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Allergy.

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In the summer from June onwards Canela my Paso Fino mare gets swollen glands and swollen puffy eyes. Remember this is my first summer with her because she was back at the breeders last summer. When I bought her Autumn 2 yrs ago, the lady said she seemed to have an allergy to the fields when the farmer sprayed and I believed her because I could see him doing it nearby, but we don't have farmers doing that near us. So, I think she must have a pollen allergy - any ideas ? Also do you know how to treat this at home, I was think Antihistamine but have no idea what dosage to try her on before I call the vet out. I am also bathing her eyes with tea - this does help, but once again any more ideas would be great. Other than those signs she seems really well in herself which is probably why the breeder ignored it but I can't do that.

lipigirl Tue, 06/16/2009 - 16:13

Since no-one has replied I presume no-one has come accross this before?

supaspot60 Tue, 06/16/2009 - 18:59

I had a pony with sweet itch ( which is an allergy ) my vet told me to use antihistamines , dosage the same as an adult man
have you tried steroids ?

lipigirl Wed, 06/17/2009 - 03:47

I would rather try anything else before steroids, will let you know but will try her on antihistamines then - thanks for the dosage.

Dilutes Wed, 06/17/2009 - 09:13

Could it be grass mumps? I just thought seeing as it is happening in summer. Mmm mind you, when my mare has had it in the past in spring/summer she didn't get puffy eyes. Could something herbal perhaps help her? You could try contacting an equine herablist and seeing if they recommend anything.

Heidi Wed, 06/17/2009 - 11:31

Canela sounds like she is having an allergic reaction which should respond well to an antihistimine the way people do with benadryl.

I think 'sweet itch' is something else, entirely. My Paso mare had 'sweet itch' that the vet and I treated with aggressive fly control on my property and faithful fly-spray applications throughout the day. The vet gave us "Tri-Hist", which is an antihistimine...and it did *absolutely nothing* for Q.

She rubbed her face, crest, neck, shoulders, chest, belly centerline and rump *RAW* every summer....until the last summer I had her, because I accidentally stumbled on "the cure".

The plunger-stop on the paste de-wormer broke and she got the whole dose of ivermectin product. Q was about 700#, so she got almost a double dose, all at once.
She had NO REACTION to bug bites. I think I only fly-sprayed her once every 3-5 days, depending on rain. There was no frantic rubbing and scratching, just calm grazing.

About a month later, I happened to click into a thread on a horse health forum and found someone talking about "Neck Thread Worms" and after reading the description of the symptoms (see Q's above) and the cure (large dose of ivermectin) I understood what the problem/solution cycle was.
Sweet Itch is said to be an allergic reaction to midges, or culicoides gnats...yes, and no.
It isn't the actual midge/gnat-bite that is the problem...it is the LARVAE the midge/gnat leaves in the horse's skin to incubate that is the problem! The NTWs can grow huge, like a foot long, and wiggle from the belly, through the muscles and connective tissue (frantic itching) to the crest of the neck, the buttocks and even up and into the eyes. The large dose of ivermectin kills the larvae/worms and prevents them from causing such maddening itching with their travels.

If anyone suspects their horse of suffering from Sweet Itch, please do a search on Neck Thread Worms, Onchocerca or Culicoides Sensitivity.

ChocoMare is the person whose posts I read about solving the 'sweet itch' problem for Q. Here is a link I found through a Google-search, that leads you to CotH. It is a very long thread.
http://www.chronicleforums.com/Forum/sh…" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sara Thu, 06/18/2009 - 22:17

I'm pretty sure a few of mine have this. I'm going to double up on Ivermectin this week and see what happens.

Jenks Wed, 07/01/2009 - 14:54

I tried this last year for Cyn. It didn't help....Cyn is on Tri-hist and that doesn't help either. He has even become adept at removing his fly mask somehow. And then he scrubs his face all up itching.

Heather Wed, 07/01/2009 - 15:31

200$ you can have a blood allergy panel done , they have you give your location and foods and enviroment and they test accordingly, i vet sent it off and we found out our rash riddled horse was allergic to our species of grass and orange trees!!!! :sad it was fueling his fire.