How To Care For Equines With Sweet Itch Naturally

donkey sitting down

What You Need To Know About Sweet Itch And Your Equine's Health

Sweet Itch is an allergic reaction. It's caused by hypersensitivity to the bite of the Culicoides midge. And also sometimes to an insect from the blackfly family – Simulium Equinum.

Horses, ponies and donkeys who’re affected by these insect bites will experience intense itching, usually on the mane, tail and withers. This itching then leads to them rubbing themselves (or biting themselves if they can reach), to try and get relief. So loss of hair and thickening of the skin usually occurs. The skin may get very sore from the itching. Sweet-itch can make the equine very uncomfortable and distressed.

Not all equines even on the same yard will get Sweet Itch, and it’s not contagious. Sometimes other allergies or skin irritations will occur that have similar symptoms, but aren’t actually sweet itch. So as with any animal health issue, it is important to get a proper diagnosis from your Veterinary Surgeon. Only then can the correct treatment be prescribed.

How to treat Sweet Itch?

Once an equine has had sweet-itch it does tend to reoccur in subsequent years. Careful management of the sweet-itch prone equine is important, particularly trying to stop the insects getting the chance to bite in the first place. This could include:

A good quality fly rug being worn which offers good coverage of the whole body
Applying midge repellents to the skin
Grazing pasture being as well-drained as possible (the midges tend to be more prevalent near water)
Not grazing/stabling near a muckheap

Additionally, ensuring a healthy well-balanced diet, to help maintain a healthy immune system can be helpful for the equine to have the best chance of being able to reduce the allergic reaction.

Can any complementary therapies help manage sweet itch?

Allergies generally occur because the immune system is struggling to cope with an allergen, and so an allergic reaction is triggered. Therefore it can make sense to try and strengthen the immune system, so that it’s not so affected by the allergen. There are several ways that complementary therapies can assist in supporting immunity, including:

Acupuncture

Veterinary Acupuncture has been used with immune health matters, and with equines with sweet itch, so could be helpful. There are several Veterinary Surgeons who have completed specialist training to help animals through the use of acupuncture, and are members of the Association of British Veterinary Acupuncturists.

Animal Aromatics

Essential Oils have been found to be helpful to some equines suffering from Sweet Itch. However, as they can be very powerful, it's recommended that you consult with a qualified equine aromatherapist, who will be able to advise on the most appropriate remedy for your equine.

Bowen Therapy

A holistic and non-invasive therapy that has been used to help equines with sweet itch.

Herbal Feed Supplements

Different herbal supplements can be useful added to the feed, including:

Aloe Vera Gel
Garlic

Homeopathy

There are several homeopathic remedies which could help. Including Sulphur, Arsenicum album and Culicoides Nosode plus others too. However, the best one for your equine will depend specifically on the individual and his/her particular response to the sweet itch. A specialist homeopathic vet will be able to advise you. (More info at the British Association of Homeopathic Veterinary Surgeons.)

How To Use Good Skincare to Manage Sweet Itch

Soothing the skin irritation arising from sweet itch is important. And there are many different skincare products that you can find. My favourite products here are using an Aloe Vera spray, Aloe Vera Gelly or Aloe with Bee Propolis. (you can email me for more information on buying these)

Which approach will work best?

Every equine is different – some will experience sweet itch more severely than another, and some will respond to a treatment more quickly and more effectively than how another horse, pony or donkey will.

So if you know of an equine who has had his/her sweet itch improve through a particular intervention, although it may work for your own animal, it may not. The reverse is also true – a treatment may help your equine, that hasn’t helped another – even in the same yard, so it’s worth keeping an open mind to find the best solution for your animal!

As with all complementary therapies do seek the advice of your Vet first before using. A therapist will always need your Vet's permission before treating your animal, and regular liaison between the two professionals can often bring greater results to your animal's health anyway.

Other information / Resources

Like advice on where to find a therapist for your animal? Email us at info@taranet.co.uk - we're happy to help!

Get more information on how to help care for your animal holistically by having a look through our holistic care for animals advice pages:

Holistic Care for Animals by Taranet