Belly clipped my two pregnant mares and one has lice- what to do???

[Sandy B]

In 35 years of horse ownership I have never had any have lice, so this freaks me out. I belly clipped my mini mares and after I was all done and I was brushing, all f a sudden I noticed little nat looking creatures all over the body clipped areas (flank, belly and neck). I got a magnifying glass and looked at them and then googled horse lice and it appears to be the "chewing" lice. I did find some in the base of the mane as well. So I dewormed these two girls that are stalled on foal watch (I have yet to dig through the hair coats of the ones in the pasture) and then applied a Pyrhana Fly Spray to the shaved areas to see if it would kill the critters and it seemed to work, but momma-to-be was not thrilled with being saturated with fly spray and I am not sure how healthy that is for a late term mare.

Is there anything safe and affective and easy enough to use for a thick coated, late term mare. I would not be opposed to dipping them(sponging) as I have warm water in the wash rack and think that this may be better applied to thick coats in comparison to powder which I suspect could also be used. A friend of mine said to use the horse equivalent to Frontline. I am not sure about that though, especially with pregnant mares. Can any one help me with this?

Thanks!

 

[albahurst]

Sandy-

We always use Durasect II for lice and I believe we have used it on pg mares. Check with your vet to be sure.

 

[Eagle]

Sandy I used Frontline on my stallions and it worked fine but I wouldn't put ANYTHING on a preggo mare without first talking to your vet. JMHO

Renee

 

[MountainWoman]

I freaked when I had my one case of lice in a new horse but I've learned since then from my vet and others that lice just can happen. I know everyone uses powder but I personally don't like powders so I bathed and then used Shapley's M-T-G which is an oil and that worked. I also agree with everyone else to consult with your vet before using any topical.

 

[Little Wolf Ranch]

I have one mare that no matter what, she ALWAYS has these lice in the springtime - nobody else here on the farm ever does, just her. Anyways my vet is an "old timer" sort of speaking.......and here is what he told me to do for it:

1. Clip her down completely with a #10 ((even if it's still cold - just keep her blanketed afterwards, we've had to do this in early January before and she was fine))
   
2. Take all the clippings to a burn pile, and burn them - you don't want the critters crawling around everywhere
   
3. Anything that touched her, THOROUGHLY CLEAN WITH THE SOLUTION THAT'S ABOUT TO FOLLOW....
   
4. Spray her down thoroughly with the following solution (yes, completely safe and harmless)
   
5. Let it sit for 10 minutes, then give her a bath to remove them
   

• Take a spray bottle and fill with equal parts of the following
  
• Listerine (plain, not minted)
  
• Baby oil
  
• Water
  

It sounds crazy but it kills them instantly and the baby oil makes them slide right off during the bath. I promise, it works!

EDITED TO SAY: BTW, my girl has been 7-9 months preggo everytime we've had to do this, with no problem.

 

[Mareish Mom]

Ivermectin will kill lice and is safe to use in pregnant mares.

 

[Sandy B]

I have one mare that no matter what, she ALWAYS has these lice in the springtime - nobody else here on the farm ever does, just her. Anyways my vet is an "old timer" sort of speaking.......and here is what he told me to do for it:

1. Clip her down completely with a #10 ((even if it's still cold - just keep her blanketed afterwards, we've had to do this in early January before and she was fine))
2. Take all the clippings to a burn pile, and burn them - you don't want the critters crawling around everywhere
3. Anything that touched her, THOROUGHLY CLEAN WITH THE SOLUTION THAT'S ABOUT TO FOLLOW....
4. Spray her down thoroughly with the following solution (yes, completely safe and harmless)
5. Let it sit for 10 minutes, then give her a bath to remove them

• Take a spray bottle and fill with equal parts of the following
• Listerine (plain, not minted)
• Baby oil
• Water

It sounds crazy but it kills them instantly and the baby oil makes them slide right off during the bath. I promise, it works! EDITED TO SAY: BTW, my girl has been 7-9 months preggo everytime we've had to do this, with no problem.

This does sound very safe, we have used Listerine on mane and tail itches too. I just do not really want to body clip as she is within weeks of foaling and I am not too keen on her wearing a blanket with a foal at her side. Maybe I will just try bathing her in a warm Listerine/Baby Oil sponge bath.

 

[Sandy B]

Ivermectin will kill lice and is safe to use in pregnant mares.

I did do this, but am told this only works well on the "sucking" lice, but regardless, I did it any ways.

 

[Little Wolf Ranch]

Where are you located in CA? If it is warm enough during the nights you shouldn't have to blanket at all. Just for future note as well, once my foals have found the milk bar, I haven't had any issues with the mommas wearing blankets if needed. I know last year I had to throw some blankets on their dams because we had a freak snow storm pop up out of nowhere. All I did was rub the outside of the blanket on the mare to get her scent, and then put it on her, the foal was curious at first but then went straight to the milk bar.

Hope it works for you!

 

[Sandy B]

Where are you located in CA? If it is warm enough during the nights you shouldn't have to blanket at all. Just for future note as well, once my foals have found the milk bar, I haven't had any issues with the mommas wearing blankets if needed. I know last year I had to throw some blankets on their dams because we had a freak snow storm pop up out of nowhere. All I did was rub the outside of the blanket on the mare to get her scent, and then put it on her, the foal was curious at first but then went straight to the milk bar.

Hope it works for you!

I am in Northern Calif. I worry about the foals getting hung up in the blanket more than anything. I have heard of a couple disasters in regards to mom's with blankets on and babies being hung.

 

[shelia]

Mineral oil will suffocate the lice. The trick is to get it down to the skin without making too big of a mess. The listerine would thin it enough for a spray bottle, but it still may be a bit of a challange with the winter fur. The mineral oil would be safe to use though. It doesn't have to be a lot, but it does have to get down to the skin. The oil could cause a bad sunburn if they are clipped too short and get out in the sun.

Your best bet might just be to reduce the numbers for a while till the weather gets better and the foal get older.

 

[Sandy B]

I bought a pyrethrin product at the feed store today that is safe for horses, cattle, sheep & goats and you use it like you would use a spot on treatment for dogs. It said safe for all classes of animals including lactating animals. It was really expensive but I figured it will last forever as you only use 3cc per 100#'s. So I applied that to the two mares in the barn that were dry today. The others were all turned out and its been raining off and on so I did not want to apply it until we had a dry 24 hours. It said to re-apply the product in two weeks once more. Plus we dusted their stall with a poultry dust. We will strip their stall tomorrow and bad the soiled shavings to throw away rather than spread.