On 1/30/07, Barbara Sollner-Webb <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Good for you, for working so hard to relieve the miserable itching of > this poor horse. And shame on the vets who say there is nothing to do (and > the owners who believe them)! Many useful articles are on > <www.maineicelandics.org/>.
Yes, the site was wonderful. > You don't say about your fan arrangement, but they seem much more > effective if mounted tummy-height and blowing horizontally, rather than > blowing from above. My SE guy leaves his buddies in the field and walks to > the barn to stand in the breeze for a couple of hours every late afternoon. Fan arrangement is about chest high horizontal. It's the lowest I can safely go. > But gosh, I have never heard of anyone getting headaches from the spray. > Maybe try pure citronella? My testing indicated citronella is the ingredient > in FlyGone that repels the culicoides; however, FlyGone also contains > stabilizers which make the citronella last longer, so we found that pure > citronella required more frequent re-application. Many products that claim > to help with SE suffering seem to do little, when tested. I get migraines from just about any scent. My father and his mother were both like that, so it's just a genetic thing. A trip to the laundromat, party with people that wear perfume, or any strong scents will leave me with a migraine. Thankfully my closest friend gets migraines from strong smells, too! > It is interesting that Benadryl helps relieve itching of this horse; was > it oral or topical treatment? Topical Benadryl had minimal effect on my > SE-guy. Indeed, are you sure it was the Benadryl and not the SDS that was > relieving the itching? Yes, I'm sure. We did Benadryl while the SDS was on it's way. Oral Benadryl, 1 caplet per 100lbs every 8 hours. I dosed her every second or third night so she'd lay down and sleep until she was healed up enough to not be miserable. My vet prescribed Benadryl when my pony got swarmed by yellow jackets years ago, she suffered hives for several years and we controlled them with Benadryl, eventually she got over her sensitivity, though (thankfully). > And, for a horse who is miserable from SE itching despite ones best > efforts, steroids can be warranted. This horse was on Dex and got laminitis within a week of going on 4 different times, so they never knew if it would clear up the skin or not. > Best of luck for the horse (and you) this SE season; please do keep me > informed how it goes. Thank You! Steph -- "Brutality begins where skill ends." "Correctly understood, work at the lunge line is indispensable for rider and horse from the very beginning through the highest levels." Von Niendorff
