at wits end mud fever!!

[dyl]

Hi wondered if anyone could help me im at my wits end. my horse, she has had mud fever since august. We have tried every product available udder cream, tee tree cream, antibacterial, antifungal, hibiscrub etc we have called the vet out and he prescribed us with some antibiotics which made a slight difference however once she came off them it came back. the vet also gave me some cream which they make up themselves but same again worked slightly.

everytime we get on top of an area and it clears up it just spreads aroung the area or higher. we have been keeping her in and off the grass however, she is so fed up we have started putting her out when the weather is dry. She is intermittently lame on it depending on the swelling. we remove the scabs everyday but she is quite fed up with it now, as she has it on all 4 legs around the fetlock and canon.

if anyone has any ideas need it clearing up before winter really

 

[archoak]

Doubt this will be of any help at all, you seem to have tried everthing. What worked for me was sudocreme but once the scabs have started to dry up I didn't remove them anymore and it went much quicker. Good luck

 

[amandathepanda]

Dermobien used to be amazing but of course, we aren't allowed to use/buy it anymore. Most vets use a cream called Fucidin now. If you can get some, put a thick layer over the affected area, slap a bit of melolin with a light bandage to hold it in place & leave it for a couple of days. Keep repeating and hopefully it will soon clear up - worked with my arab who had sensitive white legs anyway!

If your horse is getting mudfever during summer, it is likely to be a different form of mudfever caused by photosensitization (over sensitivity to sunlight). It may be worth keeping turnout socks on your horses legs next near to protect them. My arab also used to react to St John's Wort which grew in the field, if he was grazing amongst it his legs would get mucch worse.

 

[Maesfen]

Please stop washing it off and please stop picking at the scabs for a start. I've got rid of some very bad mud fever by keeping it dry, or rather only brushing mud off gently when dry, applying Protocon Cream thickly - just smear it on, don't rub it in for now. Do this morning and night for two days by which time it will have softened the scabs a fair bit. Apply more cream but with a gentle circular motion and you should find that some scabs come off on their own accord - don't pick at them, keep circular and they seem to rub off better and the horses don't seem to mind it as much. Keep repeating this and it should be almost clear within a fortnight. In future, apply something like udder cream as a barrier but do not wash off, you'll only start it up again because the skin has already been so weakened.
Plain Protocon cream is much better than Protocon Gold in my experience. That is a specialized product which is very good on normal cuts as well. You could also soften scabs with either zinc and castor oil cream (nappy cream!) or Vaseline; they both do a very good job because they also help as a barrier for anything to get down to the skin but the Protocon will aid healing quicker/better than just using those others.

Also, if the legs do get wet and muddy, bandage them on top of the mud, they will soon warm up and dry so you can brush it off but DON'T WASH!

 

[dyl]

yeah i have used deo and fucidin but no join, do you think she should stay in??? i have bandaged them at night which did keep the swelling down havent used tht proto cream have to get some do u think we should ignore it and hopefully it will clear up i dont want it to take over her body.

we have been feeding her some mud guard products too

 

[franki]

I know the last poster said absolutely don't wash but I had a horse that got badly affected with mud fever and I washed his legs when they were muddy to thoroughly clean them. However, the key to washing is drying, if you know what I mean. Wash with warm water and hibscrub - and dry thoroughly, only use your towel once !! Make sure to wash the towels each time in washing machine at 60 to kill off any bacteria. I cut up big towels to have a box full for the week. Using warm water and hibiscrub the scabs will soften and as you dry the areas - very gently, the scabs that are ready to come off will come off in the towel. It's important to clip away any hair from the areas so you can see skin. I plaster on Sudocream onto the skin and do this TWICE a day, everyday and you should see improvement. If you have somewhere you can tie her up for a short time to allow the Sudocream to soak in that will help.

Once the skin is beginning to heal I start to use a powder of some sort, either a human wound powder or Keratex mud shield powder. This will help dry out the skin. But only use powder when the skin is nice and pink and clean without infection.

 

[S_N]

Has your vet taken swabs? Was just wondering if there might be a secondary infection that is preventing it clearing up. You say that the AB's helped, but as soon as the course ended, it flared up again - was it the right kind of AB's? It could be a kind of Staphylococcus infection - if I remember correctly there are 30/31 different types of this bacteria. Certain types are found naturally on the skin. Could be Streptococcus...... but from what I remember less likely.

What are you feeding? I remember discussing skin conditions (Sweet Itch/rain rot/dew poisoning/mud fever) with an Equine Vet in Kentucky and he was of the opinion that feeds high in sugar do not help........... Just a thought.

Maybe feed Aloe Vera Juice? I've had great success with this in the past - swear by it tbh!

What a lot of rambling - hope some of it is of some help to you!

 

[dyl]

we are feeding her alfalfa, pasture mix and mud guard powder with some superflex
we are really stuck the vet we had out was useless dont know whether keep her in or turn her out its horrible

 

[Maesfen]

I also find it helps if they have a balanced feed which provides oil for the coat and skin. They always say you should heal from the inside out!

 

[S_N]

Is it possible to get a 2nd opinion? If it's as bad as you say, I personally, would keep her in - unless there was somewhere NOT muddy, with SHORT grass and NOT an arena, to TO in. I've had to do this - earlier this year - ask MFH_09. Though B was nothing like as bad as you describe.

 

[dyl]

do u think we should get the vet out?? Is it worht keeping her in we have started giving her some proplus to help generate the red and white blood cells

 

[Jose]

Had an horrendous time with it last winter....only thing that worked in the end was bringing him in over night, brush off any mud next morning & apply plenty of keratex mud shield powder before turnout. Try not to wash the legs (which I made the mistake of doing initially). I also fed echinacea to boost immune system.

 

[Faithkat]

My mare came back from stud with absolutely horrendous mud fever on her two white legs. I washed them really thoroughly initially with a Tea Tree leg wash to get rid of the scabs and smothered them in Sudocrem. I then just smothered Sudocrem on every day and it's now down to just a few scabs round the edge of the affected area on one leg( she's been home 7 weeks). When the vet came out last month to do her vacc, I asked her for her opinion and whether she could give me anything better but she said that Dermobion would have been the thing but as you can't get it any more I should just carry on with Sudocrem. I have to agree with NO WASHING though.

My friend bought my mare as a yearling filly with terrible mud fever. It took 6 months to clear it and she ended up having AB injections directly into the skin of the legs.

 

[Chex]

The only thing I have found to work are Mud Fever Spray, and a mix of streptopen (sp?) and oilseedrape from the vet. I have to wash his legs and remove the scabs, if I leave them they start to bleed and are much worse. I clip them short and wash them, then put the spray on them, but not often.

 

[henryhorn]

With something as persistant as this sounds a skin scraping needs to be taken and then the correct anti biotics used.
I would also look at the bedding you use, and try a change, sometimes the things in shavings can irritate the legs too.
For now use plain old sudacrem which you cover thickly then apply clingfilm over the top, bandage loosely enough to stay covered, and leave 48 hours if you can.
When you remove the lot the scabs normally slide off easily with the cream.
repeat as many times as you need.
I wouldn't wash the area unless the cream won't come off, if you do use baby shampoo and warm water, dry with clean kitchen towels but don't rub hard.
I did manage to clear one horse up with athlete's foot cream, but if you say you have tried a fungal cream then that was a similar thing.
The other method I have used successfully was getting the vet to make up some cream with the same antibiotics they use for mastitis in it, again, use cling film over and leave alone for a while for everything to soften.
You can beat it, but it takes detective work and determination....

 

[vicijp]

Is it like plastic?
If so, thats a toal b#tch.
I would strongly consider a steroid/steroid cream.

 

[Orangehorse]

I had a horse that was susceptible to mud fever, would start in late August when the dew started. I found Equine America Fungatrol cream was the best cure (not sure if that is the correct name now).

However, I changed her feed to Top Spec Balancer, or the Top Spec comprehensive, and discovered that she never had mud fever again in the next 3 years that I had her. I still brought her in every night and put vaseline or cheapest, non medical baby cream on her legs every morning as a barrier.
I am in the no washing corner!

Though I agree with the other posters that a skin test would be a good idea. This doesn't sound like simple mud fever.

 

[Gonetofrance]

There is a mudfever lookalike condition called pastern leukocytoclastic vasculitis.
If you google it, there are various sites detailing the condition. It is different from mud fever in that it can occur in the summer, with no mud, but it can also occur as a mud fever infection takes hold. My horse had to have cortizone injections every other day for over a week. But it cleared up. I had been at my wits end with him, as nothing I did seemed to help, and he was in a lot of pain. He also reacted with masses of oedema on the infected legs. But the cortizone did the trick.