Hello

My name is Tina Blom and I'm a student in Arcanum-school in Gothenburg, Sweden. I'm graduating in August 2006 as an animal homeopath.
I'm seeking help for my final year project.
My project is about sweet itch in horses. If there is a connection between develope sweet itch and use of allopathic drugs such as antibiotics and cortisone. Or if there is a connection with vaccinications. I turn to you with my question to see if you can help me and give me some stories from your practice. What is your experience, which remedies that you have seen helps and so on....

I hope that you will share your experiences whith me.

I´m asking all veterinarian/homeopath I can finde, and hope that many of you will answer.

If you want to help me, you will naturally get a copy of my project.

Hope to hear from you soon.
Thank you

Greetings Tina Blom

Tina, it would seem from what I have read and owning horses that the allergy is the to the saliva from the midge bite, this causes the body to attack the foreign matter but the body doesn't stop there it seems to continue attacking healthy flesh which is what causes the skin issues with sweet itch.
anything which diminishes the immune system, like drugs, is bound to have an effect on the horses ability to cope.
I have tried one thing and one thing only and it worked and always has done for me and others but sadly we cannot get the cream any more.
The treatment was sulphur Iodatum for one week then worm the horse, then arsen.alb for 10 days and itching was stopped by using a simple anti dandruff cream for humans so you could almost wonder if any anti dandruff cream or shampoo would work. This is not purely holistic and I apologise but my horse suffered once and that was it never again.
Good luck with your study.
If you want potencies I can give them to you I just don't have them to hand!

Laura

Thank you Laura for your answer.

That was interesting to hear about the dadruff cream. And yes I would like to have the pontencies i you would send them to me.

Thank you very much
Tina

Sweet Itch:
Homeopathically I have found it possible to control and stop Sweet Itch through the use of Combination Homeopathic Remedies. There are differing degrees of Sweet Itch and we tend to change our remedy suggestions to suit the horse’s condition.

At the first sign of rubbing, which is usually mane or tail, I suggest washing with an anti-bacterial soap. I then Detox, give a Homeopathic Parasite Treatment; flea/bug bite remedy; spray immediately with pure Neem Oil and also use Neem Oil Shampoo. This, along with a remedy which inhibits the irritation seems to have cured many horses with this specific problem. The secret seems to be, to get it as soon as you see it happening.Some horses can be so resistant that it is not unheard of for us to do a saliva sample, send it to a Lab. And have a specific nosode made up from this so we attack the problem ‘like treats like’ but this is only done in extreme cases.

• Homeopathically give Sulphur 30c twice a day for one week
• Homeopathically worm the horse for one week then one week's rest from remedies
• Homeopathically give Arsen Alb. 1M daily for 10 days or if the skin has broken and there is a chance of infection give Sulphur Iodatum 30c twice a day for 10 days
• I have friends who use a hypercal spray to soothe itching. This is not something I have done. This is a very old treatment given to me by a very good Vet who became homeopathic. I treated my own horse with one course and other than the odd tail rubbing which I could stop using the anti dandruff treatment, sadly no longer available in the UK, we never had Sweet Itch again. Using a different treatment the same results were there for Mud Fever.

I would start this treatment in March, repeat in August, and again the following March and have never had to repeat it. However, it is possible that your horse may start to rub but if you catch it early enough with the Neem Oil Cream or Shampoo which you use as often as needed, giving a further round of homeopathic remedies should not be required. The months may alter according to where you are in the World, I am in the UK. The old cream I used to use was medicated brylcreem. My friend who owns a very prestigous stud swears by this cream and is lost without it. I hope this is of some assistance. As we all know, what works for one doesn't always work for another. When I was given this remedy I knew nothing about homeopathy and to see it work was quite amazing.

Hi Tina,

Although I haven't used it on horses, I thought I'd tell you of my experience - all my life I have been plagued by midges and 'eaten alive'. The reactions had become increasingly severe no matter what deterrent I used etc. I would come up in a very big, angry severely itchy red blob which would takes weeks to die down and go away...

Two years ago, I had an info sheet along with an order from Freemans Homeopathic Pharmacy here in Scotland www.freemans.uk.com They had created a remedy for Midge bites!! Culicoides Impunctatus Mix which on their site is also listed as Sweet Itch... I ordered the 200c and the 30c. Took the 200c initially, and on the rare occasions that I got bitten and itched, also used 30c. Last year I did the same - 200c before they started, and only needed 30c occasionally. This year I again took 200c before they were out, and I don't think I have yet needed to take a 30c, and I have for the first time I can remember been able to walk through clouds of the little b......rs without being eaten

So another remedy worth investigating.

__________________
Muriel