Does this sound like the onset of sweet itch????

L

LisaJane

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Feb 6, 2008
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Hi all,

Some of you will know that I am a new horse owner and have had him about a month now.

He was bought in the full knowledge that he had previously suffered from 'mild' sweet itch. Since owning him I have religiously benzyl-d his mane and tail, and deet-d the rest of him in a hope of warding off the dreaded midge. I have bought a Rambo sweet itch hoodie - but have been loathe to put it on him too soon as he may be ok with just the lotions and potions. He has been living out 24/7 with no issues so far.

Last night it rained heavily (would have washed away potions?), and this evening I went to see him and he had several lumps on his back, several inches in front of the top of his tail, like raised semi-large bumps on his skin. He didn't seem bothered about them, although it looks as though he's made two very small bald patches overnight. He made no attempt to scratch while I was there.

Does it sound like he has been 'midged'??? And should I whack the Rambo on him tomorrow?

Really don't want him to be uncomfortable, but equally don't want to subject him to a summer of wearing a big old sheet if not necessary...

Any advice gratefully received xxxx
 
Could be....
I bought Charlie and was told he had 'mild' sweet itch. He's in a Boett & hoodie. No lotions/potions and lives out 24/7/365. He never had a mark on him so I took his hood off thinking he must be fine. But after just 1 night he had lumps and raw patches. I now leave the rug & hoodie on all the time and have never had another problem. Doesn't seem to bother him in the least, and I like not needing DEET.
 
I have been querying this... but my understanding is that sweet itch is not like that - that sounds more like an allergy to fly bites than midges - Silver has a combo of both, she has no bites in her tail, but still itching furiously - I don't think the midges cause lump swellings like fly bites do.

Where are the bald patches? I think by now you would have seen the sweet itch - I suspect that if its an allergy to flies, then he probably hasn't been bitten in the area where he would rub his tail or mane as a result of the itchyness so no "sweet itch" symptoms - sweet itch seems to be much more of a constant bug bear, wheras fly irritation goes up and down much more.

Would pile the sudcream on and see how it goes - I think if youve made it this far with no rug, youll make the rest of the time the midges have been out in force for quite sometime now :(:mad:
 
put the rug on, he will be happier.

My rosie is a strong sweetitch sufferer, she lives in a Boett type rug 24/7 from beginning of March through to end Oct time. I dont use any lotions/potions except on her udder which is exposed.

After rainfall the midges come out much much worse, hence why i always leave a rug on her even through out the rain.

Im sure he wont be that annoyed about wearing a rug even if its just mild sweetitch, im sure he would be very grateful ;)

just saw that PF posted too! do agree it does sound like more fly reactions rather than sweetitch, but personally either way i would be putting the rug on him. My other mare comes out in massive lumps like that, so i put a fly rug on her too, its just easier in my opinion!
 
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Also agree its much easier to rug - madam lives in rugs the same as Rosie :)

He will be much more comfortable rugged, but that said if this is the first flare up then you may well have more pros for not rugging than rugging
 
Thank you - I will see what he is like tomorrow morning and make a judgement call on the whole rug issue. He really seems unbothered by the bites, but do not want him in any way uncomfortable, so it may be a good bath tomorrow a.m. and then the rug on.

As he constantly rolls in dust, I guess he will stay cleaner (although rug won't :eek:) and will save a fortune on Deet (and latex gloves)!!!!
 
I would say put a sweet itch rug on too.


My boy doesn't have sweet itch at all (tested negative for it) but does come out in hives (lumps and bumps) like your horse has. He has tested positive for a allergy to birch, alder and hazel trees though.

Basically it sounds like a allergic reaction of some sort and regardless of what they are except food, a sweet itch rug should help anyway.

If he keeps getting them it might be worth getting your vet to blood test to see what he is allergic to, or if it's flies. you can get a immunotherapy vaccine made up that way too which my horse has recently started on.
 
LF - did they test him for horse flies too?

A humungous one landed on her bridle the other day and thats my number one suspect now but if she can get hives from pollen then maybe I will get her tested
 
popularfurball said:
LF - did they test him for horse flies too?

A humungous one landed on her bridle the other day and thats my number one suspect now but if she can get hives from pollen then maybe I will get her tested
Click to expand...

Vet thinks it's probably more the pollen simply because he doesn't just have a couple, but lots.

Running my hand under his belly, it's like feeling corrugated cardboard if you know what I mean. The ones on his withers and chest have cleared now though.

Because he is being injected the vet also want to leave it another few weeks and see if he comes out in it next time/s he's injected as if so he might not be tolerating the immunotherapy too well and may need the dosage adjusted.

On Harvey there doesn't seem to be a 'entry site' on the hives either like a bite would have.

Know what you mean about horseflies though, I was caught by one at the beginning of the week (blaming my current being ill on it at the moment lol) and my arm swelled up like nothing else.

Is she insured? I had Harvey tested on my insurance and I'm pretty glad I did as it turned out he wasn't reactive to any of the things I thought he was lol.
 
there are no bite wounds on her either although she breaks them open, and comes out all over with no rug. Tail and tummy like corrugated cardboard, had thought it was scar tissue from extensive self harm.

She is insured but declared sweet itch although its never been diagnosed so they said it would be reviewed based on her results. Posted a few threads last week while you were away of photos.
 
popularfurball said:
there are no bite wounds on her either although she breaks them open, and comes out all over with no rug. Tail and tummy like corrugated cardboard, had thought it was scar tissue from extensive self harm.

She is insured but declared sweet itch although its never been diagnosed so they said it would be reviewed based on her results. Posted a few threads last week while you were away of photos.
Click to expand...

Does she have it all year round? Or is it worse specific times of year?

Might be worth having a allergy test done, only a blood test and to be honest you'll then KNOW if it's sweet itch or something else, I would just say it's a skin irritation to your insurer and see if your vet will put that to. If it does turn out to be sweet itch they won't cover it but if it turns out to be allergy to something else then they might.

Could save you a lot of money in the long run.

Harvey was tested for the following all on the same test:

Foods: Wheat, Barley, Rye, Oats, Corn, Maize, Soybean, Cod Fish/Oil, Linseed, Sygar Beet, Carrot, Pea, Alfalfa

Outdoor Allergens (Pollens): Meadow Grass, Cocksfoot, Meadow Fescue, Red Top, Rye, Sweet Vernal, Timothy, Daisy, Dandelion, Dock, Lambs Quarters, Mugwort, Nettle, Plaintain, Ragweed, Red Clover, Alder, Ash, Beech, Birch, Hazel, Hawthorn, Oak, Privet, Scotch Pine, Willow.

Insect/Mites: Culicoides, Mosquito, Horse Fly, House Fly, Storage mites (three varieties)

He only came out positive (scoring 3 on each on scale of 0-5) to Hazel, Alder and Birch
 
Im going to phone the vets and see how much it will be I think - I have spoken to the insureers who said they will decide based on the results.

Its definitley seasonal - Last year it kicked off in May/June, this year Ive had her rugged since March, and it flared up last week badly.
 
the big lumps at the top of his tail sound to me like the onset of the allergy kicking in. Also, if it's rained the flies and midges all come out in the damp when it stops raining.

I swear by NaffOff Fly Gel, it's really fab!
 
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