Help mud fever

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andytiger

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Hi sorry I'm sure there are lots of threads on mud fever I have read a few all with very good advice just wanted to know should you wash and dry horses legs everyday have read on some threads that washing the legs to much can wash away all the protective oils
I have cleaned away all the scabs and put on sudocream he has never had mud fever before and he has it behind his knee he caugh himself on a Xcountry jump a few weeks ago and it has developed from there x
 
My understanding is you shouldn't wash and dry as the skin being wet allows the fungus which causes MF to get in more easily...

Top tip - feed powdered Allicin. It's the active part of garlic and is used in the medical profession to kill MRSA and the like. You can also get a spray to spray onto the mud fever area. This stopped one of our livery ponies which had been plagued with MF. It's quite hard to get hold of but well worth the effort.

To help with the scabs rub on Zinc and Caster Oil cream, the zinc is really helpful to the skin underneath, and the cream lifts the scabs off nice and gently.
 
I swear by Keratex Mud Shield Powder. Bring the horse in, don't wash it off, let it dry. Then in the morning, brush of the mud, and get a handful of this powder and rub it backwards into the fur. Repeat each day and in no time the problem will be gone.

All wet preparations are the opposite to what fungal skin conditions need.
 
I used to wash with hibiscrub and apply a dermatits cream from the vet. But been battling with mudfever for a good few months on my mare. She won't let you take scabs off so found it really hard to heal. Eventually the vet gave me a product called equi-occidental from trus-steed and will use if from now on. You leave scabs alone and you paint the product over the top. Once the scabs comes off it means the bacteria has been killed. You apply it 2-3 times a week. Worked wonders on my mares.
 
My grey suffers terribly - but so far haven't suffered.
Started feeding mudgard start of September and cover with mddy marvel barier every weekend.
Had a friends horse for grass livery in summer. He got it in august!! treated with Muddy marvel (scab remover and disinfectant and barrier) after 6 weeks had gone!
Couldn't wash and dry as he was living out!!
 
andytiger said:
Hi sorry I'm sure there are lots of threads on mud fever I have read a few all with very good advice just wanted to know should you wash and dry horses legs everyday have read on some threads that washing the legs to much can wash away all the protective oils
I have cleaned away all the scabs and put on sudocream he has never had mud fever before and he has it behind his knee he caugh himself on a Xcountry jump a few weeks ago and it has developed from there x
Click to expand...

Once his scabs have cleared up either put cooking oil on his legs or lard. Sounds horrid but its far cheaper than branded goods. Had a Stallion with this and a Vet from the Army told me to do this.
 
Two people I know have had mud fever (only slight tho) on their horses clear up with Hypocare. Never had a horse with mud fever so can't comment much but both friends were quite amazed at how quickly(& with relatively little use/application) it cleared up,having been slapping all sorts of creams,ointments,barriers etc on in the past.
 
I find sudocream with a few drops of tea tree oil is amazing. My boy had mud fever which would not go even with steroid cream from vets but this worked. Worth a try as cheap and not going to harm . Def DO NOT WASH AND IF YOU DO ON ODD OCCASION DRY WITH CLEANN TOWEL THROUGHLY .
 
I had to treat mud fever in July !! Don't wash the legs off - just bear in mind there is little blood flow in those spindly things and once wet and cold, it takes for ever to dry. I stable mine at night, gently brush the mud off and use a mix of liquid petroleum jelly + hibiscrub to create a baby pink gel and then cover the legs with it once a week, which usually prevents the mud fever getting hold. If there are stubborn scabs then rosemary + sulphur cream applied on dry skin for a couple of days works really well (Army vet advice!). I will rub at scabs to encourage them to come off but for subborn ones I rely on the creams to soften the skin so the scabs naturally fall off. I picked the youngsters until they bled and will never do that again, poor sod.
 
Now and again you can wash. Legs are wet anyway already. The absolute best thing I've used and has cleared up one stubborn leg already is the following. One small tube triple antibiotic Creme, 1 small tube 1% hydrocortisone Creme, 1 small tube anti fungal, and add the same of flamazine. I mix it all together and wala super Creme! Thing is I can't get triple antibiotic Creme here so had to wait til I went home. I've been amazed. I haven't been too brutal in removing the scabs but I have been rubbing in really good. I'm only doing this every other day to cut down on overall washing.

Terri
 
andytiger said:
Hi sorry I'm sure there are lots of threads on mud fever I have read a few all with very good advice just wanted to know should you wash and dry horses legs everyday have read on some threads that washing the legs to much can wash away all the protective oils
I have cleaned away all the scabs and put on sudocream he has never had mud fever before and he has it behind his knee he caugh himself on a Xcountry jump a few weeks ago and it has developed from there x
Click to expand...

I didn't do this, I applied sudocream and honey for both my lads last year and washed there legs every couple of weeks if that. Seemed to work well and neither got any worse only better, but every horse is different. One poster on here will swear x works while another will swear x is useless and you should use y. Its a bit of a minefield!!
 
I know from my point of view I tried everything on this particular mare. Sudo creme, zinc creme, honey, plain flamazine, antibiotics, plain triple antibiotic Creme, plain anti fungal, washing, not washing and on and on. Spent a lot of money for stuff that didn't seem to help. Including special herbs a vet told me was the only way to get rid of them. So when back home I grabbed all the ingredients as they are all over the counter bar flamazine and mixed. I'm shocked how well it's done. Any other time I've had a little mud fever, one wash a little normal Creme like muddy marvel did the trick. This mare just got stubborn stuff every winter.

Terri
 
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