Mare with Skin Allergy - Help

[WLS]

Does anyone have any home remedies for a skin allergy??.

My 8 year old mare whom I have owned since three months old, is driving both herself and me crazy with her itchiness. She has rubbed the hair off her hips, inside her back legs, on her face and around her ears, everyday it is somewhere new. She has rubbed her skin off in some places especially around the ears. Her water pail seems to be her favorite itching device and I do not want to take away her water because she is a big drinker. I have removed her from the other mares in case it is a contagious problem.

She does not have lice, ringworm, she has been dewormed, my vet has examined and diagnosed her with an allergy and wants to put her on antihistamines as soon as she foals, (due in about 10 days), so for now I am cleaning the itchy areas with plain warm water and putting on a medicated ointment from vet.

Mare really enjoys these treatments of special attention, thinks she is at the SPA. I would love to body clip her or give her a bath but since the temperature is still not above freezing during the day..........this is not gonna happen for a few days. I am worried about the stress on her unborn foal. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Wendy

 

[AnnaC]

It is not always possible to see lice. I would de-louse her as soon as possible and repeat in 5 to 10 days. I doubt she has suddenly developed an allergy after all this time with you.

Good luck!

Anna

 

[Kim~Crayonboxminiatures]

Wendy,

I've had very good results from using Eqyss Microtek spray & shampoo. It's great for fungal skin problems and I've used it on itchy horses too with great results.

I've had a pregnant mare on OTC antihistamines with no problems, it's called Histall, don't know if it's strong enough to help your mare.

Good luck!

 

[normajeanbaker]

I doubt she has suddenly developed an allergy after all this time with you.

I have a mare here who I have owned since 2001. In 2005, she started breaking out in hives a few times while in foal. In 2006, she had TERRIBLE allergies to stuff she had been around since 2001. We did allergy shots with her throughout 2006 and they made her worse. Her skin was to the point of oozing and she was uncomfy all the time. But, I was told it would take time for the shots to work. I pulled her off the shots in March of 2007 and she has yet to have a hive since. Not sure if the shots did help a little build up her tolerance or not.

While she was in foal, my vet at the time gave the OK for Benedryl and that seemed to help. You may want to check with your vet to make sure it's okay for a preggy mare, but Tri Hist was always another option.

Can you give her a warm water bath with oatmeal and then just bundle her in coolers until she's dry?

Once she can have the antistimines, you'll see a huge difference.

Good luck!

Jen

 

[whitney]

LymDyp dilute as directed put in a spray bottle and spray the spots, until you can bath her and use it as a rinse. FIRST make sure (via your vet) it is ok for bred mares.

 

[WLS]

I doubt she has suddenly developed an allergy after all this time with you.

I have a mare here who I have owned since 2001. In 2005, she started breaking out in hives a few times while in foal. In 2006, she had TERRIBLE allergies to stuff she had been around since 2001. We did allergy shots with her throughout 2006 and they made her worse. Her skin was to the point of oozing and she was uncomfy all the time. But, I was told it would take time for the shots to work. I pulled her off the shots in March of 2007 and she has yet to have a hive since. Not sure if the shots did help a little build up her tolerance or not.

While she was in foal, my vet at the time gave the OK for Benedryl and that seemed to help. You may want to check with your vet to make sure it's okay for a preggy mare, but Tri Hist was always another option.

Can you give her a warm water bath with oatmeal and then just bundle her in coolers until she's dry?

Once she can have the antistimines, you'll see a huge difference.

Good luck!

Jen

Thank you for your advice. This mare now appears to have a hive on her neck. I have never seen such a mess in my life with horses. Would it be possible that her hormones may have something to do with this condition? Seems like an odd time of year to develop allergies here, it has been an extremely cold winter.

She is now at 312 days gestation and last foal was born at 320 days, so hoping once she foals, I can get this condition under control. Thanks to everyone who replied. Wendy

 

[Marty]

I would try to dig a little deeper in trying to figure out the origin of the problem. What has changed?

What has changed around the time this began? Food, hay, grass, anything blooming at all anywhere? How about your bedding? Is anything growing that she is exposed to? Have you painted anything? What about other animals? Got any chickens or goats around? Birds? Rack your brain a bit more.

Because you said it's still so cold up there, I am also thinking this could be related to the pregnancy.

I also would still be thinking lice or mites that you simply cannot see. Can you try a magnifying glass or get the vet to do a skin scraping and shove it under a microscope? Could be worms that you can't see either. Good luck. I can only imagine how this is driving both of you nuts. Please keep us posted.

 

[WLS]

I would try to dig a little deeper in trying to figure out the origin of the problem. What has changed?

What has changed around the time this began? Food, hay, grass, anything blooming at all anywhere? How about your bedding? Is anything growing that she is exposed to? Have you painted anything? What about other animals? Got any chickens or goats around? Birds? Rack your brain a bit more.

Because you said it's still so cold up there, I am also thinking this could be related to the pregnancy.

I also would still be thinking lice or mites that you simply cannot see. Can you try a magnifying glass or get the vet to do a skin scraping and shove it under a microscope? Could be worms that you can't see either. Good luck. I can only imagine how this is driving both of you nuts. Please keep us posted.

Thanks Marty for your suggestions. Nothing has changed with the feed, bedding, etc. But I just started adding corn oil to her feed, trying to oil her from the inside out. And nothing blooming here, it actually snowed again tonight. No birds, goats, etc. just some barn cats that look real healthy. I like the idea of having a skin scraping done, will ask my vet about doing this. The medicated ointment "Furacin" from the vet has nicely healed up the sores from her rubbing and the hive is gone today...........but she still has these "itchy attacks" and she goes nuts rubbing. I am going to haver her feces tested too.

Another thought, I am going to contact the owners of her dam, sire and full brother and ask if they have ever had allergy problems. Some things run in families. In the meantime, I am cleansing her bald spots and treating any raw looking spots. She quite enjoys all this attention, and so far, none of the other 11 horses have started to itch, (keeping my fingers crossed), I don't need a dozen horses like her.

I fully expect her to foal in about a week, then we will see if things get better or worse. thanks again. Wendy