itchy pony. could it be feed?

[wills]

Ive noticed over the past couple of weeks my wee shettie has become incredibly itchy. Hes not moulting and only change to his routine has been a feed change to simple system Wondering if he is allergic to this? So should I cut one thing out and see what happens? How long would it take to stop irrirating if it is feed? Or would you go down a different route if it was yours?

[jill]

You could stop all new feeds, but with the mild weather the grass is beginning to grow - could it be that? Otherwise stop the SS until he stops itching and then reintroduce one new thing at a time and see how it affects him? It might be coincidence but Sabria began itching when she has AlfaA, and SS uses quite a lot of alfalfa (or to give it its other name, lucerne, e.g lucibix)

[marychick]

Could be the feed- has he got any lumps under the skin? Often when it's an allergy there are little lumps, almost like a rash?

Or could be the warmer weather causing him to sweat a bit? May even have some sort of bacterial skin infection as a result? This is what happened to my friends mini shettie recently and she started to get bald patches from all the itching. Hope you get to the bottom of it x

[clara81]

Has he got lice?

[rosemaryhannah]

Given how mild Scotland has been for the last two weeks, my money is on lice - the right kind of conditions for them, I fear.

[specialized]

Alfalfa can be responsible for skin issues and that, along with generally high protein levels in SS could be the root of the problem. Simple solution (no pun intended) would be removal from the feed to see what happens, but sometimes once these reactions have been triggered they can take a while to settle.

[wills]

Jan 2, 2013 15:41:14 GMT 1 clara81 said:

Has he got lice?

Im wondering about that to. His wee pal isnt itchy at so I would have thought he would be to if it was lice? I hope it isnt would be a nightmare treating with those coats.

I cant see anything or feel any lumps/bumps. Will have Nother dig theough his coat tonight

[clara81]

I've always found that they get lice if they have a particular type of coat- the course flat coats don't get them but the fluffy cat-like coats do. I once bought a mare in poor condition who was riddled with them and ever after I couldn't get rid of them from certain ponies, but others never got them at all and it seemed to be the coat type. They were all Welsh Mountain Ponies.

[poppyandbea]

could be feed as poppys got allergys to all cereals and sugar beet

[jen1]

Its biting louse season , good luck finding them, arm pit usually give them away , no bigger than a pin prick , with a fiant orange centre some are the colour of weak tea, sometimes if there pretty bad your better off damping shoulders, and looking out for a scum, have a search lots of info on here, 1 thing I am good at , lol, is louse spotting o anf inbetween back legs is a good place to look, x

[sarahbing]

Lucerne is used clinically as part of an elimination diet when identifying the reasons for itchyness so it is very unlikely to be the reason. Many people get confused between crude protein and digestible protein, and again, the digestable protein in SS is unlikely to be the cause unless you are feeding over 2.5% bodyweight a day. Having gone into this subject in some detail the only way to find out is to have subdermal skin tests done (by a vet)and find what your horse is reacting to - there are so many variables that us suggesting various possibles won't help.

[clara81]

Jan 4, 2013 0:37:01 GMT 1 jen1 said:

Its biting louse season , good luck finding them, arm pit usually give them away , no bigger than a pin prick , with a fiant orange centre some are the colour of weak tea, sometimes if there pretty bad your better off damping shoulders, and looking out for a scum, have a search lots of info on here, 1 thing I am good at , lol, is louse spotting o anf inbetween back legs is a good place to look, x

Lol I'm good at spotting lice too- my favourite place is behind the ears, but not in a huge giraffe-style beast obviously!

[wills]

Thanks all. It is the dreaded lice After much coat digging etc I was sure it was and vet confirmed. Following vet advice just now for treating them, but never dealt aith lice before so suggestions welcome ;D

[poppyandbea]

its worth watching grooming kits and all other thinks like that too as well as treating him glad you have got to the bottom of it the old boy i looked after had them when i started looking after him but he had cushings and coat so think i treated him but also clipped and rugged him as was easier as his coat was so thick , i know you can get a shampoo but i used the powder,
glad you have got to the bottom of it

[clara81]

Oh dear, well at leat you know now! I use Lincoln louse powder which says do not use on animals. It works, all the others just smell of flowers. Vet recommended Deosect but it's pretty expensive and my pony's coat is so thick she'd be soaked for hours lol! You need to treat every two weeks as that's how long the eggs take to hatch. Good luck!!