Scratching feathers off back feet

[Bleifuss]

Hi,

We have a shie horse mare, 17 hh in Australia.  We have treated her for all mites and anyhing else that might make her itch.. but she still itches her back feathers off on her back feet. 

How do I stop her itching.  Can I wrap her feet in bandages to stop her rubbing her feathers off?

She is currently housed in a 20 acre paddock.

Kath

[HappyJack]

Hi Bleifuss,

your Shire is in Australia - your Forum Languages is german and you writes in english - wou 

your paddock is 20 acre ? (20 arce = 8 Hektar for one Horse)

[Max&Moritz]

our shire scratched off the feathers of his back feet too for a long time. one day somebody told us something about "sebacil". we washed his legs two times with it and he stopped scratching. half a year later he started scratching again and so we washed again - he stopped since today.

[Bleifuss]

Hi again,

My husband comes from Luebeck and therefore he has sent up this account for me.. I had just had him fix the settings so now I can post by myself, as my Deutsch is just terrible...

We have a 20 acre paddock for our shire horse mare.  This is not a lot of land in australia.. the lady next door has 700 acres for her two horses to live in.. we don't have lovely green lush grass like in Germany, so they need more room to graze. A 20 acres block of land costs about 250 thousand AUS.. I don't know exactly what that is in Euro.

What is this sebical that you put on the feet?  Would it be availabe in Australia?  We live in Brisbane, Queensland.

[HappyJack]

... A 20 acres block of land costs about 250 thousand AUS.. I don't know exactly what that is in Euro.

250 thousand AUD = 150 thousand Euro

[Bleifuss]

is that alot in Germany?

We grow water mellons and mangoes that our shire horse eats... she loves them

[watson]

Hi Bleifuss,

Sebacil is a good and efficient stuff....you´ve got to take care about your skin.... for human beings it´s important to wear gloves.

Your "Deutsch" is lousy? Just like "the Deutsch" of most Germans - so don´t worry...

Kind regards

Watson

[Bleifuss]

I will have to search on the internet and see if I can get it here..

[watson]

Hi,

http://www.animalhealth.bayerhealthcare.com/279.0.html

Kind regards

Watson

[Jedi]

Hi Kath,

We live in Toora Victoria Australia.  When we bought our first two Shires, they came to us with shocking heels.  We were told it was "just" greasy heel and to wash them in Nucidol.  One horse cleared up in a fortnight.  The other mare showed no improvement.  For 19 months we did everything that any Shire owner suggested.  The vets also treated her with penicillin, cortisone, and recommended various washes.  Still no improvemment.  We finally told the vet that we had to have a biopsy done.  That biopsy showed that the problem was a particular bacterium that is unaffected by nearly all antibiotics, because it is a "negtive" bacterium "Pseudomona" (you can look it up on the web).  Our horse was prescribed Ilium neocort cream, a combination of Neomycin and cortisone. We were told to apply a thin layer of the cream for 14 days.  Within 3 days our mare's sores had all cleared up and she was finally out of discomfort.
Regards, John and Terry

[Jedi]

Hi Kath and Peter,

Fenswood Lady Helen is the dam of our beloved Wyee Queen of Hearts, so we're keen to help you get hr out of discomfort.  So, further to our earlier posting, I've listed here all the options that were provided to us by our vets and other breeders.

As advised, Chloe's problems persisted despite us trying everything listed below over a 19 month period.  After cortisone, penicillin and every other remedy suggested by the vet and every other breeder didn't work, the vet agreed to do a biopsy.  That's when th eIlium Neocort cream was prescribed and our precious Chloe was finally out of discomfort and all the sores on her heels had healed.  Life being what it is, she literally dropped dead a month later (19th January), but at least she had that month without the constant annoyance of the itching.
 
Contributions to Chloe's incurable itch included:
 
·         Ivermec cattle drench, diluted about 100ml to a bucket of water.  Ivermec isn?t rated for horses.  Don?t ever pour it on a horse, but bathe Helen?s feet, including all the feathers and under the heels, in the diluted solution and leave to dry without rinsing.

·         Ivermec worm paste smeared thickly under the heels and around the coronet.  An expensive option, given the size of the Ivermec paste syringe.

·         Chlorine bleach solution with water (same method as for Ivermec above).
 
·         Malawash, diluted according to directions on the can.
 
·         the dog shampoo that contains benzoil peroxide (about 5% as I recall); the shampoo's available from vets,

I'd try Malawash and the dog shampoo first, as they're in appropriate size containers and at a more proportionate cost than Ivermec drench, which comes in a much larger container but at a price of about $55 for the smallest available container.
 
·         We also used the wash that's available from saddleries (125ml bottle, clear bottle, orange liquid) that promises to clear greasy heel up within 48 hours; it?s called something like Equine Health.
 
·         Nucidol (before it was taken off the market because it was found to be highly toxic to humans).

·         Frontline spray ($100 for the large bottle). We still syringe it onto our horses? feathers once a month, as a mite prevention measure.  We syringe it because when I tried to spray it on Queenie she kicked back so hard that she smashed the container (luckily not my arm, wrist or face on that occasion).
 
·         Pharma white oil (available from Caltex service stations, by order).  Theory of the white oil is that its viscosity smothers mites.  It?s also used to keep feathers clean by having dust etc. collect on the surface oil rather than penetrate the feathers.
 
·         Pestene powder,
 
·         Diluted disinfectant
 
·         ZPII and Cedel dandruff shampoo.
 
·         Dectomax, a cattle rated injectable drench.  I hate giving injections under any circumstances and will only do so when the vet instructs me too.  Dectomax costs about $200 from produce stores, such as Landmark/Murray Goulburn etc.) A couple of our fellow breeders swear by it as it?s apparently used widely in the UK now, even though it?s ?off label? and not supposed to be use on horses under any circumstances.

Regards, John and Terry

[Bleifuss]

thanks for that Terry and John,

I will give it a try on her.

Kath and Peter