Getting poison ivy from the goats :(

PKBoo · #1 05/26/12, 07:47 AM

We are browsing the goats in a hilly brushy area that has some poison ivy in it, and they LOVE it (the area AND the poison ivy)! And we love that they are eating it.

But now I have broken out all over the inside of my arms, and the outside and inside area around my knees, where they rub against me. I even have some below my eye where I must have rubbed

I can't NOT pet them! Is there anything I can use on them to get rid of the oils before I love them up? Very much a newbie here, although I've read how much goats hate water, so I'm thinking I'm just going to have to abstain from petting until the PI is eaten

The Tin Mom · #2 05/26/12, 07:58 AM

I had the same thing happen our first year.... I am severely allergic to PI, so we had to stop letting the milkers browse - would love to start letting them back into the weeds - I hope someone has an idea on this!

Cliff · #3 05/26/12, 08:38 AM

This year I'm trying the thing the native americans used to do. Euell Gibbons suggested it also. In the spring they ingested a very small amount of pi and it supposedly made them almost immune from getting it. Finally this year I got up the courage to try it. I carefully put a leaf the size of a mouse ear in a gelcap and took it. There are various ways that are suggested, once a day for a certain number of days, once a week for a certain number of weeks, etc. I sort of forgot about it after the first dose, I think I need to take more. There are those who just take it once though.

I am not suggesting anyone do this but it is interesting and there's info about it on the web if anyone wants to research it. I didn't have any ill effects at all - was sort of worried about itchy nether regions if you know what I mean but it didn't happen.

KrisD · #4 05/26/12, 08:57 AM

I would suggest dedicating a pair of jeans and a pair of gloves to be worn while working or petting the goats until the poison ivy is gone. Then I would wash the goats in dawn dish detergent using rubber gloves. Dawn is used in vet offices for animals hat fall in oil and is also used by wildlife agencies to ge oil off of birds count in oil licks. Yes goats hate water but all show goats get bathed and my goats stand out in the rain so they can tough it out.

Do not scratch you can spread it and make it infected. I too would wash in dawn or Castile soap to get as much off you as possible. I would then use cortisone lotion to bring down the inflammation and maybe even an antihistamine.

Ruby · #5 05/26/12, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KrisD

I would suggest dedicating a pair of jeans and a pair of gloves to be worn while working or petting the goats until the poison ivy is gone. Then I would wash the goats in dawn dish detergent using rubber gloves. Dawn is used in vet offices for animals hat fall in oil and is also used by wildlife agencies to ge oil off of birds count in oil licks. Yes goats hate water but all show goats get bathed and my goats stand out in the rain so they can tough it out.

Do not scratch you can spread it and make it infected. I too would wash in dawn or Castile soap to get as much off you as possible. I would then use cortisone lotion to bring down the inflammation and maybe even an antihistamine.

I am very alergic to PI also, have to go to Dr. when I break out. I've tried ever remidy I know of and it don't help. He told me it does not spread by scratching but it's in the blood stream. That's why it breaks out in little lines. It follow the veins. Don't know if he knows what he's talking about though. He didn't know goats ate it.

Looks to me like if it was in the blood stream a person would be immune to it.

Goldenfarm · #6 05/26/12, 09:54 AM

My husband use to work in the woods and would get it almost weekly. I found this stuff called "Tecnu" you can get it at Walmart or off amazon it is amazing!! If you come into contact with the PI or PO you put a penny size drop on the area that you think was exposed, then 2 min later you wash it off. IT REALLY WORKS!! We were getting firewood a few weeks ago and he grabbed a whole handful of PO. When we got home about 45 minutes later he used the Tecnu and did not get any rash or itchiness at all. This has happened many times and it always works. The great thing is you don't have to apply it with in 2 min of coming into contact with the goat you could go out and do you stuff with them and when you come in wash up with it and be fine. Obviously the sooner the better but we have used it after an hour and still been fine. It is cheapest at walmart a bottle cost about 6.00 and will last a long time. You don't really need very much of it for it to work

I know it isn't for the goats but it might be easier...Hope it helps, here is a link
http://http://www.amazon.com/Labs-Tecnu-Outdoor-Cleanser-12-Ounce/dp/B000A7S3WK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1338043745&sr=8-2

FunnyRiverFarm · #7 05/26/12, 10:16 AM

I wear long sleeves and pants at all times when I am around the goats...and very carefully remove the contaminated clothes and scrub like crazy with dish soap when I get inside. I still get a bit of PI on my hands and wrists but I can live with that.

PI causes contact dermatitis where your skin has been in contact with the plant oils ONLY. The oils do not enter the blood stream in any way. The rash is not directly caused by the oils, it is caused by your body's reaction to the oil. You can't become "immune" to PI by exposing yourself to it if you have already developed a sensitivity...with PI, it is your immune system that is the problem...it is hypersensitive to the plant oils. Let me repeat it--You can't become immune to poison ivy because your immune system is what is causing the problem. The only way to become "immune" to it is by SUPRESSING your immune system with steriods which is what doctors give you when they treat PI. Most people gradually become less sensitive to poison ivy when they get old because the immune system gets weaker with advanced age.

mrs whodunit · #8 05/26/12, 10:41 AM

My mom told me her grandfather got the hair brained idea to burn off PI. Well of course those oils went up in the smoke and he breathed it in. Yup internal PI.

He didn't do that again.

I had to milk spring/summer as mom got PI from the goats.

Think the Tecnu works for those night highly bothered by PI. Worked for me but not my mom.

Cliff · #9 05/26/12, 10:45 AM

I guess I worded my post poorly. I'm an icu nurse, I understand how immunity works. So I guess I should've said people think it helps keep them from getting it. I don't know the mechanism but suspect it's along homeopathic lines. Many people take Rhus Tox before exposure and say it prevents them from getting pi. There are still many things we don't understand about the human body and a lot of people did this for a very long time. People who knew a lot more about nature and plants and how they work than we do.

I've been learning a lot about herbal medicine in the last year or so. I guess being up close and personal and seeing just how bad modern medicine is at taking care of many things has made me more open minded to learning about traditional medicine. And I have learned some amazing things. In some cases plant medicine is head and shoulders above our modern chemical medicine in what it can accomplish. They both have their place. Anyway, the point is I tend to be open-minded and am willing to experiment on myself with plant medicine. It took me a long time to get up the courage to try this one though

Cliff · #10 05/26/12, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrs whodunit

My mom told me her grandfather got the hair brained idea to burn off PI. Well of course those oils went up in the smoke and he breathed it in. Yup internal PI.

He didn't do that again.

I had to milk spring/summer as mom got PI from the goats.

Think the Tecnu works for those night highly bothered by PI. Worked for me but not my mom.

Yes - never, never inhale the smoke. Being on a ventilator is not fun.

Zanfel is something that works wonderfully once you have active pi. They use it in the ER but it's sold otc as well.

mrs whodunit · #11 05/26/12, 11:45 AM

Will have to look up Zanfel being ours kids have decided they want to take up backpacking and I think we will take our nanny goat along as a packer. Cant imagine all the pi we will run into.

Took our oldest in to the Dr 5 years ago because of her eye and the section of her face swelling up to badly from PI.

They gave her Predisone. I think her response to that was worse then the swollen face.

Pony · #12 05/26/12, 01:31 PM

I've read about what Cliff is trying, and I think it's really interesting. Cliff, will you keep us updated?

Nick used to work for the Forest Preserve, and he got poison ivy fearsome bad one year. Took a bar of the wonderful Tecnu soap into the shower with a scrub brush, and scrubbed and scrubbed and then scrubbed some more. He washed his clothes with Dawn dish liquid to get the oils out. He swears by Tecnu!

Pony · #13 05/26/12, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cliff

I guess I worded my post poorly. I'm an icu nurse, I understand how immunity works. So I guess I should've said people think it helps keep them from getting it. I don't know the mechanism but suspect it's along homeopathic lines. Many people take Rhus Tox before exposure and say it prevents them from getting pi. There are still many things we don't understand about the human body and a lot of people did this for a very long time. People who knew a lot more about nature and plants and how they work than we do.

I've been learning a lot about herbal medicine in the last year or so. I guess being up close and personal and seeing just how bad modern medicine is at taking care of many things has made me more open minded to learning about traditional medicine. And I have learned some amazing things. In some cases plant medicine is head and shoulders above our modern chemical medicine in what it can accomplish. They both have their place. Anyway, the point is I tend to be open-minded and am willing to experiment on myself with plant medicine. It took me a long time to get up the courage to try this one though

Are there any texts or sites you would recommend? We've been talking about doing more herbal/homeopathic and relying less on Big Pharma.

silverseeds · #14 05/26/12, 02:34 PM

Well one thing I could say is fin fels naphta bar soap used for laundry. I might have spelled it wrong. NOTHING works for poison ivy reduction once you have it, or prevention, (washing the oils off of yourself) Or atleast nothing I tried, and I tried everything commercially available as of a few years ago when I still lived places PI grows.

Goldenfarm · #15 05/26/12, 04:24 PM

Do you think there is any truth to it when people say drinking goats milk that have been eating Pi or PO over a period of time won't get it??? I was given goats milk from the time I was a week old and never could drink cow milk as a child. The farm we got our milk from was "Oak meadow" Literally acres of poison oak that the goats ate. I could take a bath in poison oak or ivy and not get it... not even a bump maybe it's just a coincidence. I am always the one taking care of everyones itchies

wolffeathers · #16 05/26/12, 04:36 PM

I think some people are simply not allergic to it.

My father, my siblings and I do not get a reaction when we run across it. Hubby can get it by simply looking at it.

airotciv · #17 05/26/12, 05:53 PM

We don't have Poison Ivy, but we have Poison Oak. I have ended up in the hospital, 3+ times. The worst was when the pasture caught on fire and the Poison Oak burned. I was out trying to get the animals out of the pasture and was breathing in the smoke, ended up in the hospital for a week. I can't count how many times I have had poison oak due to to contact to animals.

The Tin Mom · #18 05/26/12, 10:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ruby

I am very alergic to PI also, have to go to Dr. when I break out. I've tried ever remidy I know of and it don't help. He told me it does not spread by scratching but it's in the blood stream. That's why it breaks out in little lines. It follow the veins. Don't know if he knows what he's talking about though. He didn't know goats ate it.

Looks to me like if it was in the blood stream a person would be immune to it.

This is what our doctor told us, also.

CarolT · #19 05/26/12, 11:05 PM

I would vote with the washing myself after messing with the goats rather than trying to wash the goats that often. Use cool or cold, not hot, water to wash, hot opens the pores in your skin allowing the oils to enter.

BTW, I'm typing this while trying desperately trying not to scratch

I'm hoping them eating it helps me with my sensitivity.

BethW · #20 05/28/12, 09:38 PM

Tecnu is a miracle product. We always keep a bottle on hand.

Up until I was 39, I could have rolled in a PI patch and not had a problem. Then we got goats. You all know exactly what happens when you get cute baby goats. You nuzzle and kiss on them, right? (c'mon Minelson, I know you!) Yeah well, I got my very first case of PI. All over my arms, my hands and my face. Pretty. Even with oral prednisone, it took 6 weeks to go away.

PI is a demon weed.