Fly allergy is making her belly raw! - Health & Supplements - Health & Supplements - Horse Community, Horse Pictures, Horse Forum and Information

Posted : 8/28/2009 1:58:20 PM

So, I just started leasing a new horse. She is a 14 year old QH/Belgian cross who suffers from a pretty bad fly allergy. The flies drive her nuts all over her body, but the effects are only seen on her belly. She doesn't have the usual raw spots on her back or tail from scratching. She has a line, right down the center of her belly, that is a total mess. She uses her back feet to swat at the flies and is making the sores worse. The owners have tried every fly spray known to man and nothing seems to help much. They try to spray her several times a day and they apply SWAT to her belly liberally each morning (poor girl has pink globs on her back feet from kicking at her belly!) I've seen other posts here talk about flax seed. I'm not sure if they have already tried anything like that. Their vet has been out to see her several times and doesn't offer much hope other than to wait fly season out and try to keep her comfortable.

Any other suggestions? Also, I want to be sure that when I'm working with her, the sores are being properly cared for so they don't become infected. Anyone have any good recommendations for cleaning and caring for them? I know the owners have tried everything they can think of but I hope there might be something I can find to give her a little bit of relief. She's such a sweet girl I hate to see the flies drive her so crazy!

PeggySue

Posted : 8/28/2009 4:10:29 PM

Tri Tech 14 or Endure fly spray twice daily HEAVY on her

You can also give her 25mg per 250lbs of BW of benadryl twice daily average of 4 pills twice daily

sounds like vential midline deminitis

KikisMom

Posted : 8/28/2009 4:50:53 PM

Thanks! I searched that term and found a ton of good information. Nothing that tells me how to definitively stop the problem but some good tips for alleviating the symptoms.

PeggySue

Posted : 8/28/2009 5:01:06 PM

DIet plays a BIG roll in allergies as well.. if you can lower the sugars and starches alot of times the reaction will go away you also want to BALANCE the nutrition which helps for a stronger immune system

you want HIGH nutrition lower NSC

danastark

Posted : 8/28/2009 11:46:13 PM

Must be something tasty about that drafty blood! The gnats, no seeums, midges or whatever they are is what causes the ventral issues with my draft cross. They come out at sunset/dusk. He does the same thing, kicks at his belly button until he's raw but it doesn't sound as bad as your girl. Our paint gelding is really allergic to flies and the flax meal has made more of a difference with him than anything else we've tried (cortisone shots, fly spray, SWAT, fed him scads of garlic, spirulina (seaweed) wafers). Your poor girl ':('

I do like Tri Tech fly spray or Ultra Shield. They seem to work the best. If you go to Rural Heritage Vet Supply they have a recipe for fly spray, I haven't tried it yet: http://ruralheritage.com/vet_clinic/fly_spray.htm

KikisMom

Posted : 8/31/2009 11:58:06 AM

Thanks! She seemed a bit better this weekend. I gave her a bath yesterday and cleaned the mud from her belly. It definately wasn't as raw as it was last week. I did send her own the info on flax seed and they have started her on it. Fingers crossed that it gives her some relief. The weather is starting to get cooler so I'm hopeful that she'll have a break from the flies soon!

danastark

Posted : 9/1/2009 4:37:47 AM

Hope it works out for her. Make sure they give her the ground flax meal, not the whole seeds. They are too small and don't get chewed up well, just pass through wasting $. I get mine cheap at a warehouse store that sells bulk called Winco. It's much more expensive at feed stores.

KikisMom

Posted : 9/3/2009 5:10:27 PM

Her owner ordered the flax meal last week, I'm not sure when she started using it. Mercifully, the weather has been much better out here, slighly cooler temps and no humidity. Her belly look 100 times better last night! She doesn't seem as annoyed by the flies this week so I'm hoping relief is on the way.

Summer

Posted : 9/14/2009 6:28:45 AM

I hate SWAT. It is worthless if you ask me. I would try Watkins Carbolic salve. For one thing it is thick enough to STAY on her tummy, for another it is thick enough to protect her from the flies. It is a salve and promotes healing of the raw spots, something that SWAT does not do.

Look in the phone book for Watkins dealers.