grow properly :unsure:

I thought tht would be a gd option if she was ok with the clippers.
 
Depends if you are into showing or not - The summer coat will be coming through so you could end up with patched summer coat once winter has fallen out as they are moulting.
 
Ive clipped abby out last week. She was sweating in the field and just uncomfy. She has sweet itch but been ok upto now. She not showing so if its a bit patchy i dont mind, id rather her be comfy. So if you think it would help your little one, id go for it :biggrin:
 
Lily has stopped scratching altogether now she is rugged and fly-sprayed regularly so I think it was the sweet itch starting rather than lice. I'm wondering if I should treat her with the deosect anyway as it also says on the tin that it will keep flies off for up to a month (does it kill them when they land on her or just repel them?) - don't know if it is a bit harsh to use when she doesn't seem to be having much of a problem atm. Might save it for when it gets really hot, then if it works she can have her rug off
 
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