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Different itchy horse question

spotless
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Nov 15, 2005, 11:07 PM

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Different itchy horse question	Can't Post

My husband turned me on to this site. I think it's a great idea to have horse owners be able to talk to one another about all the different issues we encounter everyday. I have a horse that acts like her face is extremely itchy. In the last 6 months, she has caused herself 2 eye ulcers from her violent scratching. I am wondering if anyone else has a eye injury prone horse and what if anything can be done to prevent these injuries, short of stalling her in a rubber room. For now, I am leaving her fly mask on 24/7 so that she has a little protection. When the weather is warmer, she does get a bath once a week with an iodine-medicated shampoo, and that has made no difference in her itchy face.

JimHess
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Nov 16, 2005, 1:06 AM

Post #2 of 14 (1591 views)
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Re: [spotless] Different itchy horse question [In reply to]	Can't Post

I think you're on to something with the rubber room. It's probably your best defense. Is it just the horse's face that's itchy, or whole body? Didn't notice where you live, but up in New England fly season is over, one less source of itching. Wish I had an answer for your problem, I'm just writing to comiserate with you and to say that we had a horse that injured his eye twice. The first time, we assumed, from rolling in the pasture on something. The Vet, with considerable work, was able to save it. The second time he wasn't so lucky, and the Vet had to remove the eye. Hope you can figure something out, the scary part is sometimes they just get in the habit of doing something and it can hard to change the behavior.

-Jim

spotless
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Nov 16, 2005, 8:32 AM

Post #3 of 14 (1583 views)
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Re: [JimHess] Different itchy horse question [In reply to]	Can't Post

We live in Northern California, so we have flies and pesky mosquitos well into winter. Yes it is just her face that is itchy. Her scratching post of choice is a 35yr old Almond tree that produces quite nicely every year. I really do not want to remove it. I have thought about wrapping it with foam pipe insulation. Don't know how it will affect the tree though. If I come up with a design for a rubber room I will send you the plans.

lkvaughan
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Nov 16, 2005, 9:18 AM

Post #4 of 14 (1578 views)
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Re: [spotless] Different itchy horse question [In reply to]	Can't Post

have you had the vet do any tests to see if its a skin infection or something?? some skin scraping might reveal something that visual inspection doesnt. does her face have excessive 'dandruff' type build up??

you could try some antihistamines (tri-hist) to see if it is an allergy of some sort

a friend and i were talking about itchy horses last week- i vaguely remember seeing an article where someone had mounted brushes on a post (i think she used the long garage sweeper type but you could try other stuff too) for the horses to scratch on- and had installed an old street sweeper broom (the round kind) in the field that her horses would step over and use to scratch their bellies... mabey if you provided her with something 'safer' like some brushes then she would scratch her face on that??? i remember she said her horses LOVED it! i will try to see if i can find the article again....

btw- my hubby turned me on to this sight too (hes a TBN fan) and i agree- its becoming a very valuable resourse!

good luck
kelly

JimHess
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Nov 16, 2005, 9:28 AM

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Re: [spotless] Different itchy horse question [In reply to]	Can't Post

That sounds like a good start, wrapping the tree. You might ask a nursery or an arborist or the extension service about methods of wrapping the tree if you want to save it. Don't know about your situation, but we fenced in an area with maples and oaks for the horses for a while, but we had to stop because their hooves were compacting the soil and killing the roots. When we contacted a tree man to see what was wrong, he said he'd seen the horses out there and was wondering when we'd call!

-Jim

CJuneau
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Nov 16, 2005, 8:59 PM

Post #6 of 14 (1568 views)
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Re: [spotless] Different itchy horse question [In reply to]	Can't Post

Spotless,
As Kelly mentioned, there may be an underlying cause for this facial/eye itch that is being missed. Does your horse tend to itch both sides of the face or just one? If you look at the horse head on (so you're seeing both eyes simultaneously), does on lid look more swollen than the other, or do the eyelashes of one eye appear in a lower, more guarded posture? Good luck on getting to the root of this problem!
Christina

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Nov 16, 2005, 9:33 PM

Post #7 of 14 (1555 views)
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Re: [lkvaughan] Different itchy horse question [In reply to]	Can't Post

I have also read the article with the street sweeping brushes as a scratching post. I nagged my husband for a year to bring some home from the rental yard he works in and now I am afraid to put them up because my horse could do some serious damage to her eye if she scratches her face on those.

spotless
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Nov 16, 2005, 9:33 PM

Post #8 of 14 (1555 views)
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Re: [lkvaughan] Different itchy horse question [In reply to]	Can't Post

spotless
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Nov 16, 2005, 9:36 PM

Post #9 of 14 (1553 views)
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Re: [JimHess] Different itchy horse question [In reply to]	Can't Post

At this point, I think the tree is going to lose. Asking an arborist is a great idea though, so I will do that and see if there is any way we can safely wrap the tree. Thanks for the tip!

spotless
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Nov 16, 2005, 9:43 PM

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Re: [CJuneau] Different itchy horse question [In reply to]	Can't Post

The lid is more swollen on the affected side, but prior to Oct 30 when this condition reared it's ugly head, both eyes were the same. She is not at all picky about that side of her face under usual circumstances. The vet is coming back tomorrow, so hopefully we can get it handled and healed. The last time she did this was about 6mo ago, so there has been considerable time in between where we had no problems. This horse has such a darling personality, but she drives me crazy with her medical issues. Out of my herd of 4, she is the one who sees the vet the most.

lkvaughan
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Nov 17, 2005, 9:31 AM

Post #11 of 14 (1542 views)
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Re: [spotless] Different itchy horse question [In reply to]	Can't Post

it could be a reaction to something that she is being exposed to- weeds ect.. but 6 mo between- dont know what it could be....

my sisters horse gets crud on his lower legs every year about the same time- we finally figured out that it was a particular weed that he was having a contact allergy to- not eating it, but just brushing up against it was enough to make his legs itchy/ swollen/ oozy... when we got rid of the weed- no more problems....

it sounds like she is one of those horses that is more sensitive to stuff than others (just like people- some of us are just more sensitive to everything)

good luck- let us know what/ if the vet figures something out....

and i agree- the street sweepers would be to rough- what about some softer face brushes?

Mark4510
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Nov 17, 2005, 2:47 PM

Post #12 of 14 (1538 views)
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Re: [spotless] Different itchy horse question [In reply to]	Can't Post

I think Christina is on the right track. You need to find out what is causing this. Is the eye weepy at all?

Look closely and see if there is any change to the underlying skin. Also, you might try switching to a mild medicated shampoo. We have good success with Micro Tek ( I think thats what its called). You put the shampoo on, leave it for a short time and then rinse it off. They also make a follow on spray that helps reduce the itchy sensation while the shampoo works. If your horse is thin skinned dont leave the shampoo on as long as stated and then dilute the spray.

We have had good success with this as a general treatment.

Mark

spotless
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Nov 18, 2005, 3:53 PM

Post #13 of 14 (1525 views)
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Re: [Mark4510] Different itchy horse question [In reply to]	Can't Post

The vet has seen her today and we are finally on the road to recovery. The eye ulcer had been healing all along, but the newly made cornea would not re-attach. The drew some of her blood the other day and seperated it into some type of serum which I have to drop in her eye 4 times a day. It looks like the combination of the serum, the grid they performed on her eye, and the other 3 types of cream I have been putting in 3 times daily have all started to work together. Thank you all for your suggestions, I will experiment with medicated shampoos on her face to discourage the itching. I cannot believe something as little as an itch is how this whole crazy thing got started in the first place! Smile

Mark4510
Silver Member

Nov 21, 2005, 7:25 PM

Post #14 of 14 (1508 views)
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Re: [spotless] Different itchy horse question [In reply to]	Can't Post

Spotless, that is great news!

It's nice to see that work out for both of you.

Regards,
Mark

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