Confused, any ideas?

I don't want to worry you, but if the mud fever won't clear up just be aware that horses can get a skin infection caused by the MRSA bacteria which can be disastrous if it isn't attacked and gotten rid of. Get your vets to do a biopsy and find out what it is and what will clear it up.

If Dorey isn't going how she is normally going and is taking a short step with a leg then she is mildly lame. If there were no obvious signs of what was causing it you could either get a vet for full investigations or rest her for a few months and see it it sorts itself out. There is the mud fever though so you should, IMO, start by getting that sorted out. :)
 
Your mudfever is certainly a veterinary issue if you can't get it shifted. It needs veterinary advice rather than home treatments that may or may not work.Who is giving you differnet antibiotics without seeing this horse as that is certainly not a good idea, and promoting resistance.
 
Get some proper treatment rather than 'wound powder' which is either not doing a lot or actually aggravating the issue..
 
BB - one hip point is slightly further forward than the other. She works straight despite this but it means one leg always works a tad harder. It's either a twisty fall when she was hunting as a baby or the lasting effects of her constant falls when I got her (I've never met a young horse so prone to falling for no reason as she used to be!). Now before everyone goes ape on me, I was 16 when I got her so was no in charge of her like I am now so don't anyone even start about how she was obviously crippled by me doing nothing!!!!!

Have to admit, I'd be more enclined to go bowen than chiro!

She is able to pick and chose when she's lame, which bothers me a bit. She practically hobbles if I won't let her canter across the common but trots beautifully when she knows she's on her way home for her tea... She also let the physio pick her feet up and do the stretches fine and had the farrier out without problem at the weekend but I can't go near her backfeet without getting the evil eye...

I'm not sure she's half as sore now but is just aware when I go scab hunting I do make things sore!

SC, thank you for your input, I hope you feel so much better for that :rolleyes:
 
bakedbean said:
It also needs to be established wether the OP's horse has a fungal infection or bacterial.

Both are treated differently...and both will thrive if it is treated as the "other"
Click to expand...

I'd add parasitic into the mix too... makes sense... On the plus side, my previous vet told me dog flea treatment works a treat on horses so can pick some up and see if that improves matters!

As an aside... would I not pick up a fungal infection under my nails if that was the case?
 
Hi Serenity.

I haven't read all the replies as I don't like to be influenced by what other people have written, but have you had nerve blocks and x-rays? I had a problem with my mare for a few weeks and unfortunately she has been diagnosed with bone spavin....when you watch her trot up from behind, does one of her hind quarters drop? Originally I thought it was a pelvis problem as well, but vet and physio put me right on that - no problem with her pelvis - it's a classic sign apparently of bone spavin....and they were right. My elderly gelding had a winter suffering from mud fever and he also went a bit lame - but not as badly as you are describing - my vet gave me some cow tubes to get the scabs off with and they worked a treat - never had any since. Hope you get some answers soon!
 
So you have all these ideas, but have done nothing about it?

Why have you posted this thread. You have had tonnes of advice but seem intent on arguing the point and saying its not your fault. You dont know it all.

Do something about it, an infection in mudfever is much much more painful than a 'scraped heel'.
 
Serenity - stop being childish and put your horse's health first instead of your own self-glorification :mad: You are not a vet. Your horse is clearly suffering. If you want to faff about with hit and miss treatments for six months or more then you need to take a long hard look at yourself and why you want to prolong Dorey's suffering unnecessarily. Like I said, poor horse :(
 
Why are you so intereste din paying for random medicines in the hope they will work rather than actually diagnosing the problem and hence using medicines that will work in one go, shortening the mares discomfort and your money output?
 
Serenity087 said:
I'd add parasitic into the mix too... makes sense... On the plus side, my previous vet told me dog flea treatment works a treat on horses so can pick some up and see if that improves matters!
Click to expand...

flea treatments rarely work in parasitic infestations of feathers - though theoretically they should, they often don't - whether that is due to inefficient application or resistance, I don't know. If you suspect parasites, you would be better to buy soluble ivermectin granules - you can buy them online, normally on livestock wormer sites - and wash her legs with those. Though I stress that a diagnosis would be a more sensible solution than blind guessing with random treatments. And in that case, the vet can also offer courses of i/m avermectins too...
 
Serenity087 said:
So my vet was spouting rubbish about skin conditions then?

Nuff said... :rolleyes:
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Not rubbish, no, but that doesn't make it right either. There are many vets in the world with many different opinions. I know vets who recommend flea treatments for conditions like that, and I know in many instances the condition does not resolve. I know other vets who favour the ivermectin strategy I describe. I selected one practice out of the half dozen near me, on the basis that he is the only vet whose judgement I really trust. I am in a position to make a well informed decision on such matters, most people aren't. I was offering advice, based on my experience and that of my current vet, the vet pharmacologist I work with (with whom I happened to be discussing this the other week) etc. Do feel free to ignore it :)
 
Oh I'm not ignoring. I happen to have found fault with some of the things same vet said on other matters (she diagnosed River as having an unformed twin whilst looking at the placenta...)

The problem is, the advice in this thread ranges from Dorey's back to her hoof, fungal, parascitic and bacterial and treatments suggested have included vets, chiro's and homeopathy.

If I took everyone's advice it'd cost me a fortune.

Now I know my horse and I see her every day so I do have the position than I can follow or ignore advice as it applies. It doesn't mean that I'll ignore everything in this thread, but I cannot feesably follow it.

Also, like flies to a corpse, various posters are only here to slag me off. So I'm ignoring their opinions from the off. (In fact, I'm tempted to put them on IU and hope they go away!)
 
Serenity087 said:
Also, like flies to a corpse, various posters are only here to slag me off. So I'm ignoring their opinions from the off. (In fact, I'm tempted to put them on IU and hope they go away!)
Click to expand...

IME, posters who dislike you and think you are a twit are often a source of more reliable advice than the others - they aren't concerned whether they offend you or not, and are completely honest. If you put people on UI you might miss something...

You may feel in the best position to judge your horse, but your trivialisation of her lameness and reluctance to seek advice from the best trained professionals available (and I mean vets, not chiros!) is concerning enough for those of us with your pony's best interests at heart to feel compelled to re-iterate our pointsl in the hope that you might take notice. I'm not suggesting you take all the advice on here (I wouldn't either) but I do think she NEEDS to be seen by a vet. Then all the advice becomes secondary, only applicable if the vet diagnoses mud fever / parasites / back problem etc. It is actually much cheaper to seek a diagnosis than to treat randomly ;)
 
JFTD said:
flea treatments rarely work in parasitic infestations of feathers - though theoretically they should, they often don't - whether that is due to inefficient application or resistance, I don't know.
Click to expand...

I have tried Frontline for feather mites (as recommended by my vet) but unless you have clipped off the feathers it's very hard to get the product where it's needed, i.e. right on to the skin.

I didn't want to clip the feathers so I got shampoo from the vet to use instead.
 
jeez-

Have to agree with BB on the whole "I shall just realign your Hoss' spine, as it is out" utter garbage that alot of chiro's etc speak- well ok wheel in the crane then, as you are going to need that much force to shift it.

Also why do folk feel the need to just be rude- S is obviously NOT ignoring the problem, and because she is not following YOUR ( untrained- not having seen said hoss, NON veterinary) advise to the letter she gets abuse...... odd
 
I havent read all the replies, however I would say that if she were mine i would be getting a vet out to find out exactly what kind of infection/skin irritation she has asap, regardless of the other lameness/hip out of place stuff. It may well be that once the skin problem is sorted she'll be absolutely fine.

Any physio/chiro shoud really be speaking to your vet before touching your horse anyway IMO, they are not veterinary professionals, no matter how well qualified! best of luck, i hope you can make her comfortable soon.
 
It is a fallacy that if a horse does not improve with bute it is not in pain. As many people wo are in pain will tell you, anti inflammatories often have no affect on their pain what so ever. This is especially true of back pain (I know from experience!). I have also experienced this with horses on several occasions. For example, a horse on our yard with upper suspensory desmitis was on 3 bute a day and it had no effect whatsoever. Her bilateral lameness did no improve one iota. So I don't think that you can rule out pain.
 
Serenity, re the mudfever, if it helps at all my horse picked up mudfever about 2 weeks after I got him - I think it was due to the stress of moving home knocking his immune system a bit, never had a problem since - but anyway, I had to treat him with hibiscrub (?? vet prescribed thing, think that's the name) every day. It involved softening the scabs with damp cotton wool and picking them off, then treating the whole area - v painful. As he was new I thought he'd think he'd arrived at the most cruel home on earth and I was an evil lady there to torture him, but he actually stood like a rock every day when I arrived to inflict the treatment on him, and he didn't hold it against me! So don't worry that your horse will hate you if you have to go down the painful treatment route - much better to be aggressive and get it sorted, and she'll forgive you :)
 
Wagtail said:
It is a fallacy that if a horse does not improve with bute it is not in pain. As many people wo are in pain will tell you, anti inflammatories often have no affect on their pain what so ever. This is especially true of back pain (I know from experience!). I have also experienced this with horses on several occasions. For example, a horse on our yard with upper suspensory desmitis was on 3 bute a day and it had no effect whatsoever. Her bilateral lameness did no improve one iota. So I don't think that you can rule out pain.
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Totally agree.
 
why do people ask for ideas then dismiss them all because they see it as criticism:rolleyes:
facts are , your horse has had a skin problem for 6 months that you can't get under control, get a vet out and get it sorted, simples!!!!!!!!!!
 
Serenity, I am sure you love your horse and do not wish to cause her pain. However, not being able to track up is a lameness. She has a skin problem that needs to be sorted, if her reaction was so extreme she put you in hospital she must be very sore. And it may be she does need to be fully sedated by a vet to have it looked at and treated.

Horses don't 'choose' to 'put on' a lameness, it is intermittent lameness, triggered by something we don't know what. But she is telling you as loudly as she can that somethings isn't right. It may or may not be connected to a chronic skin infection, which may or may not be mud fever, or it may be related to an old injury.

There are too many unknowns, you are getting a lot of different answers because people on here cannot tell from your descriptions what the diagnosis or diagnoses are. Please, please, please call a vet out!!! If you don't trust your current vet, then find one whose opinion you do trust (and not hearing what you want to doesn't mean that you shouldn't believe someone).

They will work with you to solve the problem for your girl, and they will take note of what your physio makes of it all.

Call the vet. Today.
 
It sounds like you have already made up your mind on what you want to do, as you seem to just be arguing with what everyone is saying, bar the people who are agreeing that its mud fever. If it was my pony i would get the vet, just be sure.
 
RE, stiffness and not tracking up.

When I was young and still learning how to spot lameness, a fellow livery had this with their horse on the near hind. Vet came and found a problem with the off-hind. The horse was short striding on the good leg to take the weight off the bad leg as quickly as possible. I found this very interesting at the time (I was about 12) as I then twisted my ankle and did exactly the same thing.
 
Whilst I can see this thread has got rather heated I think everyone would agree that getting the vet out to
- look at skin
and (on the same visit, and possibly again on a second one once skin is better)
- look at lameness
would be a good plan.

You can always get a different vet if you aren't keen on the old one.

Then, if another profession (physio/chiro/farrier/dentist/whatever) needs to be involved your vet can identify that and recommend someone.

Good luck.
 
I love how just because you dont agree with what people have said they are 'slagging you off'.

Whats the point of putting up a thread-asking for help and then arguing it all the time. Do you do this with your vet too?

Like others have said, there are tonnes of reasons why you should get the vet out, not just drop by to pick up some sedalin. You've admitted yourself that you dont have a clue what is causing your poor girls pain, and its been going on for 6 months now-she must be hurting so much. Just get the vet out.
 
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