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Anyone use the shampoo and conditioner for a horse that is super itchy right now?

I read the instructions and they suggest leaving it on for an hour! Good Lord, in this heat it would be dried on the horse quickly.

My mare has become extremely itchy this year her back legs are the worst! I did try Benadryl and it helped a little, also just bathed her in a medicated shampoo.

Vet was out and gave us non-steroid men's, hopefully, they help. She did say this year she is treating this a lot.

Any other suggestions to relieve the itching?

I got their sweet itch kit a couple weeks ago. The shampoo bottle says to lather and let it sit for 3-5 minutes. Tesla seems much less itchy after using it. She had what looked like bug bites all over one side of her barrel, so I used the lotion there. I've also used the lotion a couple times where Annabelle had peeling skin on her neck and shoulder (another boarder said it was from gnats, but I've never had this peeling skin thing happen before.

Anyway, I'm happy with the results, and your post reminded me that Tesla should get another bath with it tonight.

I've been using vetericyn medicated shampoo for a while, and before that one the vet gave me with a red label (helpful!)

I normally wet the whole horse, was the infected section first, then wash everything else, condition tail, and eventually make my way back and rinse the infected section last.

i do not think Equiderma is any better or worse than using anything to wash the gnat spit off. The key is getting the bite/ saliva/ off. Also of course soothing lotions help. I find that oral antihistamines also help, ( i have found Zyrtec builds efficacy better than benadryl)

the lotion works great on leg scungies, haven't noticed shampoo or conditioner being anything exceptional.

Quelah wrote:the lotion works great on leg scungies, haven't noticed shampoo or conditioner being anything exceptional.

Seconding this. I like their lotion for a variety of things, but I haven't found their bathing products to be any more useful than a good bath.

I won't recommend the boett sweet itch blanket again though it has been a total game changer for MM who normally spends her summers full of hives, raw, and bloody

But I did want to mention that last year apoquel was approved for use in horses. I have a prescription for it, though I haven't used it because the boett. But, my vet has had some other client use it with great results. The good thing about it is that it can be used for a short period just to break the cycle and then you can stop giving it until/unless it's needed again

My older mare Gallie is having horrible skin issues this year. My vet has prescribed apoquel for her and will be starting her on it next week. My holistic vet will put her on some herbs and then should do some acupuncture to help her. First year she has been this bad and she is 25

khall wrote:My older mare Gallie is having horrible skin issues this year. My vet has prescribed apoquel for her and will be starting her on it next week. My holistic vet will put her on some herbs and then should do some acupuncture to help her. First year she has been this bad and she is 25

will be interested to hear your thoughts once you try it. I ultimately decided against it because there is some literature about long term use causing immune-deficiency problems in dogs. And of course, still TBD what longer time side effects are for horses since it's so new. However, there is a quality of life factor and if nothing else worked, it was something I was willing to try especially since there is not conclusive. But I'm also thankful, I've found another option for now. Of course, at age 25 I would be less worried about long term side effects as well. So, sounds like Gallie could be a really good candidate.

I am going to my go to cure all--neem oil. My older mare used to get eaten alive by something along her midline. I put neem on it, and now the fly spray has neem in it and I have had 0 issues with the itchy raw spots and 0 ticks this year.

Tanga I don't quite know what is causing my mare's itchiness. She has had some bug bites but not like some of my others. She has cushings and we've had rain rot issues, I just don't know why she is so bad this year.

Blob I've had a dog on apoquel for years now. He is allergic to gnats and every summer he goes on it until the fall. He is 13 and no problems.

My biggest issue with this for my mare is cost. Good grief it is pricey. Last weeks vet bill was a doozy.

khall wrote:
My biggest issue with this for my mare is cost. Good grief it is pricey. Last weeks vet bill was a doozy.

yes, definitely not cheap. Though, I don't know if you've seen the studies done last year with the horses. but one nice thing was that they found that after initial dosing, you could space out the dosages quite a bit. Lower dosages weren't effective, but less frequent ones were--as spread out as 1x a week, if i remember correctly. So that might help with cost.

Well, my poor mare is still super duper itchy!
She's been on 12 Hydroxyzine 50 mg 2 times a day and I see little improvement, tho her attitude has improved! LOL

I was reading up on using Spirila and I'm not sure I want to use it since it can be toxic if not harvested/grown safely.

She won't eat ground flax and I don't want to add anything with soy as she gets hyper on soy. I also don't want to add any type of oil that would add weight. She's plump enough on air!

I feel stuck on what to try next. This is the first year she's been itchy and I really don't see many bits on her.

Any other suggestions on what we can try?

Thanks

I've mentioned it in other threads. But MM has terrible seasonal allergies and has spent nearly every summer raw and bloody despite my trying everything I can think of.

This year I finally bought the boett sweet itch rug and it's been some kind of miracle. I've tried other fly sheets in the past that made minimal difference so when people had recommended the boett, I assumed that it would be the same as others. But no... It's been a total game changer. I wish I had pictures to show her normal summer condition compared to now. But everyone that knows her is amazed. I really can't recommend the product enough.

Blob, that's the odd thing she is not raw, missing hair or bloody.

Tho, her back legs do have some scratched areas where she has nicked herself and caused it to bleed.

Going to start a new post and see if anyone has had their vet recommend Apoquel.

Also, going to contact my vet to see what she thinks about it.

I also switched from Pharrana fly spray to Bronco just to see if the fly spray was the culprit. So far no change, but I am going to bath her tomorrow probably will vacuum her first to see if that helps.

Not sure the barn owner would be happy about putting a fly sheet on her. Tho, if the vet recommends a sheet they will do it.
They are very accommodating and helpful but I hate asking for them to do more for us. They are the BEST!

Hayburner wrote:
Not sure the barn owner would be happy about putting a fly sheet on her. Tho, if the vet recommends a sheet they will do it.
They are very accommodating and helpful but I hate asking for them to do more for us. They are the BEST!

The boett blanket needs to stay on all the time! So there's no taking on or off for turnout. So, no extra work for the barn. The only time it comes off is for riding.

MM only gets raw and bloody when she's been able to scratch/itch herself against trees. So, without access to something to itch against she wouldn't be raw either. She doesn't get actual fungus or bloody bites, she just gets super itchy and then goes to town itching herself until she's raw.

I do have an apoquel prescription. But can chime in about my experience in the new thread!

Hayburner my older mare is on apoquel one of my dogs has been on it during summer for years. I’m not seeing much improvement in her itchy ness still loves scratching on her stall walls. She looks better though using baby shampoo equiderma and I have her on herbs from my holistic vet

The apoquel is expensive!

Thanks Khall, I ordered Spirulina from Smartpak and also the Equiderma lotion . Her back legs seem to be the most itchy. With fall coming hopefully, this will all subside.

Hayburner wrote:Thanks Khall, I ordered Spirulina from Smartpak and also the Equiderma lotion . Her back legs seem to be the most itchy. With fall coming hopefully, this will all subside.

I had some improvement with spirulina (though I started it ahead of the itchy season). But they were marginal. Hopefully it's a bigger difference for you.


Fall is definitely a reliable cure!