Equine Summer Eczema
Typically, as summer months are present, culicoides gnats begin to emerge. These culicoides gnats are invasive to horses and their bites can cause damaging allergic reactions and extreme skin inflammation called Summer Eczema. Follow these management and preventive measures to keep your horse healthy.
Causes of Summer Eczema
Summer Eczema, also known as “sweet itch”, is an inflammation of the skin that can be caused by both internal and external factors. Summer Eczema usually occurs between the months of April and October, or whenever the first culicoides gnats emerge.
Just as horses are sensitive to the allergens in the air because of their proneness to respiratory problems, horses can also gain allergies to insect bites, especially gnats. Culicoides gnats are known to feed on horse’s blood during the hot months and their bites are known to cause allergic reactions. Culicoides gnats are attracted to their hosts by smell, heat, and sight. They will bite any exposed skin even if it has already been cut and bitten into.
Symptoms
The symptoms of Summer Eczema, in the beginning, include mild itching. During the outbreak, the symptoms will continue to worsen as your horse begins to chafe and scratch itself up against trees, its stall, etc. Your horse will begin to show patchy, irritated, and blotchy red skin that is very sensitive to touch. It is common for these inflamed crusts to dry up and bleed. Constant scratching can cause hair loss and ridges in their skin.
With continuous exposure to these gnats without correct management, wet lesions will form causing extreme discomfort and possible vulnerability to harmful bacteria. It's very important to take immediate action during every season to avoid this kind of outbreak.
Management
When managing an outbreak of this “sweet itch” it is suggested that you take precautions by stabling your horse during the night when the gnats are at their peak. Placing a fan inside their stall can also be beneficial as the increased airflow will deter gnats from biting because biting gnats usually have weaker wings.
Preventative Measures
Some great preventative measures that every horse owner should pay attention to is to protect your equine friends by using Equine Medical and Surgical Associates’ RK Topical Spray. This spray should be used twice a day, once in the morning and for a second time at dusk. RK Spray will repel and kill gnats, flies, mosquitoes, and ticks.
You can also use our Summer Eczema Oral Supplement to help soothe your horses irritated skin. This supplement is made of natural herbs to support your horse's immune system to stop the itch. For active cases this should be used twice a day for thirty days, and for maintenance it should be used once a day for sixty days.
Topical Medical Treatments For Summer Eczema
In combination with our prevention and management products, we also provide topical treatments that should be used on your horse during a Summer Eczema outbreak.
For active summer eczema cases, Sore No More Classic Shampoo is a 32-oz herbal, all-natural shampoo that helps reduce itchy skin and heal sensitive, damaged skin. It promotes the reduction of bacterial count, removes crusts, and helps cool inflamed skin. Additionally, it reduces gnat bites by decreasing the urine attraction that brings gnats to your horse. We recommend using it three times a week for four weeks.
Vetasan ointment is a one-pound container of antiseptic chlorhexidine ointment. It is a topical that helps heal open wounds and rubbed damaged skin/scrapes seen in active summer eczema cases. It is an antibacterial ointment designed to soothe skin and stop the itch. We recommend using it 3 times a week for four weeks after you wash the horse in Sore No More shampoo in active cases. Click here for more information on our Summer Eczema 4 Step Program.