Help with Sweet itch!?

Question

My horse has sweet itch, and i dont know what i can do to help him.

can anyone reccomed anything i can do?

He wears a boett rug, has a special lotion which is applied everyday, i use a sweet itch shampoo as often as i can.

please help us.. it must be horrible for him to be so itchy, and i really wanna help him feel better

Answer 1

Did you try calling the vet?

Answer 2

My vet prescribed antihistime powder as an additive to feed when my horse had hives.  There may be something wrong with your horses' immune system.  Sometimes prednisone or a cortisone derivative helps.  Try another vet's opinion.  

IMHO you have to stimulate the horse's natural defense system somehow.

Good luck.  There is a cure - you just have to find it.  Don't give up!

Answer 3

quit-itch works on the ponies at my school, as it sooths and repels. also a scoop of garlic and some apple sider vinegar works well.

here are some good rugs that cover most area's on the top half of the horses body:

http://www.tackshop.co.uk/posit/shop/new...

http://www.loveson.co.uk/util/u5.htm

http://www.speedyequestrian.co.uk/acatal...

also you can buy fly wraps, they work really well.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/pr...

also use a good fly spray or ointment

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/pr...

http://www.petsonthepark.com.au/category...

http://www.aromesse.com/pages/aromapre-i...

on itch spots apply some pottie's white ointment it works wonders to protect area, but is hard to get off hands with water as it contains oil, so maybe wear some gloves

http://www.potties.com.au/potties/whiteo...

here's a website with fly sheets, masks etc.

http://www.netequestrian.com/products/fl...

the mini i care for at school has this really bad

GOOD LUCK HOPE HE GETS BETTER SOON

Answer 4

Actually, and don't want to "step into anything" here but M-T-G does work pretty good on the Sweet Itch sores. It's not just for Fungus. It has skin conditioners and emolients that help soothe the itch and discomfort, heal the sores and the smell does tend to keep the gnats away. Down side it's kinda messy and does stink.

sweet Itch is caused by an allergic reaction to the gnats so your going to need to treat both the cause and effect. I'd recomend putting him on an oral antihistamine (have used Ani-Hist in the past, have two mares here that have allergies in the spring and it greatly helps them, but ask your vet for his recomendation as to which kind.) as well as treating the areas already affected and working to keep them from getting any more bites as well.

Here is a good recipe to put on him. I've used it before and it really seems to help

8 oz. of Gold Bond Medicated Body Lotion (Extra Strength, in green bottle)

4 oz. Aveeno Anti-Itch Concentrated Lotion

4 oz. Benadryl Itch-Stopping Gel

4 oz. Avon Skin So Soft (increase up to 8 oz. if the gnats are bad).

Also if you feed Garlic it will give his sweat a garlicy smell that doesn't attract the gnats, about 2 tablespoons to his feed daily. Also adding Apple Cider Vinegar to his water (or feed) will help keep them away. Neither (garlic nor ACV) are totally effective against flies but will greatly reduce the number of bites.  

It's going to be a long constant battle to keep his sweet itch cleared up so every little bit helps. Doing these things in conjuction with useing his Boett Rub should get him taken care of and keep him much more comfortable.

Answer 5

If the vet doesn't recommend anything the only thing you can really do is try to prevent it. with a fly sheet sly mast even those fly repellent bands hat go around his legs.(or fly spray) very in expensive if you make your own

1/3 apple cider vinegar

1/3 pine sol (natural)

1/3 water

you can also add garlic to your feed along with apple cider vinegar if you already didn't

Does it effect his riding?

Answer 6

Aww. One of mine has  got over her realy bad sweet itch in january  she had it for a year but it had gotten worse so we perchised a boett and this calmed it down abit. We used several products on her and none seemed to work. But i found out about aromapre-itch. I used it just to take off the redness and the soreness because it looked dead soree!!

http://www.aromesse.com/indexeq.htm

I also used Camrosa on her and this totally stopped her itching after a while.

http://www.camrosa.co.uk/

I also gave her NAF D-itch powder to put in her feed I also put in a section of garlic because thats ment to help aswell.

And every other night i washed her tail with Carr & Day martin-Kill itch. Iv'e heard that is ment to be used as a lotion but i got told to wash her tail in it. Anyway after doing that for a month and it dissapeared. And now she's out showing and looking herself again. Good luck with yours.x

Answer 7

Try wendals 'stop itch' : http://www.doversaddlery.com/product.asp... It really works!

Answer 8

It must be awful for horses who suffer from sweet itch.

Nettex itch stop complete is the only thing that worked for our cob. It is a bit greasy but she almost breathes a sigh of relief when you rub it on her itchy bits. We also feed her on brewers yeast (this is the active ingredient in Marmite). If you search for Nettex brewers yeast. There is a place offering a free sample. I hope this helps.

Answer 9

The mother of my boy had really bad sweet itch and they fed her scoops of garlic granules. I don't just mean one measure I mean scoops. She smelt really odd but kind of nice in a funny way. You could get the whiff from 6feet away. Her mane and tail grew back well. I am sorry I didn't take note of exactly how much as my horse doesn't get it.

Think Rosie m's idea really extreme!!

Answer 10

My arabian has this, and there is a lot we have to do to keep her comfortable. During the day she wears a scrim sheet that covers her body and neck the whole way and is also treated with insect repelent (you can get one at a tack store or online for less than $100.) anyways, she can't be outside before dawn (that is when the insects, especially gnats, are outside) and has to be in before sunset again. So its usually from 7:30 to 5 or 6 depending on the season. Also, we use lots of flyspray (the marigold from equus seems to work good, cept its expensive...) and she has a full face fly mask. Also, if she does end up getting rubs and stuff, we use SWAT on it and it makes it more comfortable and less itchy, plus it heals and keeps the insects off of it.

Good Luck!

Answer 11

Yup, here I go again...

Well if you're willing to try anything, here's a decades old remedy for it... Motor oil (New or used). Simply paint your pony with it and it will kill the fungus. Leave it on at least a month and within 2 weeks of painting it on, you'll see new hair growing in hairless spots.

Answer 12

I have NOT tried this yet but don't see how it can be bad .... I have pony who will drop her head to itch while cantering .... nothing else has work so I am mixing a batch today!  I found it on the Internet ... but sorry can't remember where.  Here it is ....

4oz Aveeno Lotion

4oz Benadryl gel

8oz Gold bond lotion

8oz Skin so soft (Avon) .....

Let me know how it works for you ......

Good Luck

Rosie not sure I would ever try it .... but I have heard of it .... must be old school ... the cowboys talked about it all the time when I was a little girl ... "just throw some motor oil on it ... that'll do the trick" ... thought they were kidding!

Answer 13

vitamin E oil. both of my horses get sweat itch but my filly has it the worst and we give her an antihistamine too.

Answer 14

i heard shapleys M-T-G works the best

they have good rain rot products

Answer 15

Are you saying you are still getting problems with a Boett rug ? - I have never heard of that, poor, poor horse.

I have one with sweet itch ( and no Boett because I'm not spending that much for the others to shred it off his back)

Firstly take a look at the lotion you are using - some work for some horses and not for others. For example one of the big sellers " Killitch" does absolutely nothing for our horse but "Dermoline" does help. We went through several lotions before we found one that did help. Also you are supposed to start applying the stuff before the midges arrive and then to keep topping it up. Unfortunately this tends to result in a horse that looks greasy for the entire summer ;-(

We add a good scoop of garlic to his feed everyday and also a desert spoonful of Marmite dissolved in hot water. ( many people swear by giving the horse a Marmite sandwich everyday, unfortunately ours won't touch the stuff unless it's disguised.) The theory is that it is the B vitamins in the Marmite which do the trick.

I have also heard that apple cider vinegar can help ( didn't work for us but that doesn't mean that it won't work for you)

Get the best fly spray you can - experiment with different ones until you find one that does help ( again all horses are different - I find that Jungle Formula roll on works quite well.)

If he has scratched himself and has the nasty weepy sores give them a good cleaning with Chlorhexidine Gluconate ( Hibiscrub)  and then coat them with zinc oxide cream (Sudocrem).

You can consult your vet about the possibility of anti-histamine injections ( Mine said the side effects weren't worth it but that was 4 years ago - things may have improved since then.)

Good luck - I know it's horrible.

Answer 16

Rosi M - USED motor oil left on a horse for at least a MONTH?

OMG PLEASE don't do that!!!!!!