Does this look like Mud Fever?

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kellyb

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Hi, I didn't post this in the thread for photos of illness etc because I am not exactly sure what it is. Hope it's ok to have posted it here as a new thread.

We have a Haflinger who was temporarily in a neighbours field to give ours a chance to dry up and recover from the weather. He was in there with several other ponies. He does have a real tendency to be bullied so we were not completely surprised to see what looked like 2 scrapes on the inside area of his leg, fairly high up just around the inside of the hock. We cleaned them and put on a bit of sudocream and did that for about a week.

We put him and his companion back in our field on Saturday and today we have noticed that it looks like these "scrapes" are spreading so might not be scrapes at all.

I am now wondering if it is mud fever and as I have never seen it before I am hoping maybe someone here might be able to have a look and let me know what they think.

The main reason I am really unsure is that everything I have read leads me to believe that mud fever starts low down and can work its way up where as he seems to have no problems lower down as of yet. I know that the bacteria can get into wounds so maybe it did get into the scrapes on his leg?

It looks a bit more irritated in the pics than it was because we washed it with hibiscrub and then rinsed well and patted dry, so I suppose it aggravated it as it was not bleeding at all beforehand. His hair is wet in the pics as we had just washed him.

We would be grateful for any opinions on this. I dont want to treat for mud fever if someone will notice straight away that it is not.

Thank you!
MFre.jpg
 
Yes it does look like mud fever. Clip the hair off and you will see the extent of it properly. Wash with Dermoline tea tree anti -fungal shampoo, dry thoroughly and treat with an appropriate product. I use Lincoln Muddy Buddy powder to protect my mare's legs and it seems to work really well. You may need something like Flammazine from your Vet to treat it. Dont wash it too much as its like chapped hands and will be sore. I may be telling you things you already know so do apologise if so.
 
This is great info,much appreciated. Off to get some products tomorrow.

I fear we have more awful weather to come.....:(

Many thanks again.
 
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Yep mud fever. Hibiscrub and towel dry daily. Pick the loose scabs off and use something like Muddy Buddy cream as many times per day as you can. If you can, keep your horse off the mud and on dry land, but if not possible, then once you have put the Muddy Buddy on, put some vaseline over the top as a barrier.
 
Thank you very much. It is really good to have another confirmation. I was quite worried but am feeling more relieved now!:)
 
Be careful if you do use Hibiscrub and if you do dilute it well. It's quite harsh and can damage the healing skin. The shampoo I mention kills off the fungus that causes this awful condition and there is really no need to wash every day. Also be wary of using such products as Vaseline as until you have treated the infection it can trap the bacteria underneath and it will multiply. I work for a Vets and there has been so much mud fever around its untrue!
 
Thank you for that reminder. I have read quite a bit about hibiscrub being a bit harsh and also about Vaseline trapping the bacteria so I will be careful. Today we went to buy some muddy buddy type product but bought instead "Hypocare". Have either of you tried it? People seemed to be raving about it at the shop and several customers even said it was "miraculous" ! Here is a link if anyone would like to have a look: http://www.horseware.com/hypocare/
 
kellyb said:
Thank you for that reminder. I have read quite a bit about hibiscrub being a bit harsh and also about Vaseline trapping the bacteria so I will be careful. Today we went to buy some muddy buddy type product but bought instead "Hypocare". Have either of you tried it? People seemed to be raving about it at the shop and several customers even said it was "miraculous" ! Here is a link if anyone would like to have a look: http://www.horseware.com/hypocare/
Click to expand...

My mare has the same at the moment and rather than wash her legs I've used hypocare (sprayed it on twice a day and rubbed it in to the skin with my hands) in 2 weeks I've seen a massive improvement and it's almost all cleared up

I have to say I personally am very impressed with hypocare as my mare had the same problem 3 years ago and it took about 6 weeks to clear up with a lot of expensive veterinary meds.
 
You don't need to Hibiscrub and pick the scabs off if you use the Muddy Buddy Mud Kure Kream. You rub the cream on over the scabs and the scabs just gradually soften and come off after a week or so. I think Hibiscrub may do more harm than good on open wounds.
 
And... maybe it is not mud fever at all? Seems very weird starting on the hock and not on a white pastern. See the other post on mud fever from Billabong which ends with the quote below. My mare had a photosensitive issue in the summer and the treatment was sun block and cortisone cream....

*IMPORTANT INFO*
Further to my earlier posts on this thread my mare had to go to the vet yesterday as her leg suddenly looked quite infected (swelling having been down and looking better with the bandaging and box rest and various lotions and potions we have used over the past week or two). It turns out that although the lower fetlock scabs are mild mud fever the bigger aggressive ones further up her legs are actually UV PHOTOSENSITIVITY and not mud fever at all. Hence why treatments have not been working. She has been prescribed steroids and a couple of different creams and will (once cleared up enough to turn out again) need turnout boots on over her white legs to prevent.

Thought it was important to post this as perhaps some of you others with persistant cases are actually battling the wrong thing as I have been
 
Yes and not to alarm you it does look similar to her scabs/lesions and it looks very high up the leg in your pic. There is another thread on here about this Photosensitivity under the full Latin name Leuko something with more info. If you suspect it is this I'd get vet ASAP as ours has flared up very badly now and she is very sore. Had we known it was this earlier I would have spent less time and money faffing about with MF products. I didn't call vet as the Photosensitivity is an immune disorder that flares up and then goes down so we'd think the latest MF product was working then it would get bad again so I'd try a different one. Hope you get it sorted.
 
Yes, I can see how this could be either issue after looking at photos of both on the internet. We used the Hypocare for the first time tonight and provided all is ok in the morning we will use it for a few days and watch for improvement. If it worsens or doesn't improve then we will have to call out the vet....

I will post back when we have more info just in case anyone would like to know how/if the hypocare worked.

Still being a novice in the horse world makes this forum a valuable place to come for help/advice and reassurance. Thank you.
 
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