My horse was wandering in the Ozark wilderness last weekend and got a bad case of poison ivy. The rash did not subside with standard OTC treatment options including cortizone and Ivarest. The mare refused to go to Urgent Care as she does not do well with corticosteroids and she did not feel like paying the copay. After several days of increased blistering and crabbiness, I urged her yesterday to self-medicate with Bimectin 1.87%, which she had forgotten was in her medicine cabinet. Because she had good experience with Ivermectin for other odd ailments, she figured she would give the paste a chance as an ointment. Within an hour of applying the flowery-scented paste, the horse noticed that the rash had begun to reverse and that the blisters were no longer bubbling. It appeared that all sites of poison ivy were in the stages of healing and before retiring to her stall for the night, she applied another layer of paste. She awoke this morning to find her wounds scabbed-over, all of the new blisters she had yesterday morning were no longer bumps, but tiny fading spots -- even the itching was gone. She was so happy she had an extra cup of coffee and made an egg sandwich. Needless to say, my horse was pleasantly surprised to find an unconventional use for Bimectin 1.87%. That is all.
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Glad to hear! I'm curious if the patch my horse ventured into was sumac and not ivy as she is typically not as affected as she was this past week. She needs to study poisonous botanicals a little more closely before heading into the dense woods.
Blisters yes, redness, irritation, oozing and inflammation, nope. This worked for me!
I will update you with my findings, as I have coincidentally discovered a developing patch within the last hour. Will treat and report back! In the PNW, so this assuredly is Poison Oak, but will be good to have this data to share