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THINK MY ELDERLY MARE may have mange but can t see mites. can see what look like lice but no eggs. could this be a mixed panacea? can see crusty exudate and possible burrows. she s running with a wild stallion, i mistook the scabs for stallion markings when serving her. i feel terrible about my error but the no eggs completely confused me. please help. do you have a picture of the mange mite?
Optional Information: Name of Horse: daisy Already Tried: neem oil. also yesterday in good weather i completely saturated her in omega oil with some lavender and tea tree. she s no longer scratching i could keep this up if apropriate. if i need something to penetrate the burrows heard vingar and then to kill eggs borax powder - but might the oil strategy overwhelm the hatchlings too? the insect present has suffocated.
Hi, I'm Dr. Jill. Lice are definitely visible to the naked eye, but mites are so small a low-power microscope is often needed to see them. Thankfully most treatments that work on one work on the other. A variety of shampoos and sprays are available, but probably the simplest is to treat with ivermectin, and then treat again in 2 weeks (any formulation approved for horses should be effective).
The best way to confirm the diagnosis is have your vet do a skin scraping and look at this under a microscope to identify if and what parasites are present.
Other issues such as bacterial or fungal infection can also be present, especially if there's crusting and exudate. Fungal infections are also common in horses and require clipping, multiple baths with an anti-fungal treatment (such as a shampoo containing chlorhexidine, to give 1 example), and keeping the area as dry as possible.
All horses and equipment used on them should be treated/disinfected.
If there are lumps in the skin with holes and creatures living under the skin, this would also be a different issue (warbles, maggots, etc.)
thanks! been advised by vet that its lice and the alopecia is just were she s started scratching against trees etc. very relieved. he suggested louse powder which i ve now got and will read instructions. prob need to get a mask and gloves. not looking forward to this! i covered the raw area with sudacrem mostly to protect from sun tho no factor in it at least theres a physical barrier and any soreness she may be feeling is relieved.
next prob is how to deal with the wild stallion who reg serves her and of course will also need treating. vet does n't do darting. how am i going to catch him...!? its just the two of them but should i dust the fence posts and even the trees?
am wondering about containing him in a small area feeding him and just throwing powder over him like a dust bomb.
i wonder if there are any horse whisperer types who might fancy helping so he can be handled? do you know anyone near swansea?
don t understand why i can t see eggs. how are the lice reproducing i wonder. thank you for getting back to me..
ok yes something oral was thinking that! have ordered a homeopathic remedy with sulphur in which apparently does work for chorioptic mange in foxes. the company havejust accepted a large order for cattle based on successful experiment! but meantime i ve powdered daisy up. do i leave it on? surrounding areas ... do you mean in the pasture, fence posts etc? my vet advised against ivermectin... he knows i like natural things were poss but you just can t ignore lice.. they don t go away spontaneously do they... the sulphur principle is one of repulsion using bodies increased immunity. poor daisy is in very bad condition so i understand why she got it plus exacerbated by rugging during rain, as my farrier pointed out. the stallion funnily though is looking good but i ll have to treat him. what is the objection to ivermectin i must ask my vet i m anti it in wormer and use herbal with poo testing. must org a test buthave to wait 21 days. another aside ... retailer who sells the herbal wormer is cautionary about tapeworm so i bought pramox but have n't used. herbal retailer suggests double dose spring and autumn for tapeworm. She always has a bit of a belly.. welsh cob so diff to tell and tworm efficacy does n't show in poo test results so don t know on that one will ask company again. things had been going well with low faecal egg counts. i had to move daisy due to lamintis from cow grass she s now on sparse grazing but its a bit too sparse and i more or less have to feed fully. would like to clarify eactly what she needs but have started grain with some trepidation but her condition is just so poor all of a sudden. she had been brill and had beat the lamin. what have you got? i love the pic is that the states is that where you're mailing from? best wishes.
Experience: Large animal veterinarian and horse owner.
how long should i leave the powder on? what is the longest pos extent of the life cycle of the louse? thinking leave on til all eggs will have hatched then shampooing the oil and powder off and using a repellant shampoo?
Most eggs hatch within 10 or 11 days, so I recommend treating to kill all the adults, and then treating again 2 weeks after that to kill the newly hatched lice.
so in principle i 've killed the adults. in two weeks time i should treat again with another product or powder? I have just got something which kills the eggs apparently. its called skinny spray by 'myitchydog' will let you know how i get on.
Yup...the idea behind 2 treatments 2 weeks apart is that you kill the adults the first time but not the eggs, and then you kill the eggs that have hatched the second time stopping the life cycle. If you have a product that kills eggs, 1 treatment may be effective...but might be worth a couple treatments just to be safe...lice are talented at hiding :). Good luck!
thanks. i agree it would be wise to repeat treat but at mo she still has powder on. was thinking that this would create a hostile enviroment to emergent parasites?is this a reasonable strategy in your opinion? I might in the alternative shampoo and clean her up ...tho her initial look, rather like pegusas coming out of a bomb site, is rather growing on me! she s always liked getting grubby and rolling in the dirt. her forte was pre show when deciding to risk not rugging her up was rewarded with the sight of an unrecognisable thing covered in mud coming towards me with a definite grin on her face.she gets so dirty she s clean again.. if you know what i mean! its sort of going that way now and i don t know if i'm imagining it but she seems to be scratching less. am just worrying the powder could be an irritant - though i did oil her first and am continuing with sudacrem applications to the raw areas. that s holding up well and the soreness is improving quite rapidly i think. there maybe new hair growth already but i don 't want to disturb the protective layer remaining to investigate too much. there are however new raw areas appearing but they are smaller. could this be fresh lice?anyway if i was to shampoo her i would apply this natural product which is alleged to kill the eggs - how do i find them? - and i might do this over the weekend. unless you think there s a benefit in leaving the powder on for the remaining period ... its been 3 days on already...but i ve got help this weekend if a wash is appropriate (its a hike to a hosepipe) and would surely be nice for her in this good weather. Where are the eggs generally hidden?
hello?
Sorry for the delay...just getting back online again since my last response.It wouldn't surprise me if the powder is irritating...after 3 days it should have had it effect and you should be fine to wash it off. Theoretically if both horses have been treated along with places the lice could be hiding and the powder is labeled to kill eggs and adults, you should be fine then. I would watch the sores for signs of maggot infestation or lack of healing (habronema is another problem they can get from flies...can cause wounds to not heal. If any eggs were not affected they may hatch in the coming week or so...so I'd keep a close eye on her and re-treat if you see any additional lice. If it were me, I'd probably re-treat anyway just to be on the safe side. Eggs are on the hair close to the skin but can be on various parts of the body including under the mane. The cream will hopefully help any raw areas heal faster.If the lice are gone, she should be less itchy...so this is a good sign!Sounds like things are going in the right direction! Hopefully she'll get a nicer looking coat coming in soon :).
thank you for this mention of habronema. is this an internal worm? or a fly? have n't heard of it so thought perhaps a USA issue. Are you USA based? However read the wormer I'd bought but not given for tapeworm. mentions habronema. gave it instead of double dose of herbal wormer which treats tapeworm per advice of vet s company that sell it.still worried about how to treat the stallion. been giving the homeopathic med but wonder about the ivermectin orally that you recommended. He s rounded up more mares now so i'm worried about a spread. i may have treated my mare in time and he may not have been affected but if he was theres now a new herd to consider. should i give them all ivermectin prophilactily? what is the brand name for the oral form you mentioned please?