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Barnmice Community -> Barnmice Forums -> Horse Health -> Not lice but itchy!
Post Info TOPIC: Not lice but itchy!
dangerbunnygirl


Well Schooled

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Date: Apr 20, 2011
Not lice but itchy!
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One of my friends up north is having an issue with her horses, her old guy (32) started losing hair and getting really itchy, she called the vet and vet said sounds like lice and advised her to get the dusting powder.She dusted all the horses and did it again a week later, horses were still itchy. They looked the horses over really well and didn't see any bugs or eggs, She called vet again and vet said oh you have to do it every three days to catch the new hatch, she she started doing it more frequently.  The horses were still losing hair in big patches and were super super itchy so she managed to get a vet out when he was doing the rounds in the area, it was late and really windy when they managed to get there and the assistant thought she saw some dead lice but vet took some hair samples and advised her to continue using the dusting powder. It has been two months with little improvement.

When I was up visiting I had a look at the horses and I don't think it is lice, old horse is still losing hair and itching, he has really large spots of hair missing and the skin looks dry and scaly. Her old guy is the worst afflicted, maybe because his immune system is impaired, my friend is really upset and frustrated over this. I told her I would look into for her.

Anyone have any ideas?



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Barnmouser Ash


Grand Prix

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Date: Apr 20, 2011
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Possible plant allergies? If the situation has improved some over the past two months, perhaps said plants have been dying off/less available? I'm not sure exactly what would cause an allergic reaction like that, but it's my first instinct. I'm sure others could give you an idea of what kinds of plants can cause allergy problems.

Peculiar... :)

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dangerbunnygirl


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Date: Apr 20, 2011
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They were on the same type of hay all winter and since it is spring in Upper Michigan they still have lots of snow! SR horse is on soaked sr feed and alfalfa cubes since he doesn't have many teeth left.

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Nikki Salo


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Date: Apr 20, 2011
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Its hard to say without photos, but could be a bacterial or fungal infection, like ringworm or rain rot.



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dangerbunnygirl


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Date: Apr 20, 2011
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Definitely not rainrot and I have seen ringworm as well, I wish i had thought to take pictures but I didn't have my camera with me. Large patches of the skin affected and very dry and scaly looking.

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justice


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Date: Apr 20, 2011
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I think you could be on the right track with immunities being weaker in the old guy, DBG. Might be a metabolic thing, too, but for the rest of them being affected as well...not so sure.

Are they foraging under the snow at new grass, any ground scavenging at all? Bark eating/wood chewing? If so, might be an abberant condition in the plant growth stage... thus allergies/sensitivity, maybe even a general nutrient deficiency.

Even with cooler temps still prevalent for you, a room temp bath with a good bracer (and a warm blanket thrown over after) can soothe the itchies. Won't cure but can help comfort short-term. I feel for your friend, sx in a big way when the beasties have issues beyond our control. Good luck to her and the old man!



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Nikki Salo


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Date: Apr 21, 2011
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What about mange? Since the vet thinks it could be lice, it might be mites (mange) instead? confuse



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dangerbunnygirl


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Date: Apr 21, 2011
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Justice- Noway they are foraging, where she lives they get nine million feet of snow (slight exaggeration) and were in a pen without access to trees, The rest of the horses were slightly affected but seem to have kicked t off, the old guy is the only one left with progressing issues.

Nikki- The vet took skin scraping so I assume they would have checked that? but maybe they didn't if the passed it off as lice?

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Barnmouser Ash


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Date: Apr 21, 2011
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Perhaps bots could have been mistaken as lice?

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dangerbunnygirl


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Date: Apr 21, 2011
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No bots, wrong time of year for them. As far as I know no one actually saw the lice,just thought they did. I don't know I am hoping she can find a different vet to come out but vets are sadly limited up there.

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Barnmouser Ash


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Date: Apr 21, 2011
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Eek, I hope she finds a different vet as well. If you didn't see lice, why would you (the vet) say so? :s Best of luck to your friend!

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Barrelracer106


Yearling

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Date: Feb 18, 2012
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When I read this I immediatly though sweet itch. Sweet itch isn`t cureable (I might be wrong), and is an allergy to plants, pollen, or bugs saliva. You might want to get her vet to check this out to deem it necessary for anybiotics, or a cream. Tell her to go and get a can of Fiske`s Hoof and hide balm, it works so good, and it does feet too! I love this stuff, I know someone with a sweet itchy horse and they swear by this.

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Saddlebag


Yearling

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Date: May 4, 2012
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Just recently I learned of Seasonal Alopecia (spelling?) whereby horses have these same symptoms. I'd never hear of it until several weeks ago, or even heard of horses losing hair like that but I did notice that it covers a very large geographic area.



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