Sweet Itch Treatments

Effective treatment of  sweet itch in horses depends on the severity of your horses condition.

Steroids and antihistamines might be used in severe cases, but there are side effects to both. Due to the light sedation occasional behavioural and personality changes have been observed in horses treated this way, so careful consideration is needed prior to using this type of therapy.

Your vet may suggest you apply a topical medication, corticosteroid creams or injections to reduce the inflammation. This will only help relieve some of the itchiness and pain, but it will not help with the cause.

Management of sweet itch focuses on symptomatic treatment and preventative strategies. Soothing washes of calendula or aloe vera, calamine lotion or other herbal preparations may help calm inflamed and itchy areas, but will not prevent midge bites.

Prevention is really the best solution for sweet itch where possible.

Midges or sand flies are most active at dawn and dusk particularly on mild, humid and windless days so try to keep your horse stabled or under shelter during these hours. Midges also love rotting vegetation found in wooded areas and still pools of water. Try to graze affected horses in dry open areas that are more exposed to wind and breezes. Special sweet itch rugs that cover the horse from head to tail, will help in protecting your horse from midge bites.

Anyone who has had a horse with this condition will know that it is not fun to deal with. There are numerous products on the market for it's treatment, but as many of us have found, what works on one particular horse may not work on another.

You may also find that what seemed to work previously is now no longer effective. Often it is matter of trialing different methods solutions to see what will work.

These are some of the common treatments that different people use for Sweet Itch, some more unusual than others!

Suggested Treatments for Sweet Itch

• Many people rug their horses all year round, use cotton or shade-cloth rugs when it is hot. This may be enough, in some cases, to stop your horse getting itchy.

• Stabling of horses at dawn and dusk and the use of fans at these times will severely reduce the number of Cullicoides midges gaining access to the horses skin.

• Wash horse at least once a week with a medicated shampoo like Malaseb - this will kill any bacteria living on the skin. Other people have had success bathing the horse using cool water and colloidal oatmeal shampoos.

• Spray your horses with Permoxin  or another insect repellent twice daily. You can use a commercial product such as Fly Away or herbal products. There are also products such as Brute that other people have found effective. If this is still not working you can use a pour on insect repellent like Swift.  Careful note should be paid to the final concentration of permethrin in the product as many products do not contain sufficiently high concentrations of permethrin, and others contain pyrethrin, which is four time less effective than permethrin.

• Be cautious when using insect repellents as they can cause further allergic reactions and they can also cause irritation to broken skin.

• Cover lesions with an antibacterial ointment such as White Healer.

• Another method of treatment that people have found effective is to have a 50/50 mix of apple cider vinegar and olive oil added with bi-carb soda to make it into a paste. This is applied to the affected area every two days. 

• Others use a mix of 1 teaspoon of copper sulphate and 1 tablespoon of cider vinegar in a litre of warm water which is applied daily to the affected areas.These mixtures not only provide a soothing effect for the itching but when applied regularly, will form a barrier against further bites. These treatments should be used in conjunction with rugging.

• Apply small amounts of Avon's 'Skin So Soft' bath oil to the most vulnerable areas. Apply menthol products, such as Vick's VapoRub or a cheaper generic version, to susceptible areas. Another favourite deterrent is baby oil, liberally applied to the root of the mane and tail.

• A friend of mine says a daily heaping teaspoon of aspirin powder helps some sweet-itch sufferers "miraculously," so you can give that a try.

• Add cider vinegar to your horses feed. Feed the horse about 2 tablespoons of garlic powder two times a day to make his sweat smell like garlic to repel the flies.

• I also found this unusual treatment on the internet. You may have heard that many people eat marmite on toast before going out in the country ,due to the flies, and it apparently works with horses too! The writer has a horse with sweet itch and she found that rugging didn't really help so she tried putting some diluted marmite in her horse's feed and her horse's condition really improved!

• Supplementing the horses diets with Essential Fatty Acids (EFA) has increased in popularity in recent years as a cure for Sweet Itch. Whilst the jury is still out on the effectiveness of this treatment, many cases of insect hypersensitivity have been shown to benefit from using a daily supplementation with EFA (Megaderm®).

• Another writer swears by Extra Virgin Coconut Oil which you you can buy from most health food stores. The best stuff will be in solid state under 21deg. Just pour on and work into skin gently over the top of the scabs, no need to pick at them, do this once a day over all affected areas... within 2-3 days the scabs will literally fall off at the slightest touch and within 7 days your horse will have a new covering of hair like it never happened...Its like magic, no fuss, the horse love the taste, lol, and it is cheap and easy to apply.

As I said earlier what works for one horse does not always work for another but there are a number Sweet Itch treatments here to try. I hope you find some suggestions amongst these that work for you and your horse. Please feel free to share your own suggestions or methods that have worked for you to the Comments below.