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Topic: Hives/allergies question (Read 2078 times)
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Elizabeth
FEI
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Posts: 177
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My four year old mare, Delilah, has always been sensitive to bugs. It is common for her to have bite marks and areas of local swelling. Two years ago, I purchased a super expensive fly sheet for her, which she managed to destroy in three days.
Yesterday, I left work early, was having a terrible day, and went to the barn about two hours earlier than I normally do. Well, as I pulled into the drive I saw that Delilah was trotting the fence (her and Holly share a four acre pasture with a run-in shed and automatic waterer). Usually the two just lounge around near the shed or graze. Holly was in the shed as Delilah was trotting. I saw that Delilah had worked up quite a sweat. I parker the truck, and walked up to the pasture, SHOCKED to see Delilah literally covered in hives, concentrated all over her head, neck, shoulders, and up to about the middle of her back. Her haunches looked more or less okay. However, she was also covered in black flies, probably several hundred. I grabbed her out of the pasture, and swatted most of the flies off. They were just attached all over her poor body. I rushed her down to the barn, hosed her off, doused her in fly spray, and put her in a stall with hay to rest. I called the vet, spoke with the tech, and told her what had happened. Of course, Holly was fine. She had a few bite marks, but nothing much.
The vet tech called back, said she spoke with a vet, who said to give hose her off (check), fly spray her (check), and pick up Banamine - give her a dose that day and one the following day. So, I drove to the farm store, purchased a new fly sheet, new leg fly wraps, a new fly bonnet, two dewormers (the kind that kills everything, tapeworms included) and then picked up the Banamine from the vet. I gave Delilah the Banamine, and put her back in the stall. I rode Holly, then dewormed both mares and put Holly back in the pasture and left Delilah in the stall. By the time I left the barn (about five hours after I discovered Delilah in the pasture in trouble), the hives were noticably reduced. I called the vet to cancel the visit for today.
I called to check on Delilah this morning (have a deposition scheduled for tomorrow so could not take the day off), and Steve the barn hand said she was doing fine in the stall. A few horses and the barn owner with her kids are away at a show in MI for the next two weeks, so the space was not a problem. Normally, the barn is full. The barn does have an automatic fly spray system which I hated until yesterday. Steve told me that a kid mowed the mare pasture yesterday (the day of the breakout) and might have hit a hornet's nest or yellow jacket nest of some sort. He questioned the kid, who said that he didn't. However, the pasture was really overgrown, so is there a chance that maybe he did hit a nest and the wasps attached Delilah, who is probably allergic?
What is my next step? We've had some horribly hot weather which broke today, and I was thinking of leaving Delilah in the stall through tomorrow, just to let her fully recover. I have another dose of Banamine to give her tonight, as well. Normally I fly spray her every other day, but she went about five days without spray before yesterday. We had such hot weather I did not work either mare from Thursday to Tuesday. Should I just have paid better attention to keeping her sprayed? As I said, Holly was fine, nothing at all, only about 3 bites on her when I took her in to ride her. It is okay for Delilah to be in the barn while the others are away at a show, but I don't know what to do if we have this problem again while everyone is at home. I'm sure we'll get some more extremely hot weather in the near future. So, any ideas anyone, as to what caused this? I have never, ever seen Delilah so covered in hives/bites before yesterday. Has anyone had similar problems? I know that the owner of Delilah's full sister, who I lost contact with, had similar problems with sensitivity to bites.
ALSO, I have a hormones question. Delilah received a progesterone shot a few weeks ago, because the barn owner thought it would make her easier to work with. She came into heat last Wednesday, exactly three weeks after she received the shot. Could that have something to do with increased sensitivity to bugs? I do NOT intend to ever give her, or allow anyone else to give her, another hormone shot without a truly valid reason. But, are there any other side effects I should be aware of?
Thanks!
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Elizabeth
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Joy
ata
Old Hand
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Posts: 1,270
I love Trakehners!
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I had a mare who was allergic to everything, and we tried everything to help her. She used to get hives as big as my hand, and was on a medication that the vet prescribed. Shortly after that, I started studying homeopathy, and then moved from the dry West to the wet and buggy East. The first day here, my mare got a few fly bites and blew up like a balloon. I called every vet in the phone book and no one would come out because I wasn't "in their territory", and I wasn't a regular client. Frantic, because I wondered if she was going to die on me--her respiration was very labored--I gave her Apis melifica, a homepathic remedy that matched her symptoms, and WATCHED the hives go down. In two hours, she was hive free and she never had another hive.
The point of the story is that if you have a homeopathic vet, or veterinary homeopath in your area, give them a call, because they may be able to help your horse in a way that a conventional vet ony dreams of.
In the meantime, the Banamine only suppresses the hives, but does nothing for the underlying cause. From the information you gave, if it were my horse I'd give her Apis 30C next time she had a hive attack. It's inexpensive and safe, and costs about $6.00, and will not interact with any of the allopathic meds.
Elizabeth, if you decide you want to try the homepathic route, email me and I'll help you find someone in your area.
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fuzzy
Guest
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Elizabeth, Delilah's mom was/is a bit thin-skinned, but never like that - I wonder - have you tried spot-on bug control? A friend of mine swears by it. I haven't tried it yet, but will with my gelding. He's a half brother to Delilah, but has never had more than just a few bug-bite marks (just lots of horse-bite marks!  ). I don't know if her full brother has had any problems in that dept, but I can ask if you like. He belongs to friends of mine.
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Elizabeth
FEI
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Posts: 177
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Fuzzy, Holly is also Delilah's half-sibling and never had problems, it is just Delilah. She is doing a lot better now, and seems to be really happy about her fly sheet and fly leg wraps. However, the sheet already has two small holes in it and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will last through the summer.
I started using a new fly spray this summer, by the same makers of Calf-Manna, and it works great. It is a residual, and I think I just need to be careful to apply it regularly for Delilah. She was back out in the pasture full-time yesterday and looked good, didn't even have any flies on her. The heat finally broke, so that probably had something to do with it.
I'm going to email Joy about the homeopathic route, because I hate over-medicating. I really should have never agreed to allow them to give Delilah progesterone. Heats and seasonal moodiness is just part of being a mare owner!!!
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Elizabeth
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Beckie
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Gold Medallist
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Posts: 271
I LOVE Trakehners!
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I have a few dark horses that have real reactions to bugs. I never use cheap or "natural" fly spray but I only use it when it is hot and the flies are out. (Frankly, when I lived in Georgia, the bugs were the size of birds and you had to have the "good stuff" to get them.) Out here in CA, I add a lot of oil to feed for the horses that have fly problems and also let them roll as much as possible, even if it means wetting them down and then letting them roll. For some reason, while they are dirty, the flies are less of a problem and I have fewer allergic reactions. The few extra minutes to clean them up before I ride is less time than it takes each day to treat hives! One of my mares is also allergic to certain fly sprays, so I use Flysect Super C only and never overapply.
Just my experience..... hope your girl feels better.
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fuzzy
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Elizabeth, an article in the new Equus is astory about a mare whose "in heat" stuff was helped by marbles stuck in her uterus. Sounds wierd, but supposedly "tricks" the mare's system into making her more agreeable/consistent.
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Elizabeth
FEI
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Posts: 177
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Well, everyone, I think we figured out what happened. Apparently, a kid (14?) mowed the pasture housing Holly and Delilah, they got to running, and the kid hit a wasp's nest. So, Delilah got stung quite a few times. Steve, the weekday barn manager, questioned this kid three times about what happened until he finally admitted, "Well, maybe I did hit a wasp's nest in the field."
So, that explains the mysterious break-out. That is ALSO how Holly managed to seriously scrape up her left haunch (which I previously blamed on Delilah).
Now that the grass is short, hopefully we will not have a repeat of this incident. Separately, we do have our house for sale and already have people calling the realtor to look at it. So, there is a good chance we will be at a new barn before the pasture needs mowing again!
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Elizabeth
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Joy
ata
Old Hand
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Posts: 1,270
I love Trakehners!
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Good news all around! BTW, Apis is an excellent remedy for bee and wasp stings as well. 
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