How do you guys manage sweet itch?

[tasteofchristmaschaos]

I went up to get Fella in yesterday for the farrier and found him covered in sweat from his sweet itch rug. It was muggy but not even that hot. The lady who was poo picking the field said he keeps on trying to get it off because its making him uncomfortable. I took it off and am not putting it back on until it gets cooler - but what do I replace it with?
He is having a daily wash with benzyl benzoate and being sprayed with fly repellent - but he won't always let the lady who looks after him on the days I can't get close to him to do this. (I do him 5 days a week most weeks but am worried about him being itchy the days I can't get up there.) Also, where his sweet itch rug hasn't been (basically his sheath, top inside of back legs and the back of his belly) I can't do with benzyl as he has small cuts there from rubbing it.
I really don't want to feed him anything as he definately needs to loose weight but I am thinking this may be the only option now he can't have the rug on. I have been suggested garlic but after doing some research found that can do more harm than good, so I was thinking marmite and brewers yeast.
Do you guys think there is anything else I can do to reduce his itchyness without feeding him?

[thedunthing]

kill itch is fab but im not sure if you can use it allover them i have a feeling it is only for manes and tails. could you not just give him some chaff with marmite?

[f_s_]

Marmite or brewer's yeast definitely feed.

Not garlic, boosts the immune system too much, and sweet itch is an abnormal reaction to midge bites by the immune system.

Lots of fly repellent, barrier cream/gel on exposed parts, ie: sheath, between back legs etc.

Sweet itch rug should not be making him sweat. The Boett ones were great when we used it on our little pony.

Good luck, it's a hard thing to manage. Think there have been a few posts recommending products that have worked well.

[kerilli]

what sweet itch rug do you have? my mare's got an Amigo Bug Rug on and hasn't sweated yet, she'd be the first to let me know if she wasn't 100% comfy, and would rip it off with her teeth probably.
are you watering down the bb to wash him with it? i used it at full strength.
i now use Killitch by Carr and Day and Martin because it's definitely more effective, i know chief ingredient is bb but it works better than just that somehow.
what about good old-fashioned fly repellent sprayed on the bits he won't let you smear bb on?

[tasteofchristmaschaos]

Thats what I would give him if I decide I have to feed him, but I am reluctant to give him anything as he is overweight having been out of work and being a very good doer. And the spring grass is only just coming through in his field, so I can't think of a worse time to start feeding.

[Cahill]

if my cob starts to get too hot i will clip her out but not had any probs yet.
she has been rugged since before the midges came out and i spray her with deosect once a week.
she has not itched at all this year.
deosect is the only spray that i have tried that really works.it is expensive but has to be diluted so goes a long way.

[tasteofchristmaschaos]

He would let me put BB on it, but it's not suitable for broken skin.
I have been using it at half strength - maybe I should up the concentration?
I have been warned away from putting creams on, people saying it attracts the flies.
He has a DeMeulenkamp "Itch-Off" rug, very similar to boett. He takes a 7'6 rug so there is very little option to change the type of rug as most places don't do rugs that big.

[JRT]

I have been trying Feemark's Equi Dermis Plus since February this year and so far he hasn't been too bad, I think it really is helping. I always smother his sheath and along his belly with Vaseline which keeps most of the midges at bay. Mine is only in his lightweigh turnout at the moment when it rains, but I am sure he will need his Boett very shortly.

[HelsB]

Global herbs "Skratch Plus" is amazing stuff - a scoop in feed and the horse smells so bad the midgeys don't come near!

Everyone I know who has tried it says it works or them

[LankyDoodle]

I will be honest with you: the only thing that is going to stop the sweet itch is a combination of a good, high coverage rug which is light enough and breathable enough that they won't sweat, weekly (at least) baths using mixture of dettol and an insecticidal shampoo, a homemade flyspray using essential oils as well as vinegar, tea and meths, killitch after the bath and one other time a week all over the mane, tail, around the belly and legs and down the spine (NOT on the sheath, sudocrem/vaseline/itch-stop cream on the sheath and muzzle and any other exposed areas. Also, if you can, keep him in as open a space and as far away from natural water sources as you possibly can (high on a hillside is best ).

Sorry to say that, but it's my experience. Last year, my boy was owned by our friends still. He's a big lad and they struggled to find rugs to cover his belly. He was in a rambo sweet itch hoodie, and his belly was red raw, his ears were read raw (as couldn't keep a mask on him that had ears in it and the hoody has none), his sheath was red raw. He was kept in a sheltered paddock next to a stream with lots of tree covering. He was sprayed before rides using a normal shop spray, and they used itch stop all over his scabs. He was in during the day and out at night from March to Sept (when we bought him) due to the midges.

Now we have him. He has a snuggyhoods rug and hood set which covers everywhere except sheath and legs (I bought the legs but they are flippin' USELESS!). I put sudocrem around his sheath area. I had a muzzle guard built into the hood so that it protected his muzzle as well, but I put sudocrem there as it doesn't cover the whole area. I also had a fly fringe built in. There is a built in tail guard and built in ears. He is out 24/7 at the moment (mainly to help my cob, who's resp problems have recently got worse), which has helped him no end as he doesn't get as bored and there's not so much readily available for him to scratch on. He is sprayed once or twice daily using my home fly spray. He has a bath once a week and is plastered in killitch after that bath and one other time a week. He is groomed regularly as loose hair will make him itch more as well. He is in a very open, large field with no natural water source nearby.

In April, I had to go 2 weeks without a rug as the seem was faulty and it had to be fixed (free) by snuggyhoods. During that 2 week period he did develop two very small patches of sweet itch on his belly. Now the rug is back on, these have cleared up. The moment he gets ANY scabs, he is covered in sudocrem in that area to soothe it and to stop any further biting.

Apart from those two little patches he is free of it this year, for the first time since he developed it, aged 3, 4 years ago. The first two years they had him (before they started taking it seriously), he was covered head to toe in scabs and lost lots of hair where he itched. Last year he was better with the rambo but it DID make him sweat up a lot and just looking at him in it made me feel sweaty (the inside is a plasticy material). Last year he also lost about 75% of his tail and it's taken til now for it to grow back). This year he has a full tail and so far, no itching there.

Some people go for the injections. Lanky had them in his last home and they did not work for him but, until this year, he was a particularly severe case. I know it is eatly yet (still 4 months of torture left and worse to come yet) but I am quite proud that the changes I have made, have meant he is much more comfortable and almost sweet itch free!

So in short, get a rug which won't make him sweat if you haven't already, as once you remove the rug and he starts getting bitten (particularly in this damp but muggy weather), you will struggle to get back on top of it.