# Best treatment for feather mites



## horselady (22 March 2017)

Hi,
So for those off you who have haries with feathers I am appealing to you for a solution. My mare is scratching and stamping her back and front legs so I do think she has feather mites. The problem is that she doesn't like having her legs touched at all. I don't know what to do so all suggestions welcome! I have always seen feather mites treated with frontline spot on but she wouldn't stand for that being put on her legs.


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## Dancing_Diva (22 March 2017)

I had a mare come to me last Feb with severe mite problems. It took me six months to work on being able to touch her legs, once I could touch them and pick feet up I sedated her with sedaline from the vets and clipped her legs out. Since then and a lot of hard work I can now clip without sedation. 

I keep feathers clipped off, and when she's really stompy I spray with frontline spray. I every now and again put pig oil on her legs and wash them in aloe and oatmeal shampoo that I get from the small animal vets.

I think firstly you need to work on the issue of her not liking her legs being touched. Is there a reason she doesn't like them being touched? Or if the legs are that bad I'd get her properly sedated and legs treated then work on the leg touching issue.


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## horselady (22 March 2017)

She doesn't like her legs being touched because her skin is sore from the mites.


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## Dancing_Diva (22 March 2017)

horselady said:



			She doesn't like her legs being touched because her skin is sore from the mites.
		
Click to expand...

Id suggest then having your vet out and getting her sedated so that the legs can be treated properly and sorted if there quiet sore. Or even getting some sedaline if that'll work on her, clip the legs out clean and treat any open wounds or scabs and then frontline when healed. Or ask your vets about the dectamax jab that does leg mites.

My mare can be funny with hers when there sore. That was 30% of the reason I couldn't touch her legs when she first came to me, unfortunately what made it harder was a fear too.


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## ester (22 March 2017)

dectomax jab (no need to touch legs) followed up with deosect at the first sign of anything- she might get better at having legs touched after the dectomax jab if it works.


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## SEL (22 March 2017)

I caught my chunky boy getting stuck into his feathers with his teeth in the field so it's definitely mite season. I will do dectomax with him plus Deosect, but as soon as our clay soil has dried up he's being sedated for clipping. He's got a lot of thickened skin so the chewing makes it worse

I was hoping to have clipped by now, but the feathers are stopping the mud getting to his skin.


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## Bertolie (22 March 2017)

My mare has the Dectomax injections, two injections two weeks apart, every 6 months to keep on top of them. She doesn't have any thickening of the skin and we've managed to not have to clip her feathers off


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## TandD (22 March 2017)

I had vet sedation, clipped to the skin. Mare had so many sores  but quickly understood that we were helping her. I used e45/sudocreme on sore bits and dry skin and h2o oil all over the legs rubbed in.
Keep topping up with oil every week and any tiny spots that come up are treated with sudocreme.
Very little stamping and biting with feathers growing back!


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## MochaDun (22 March 2017)

Another one that had it resolved with the Dectomax jabs two weeks apart. I also have tried the Frontline spray which you can also get from vet (pricey but worth it) and doesn't mean you have to touch her legs too much.  Think it was effective too.  Also critical I've found is ensuring anything else on the yard showing signs of mites is treated at the same time too otherwise you're on a hiding to nothing!


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## horselady (23 March 2017)

My vet gave me some maliseb shampoo but is that only for their dandruff and she has a bit of horse acne. Will it help her feather mites or not?


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## kirinsam (24 March 2017)

No advice for how to get it on but pig oil n sulpher gently massaged in worked for mine and as his legs got better he didnt mind at all. very messy at the start


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