Hoof Abscesses and Bute - Yay or Nay?

[Taliesan]

I am interested to hear other people's thoughts on if bute should be used for hoof abscesses or not.

I've always thought that you shouldn't bute for an abscess as you don't want to reduce the inflammation and cause it to linger in the foot for longer. The way I have always treated them was hot poulticing regularly, soaking the foot in warm water inbetween poultice changes to help soften things up and keeping the horse moving to help it burst. Using this method I have had abscesses burst after a day or two and everything is resolved in less than a week.

My horse does not like pain in his feet and is inclined to rest the affected foot on the toe rather than trying to weight it. After following the advice of my vet I gave him a bute (one in the morning and one in the evening) for a couple of days to help take the edge off it. I did this in the hope that if his foot hurt less he would be more inclined to walk about on it and this would help the abscess find its way out.

After the abscess burst he became about 95% sound and was only slightly short striding on that leg rather than 'lame'. (I mean, he was lame, but it was subtle enough that most people looking at him wouldn't have spotted it.) I put this down to his foot being slightly sore as the exit point was under the hairline at the back of his heel bulbs.

Fast forward to a week later and there is heat in his coronet band again and he is back to looking more lame.

I am wondering if the bute I gave him meant that the abscess didn't drain as it would have done if I hadn't given him any or if this is more likely to be a coincidence and bad luck?

I am back to rigorously poulticing the coronet and heel bulbs now in the hope that whatever is in there will find its way out and he will be back to normal sooner rather than later. If he isn't fine after a week of this (and there is nothing on the poultice) then I am planning on getting the vet out to x-ray his foot and see if we can spot anything in there.

I would be really curious to hear what other people's thoughts on bute and hoof abscesses are. I always thought conventional wisdom was not to do it but then why would vets say it is OK if it is not? And surely there must be a point to taking the edge off the pain so the horse is able to walk about more?

 

[Jambarissa]

Interesting question and I'll be watching for replies.

I have a mare who was non stop abscesses for years, mainly due to a fault in her hoof. I never give bute, but I do dig into the tract to release the pus (if obvious and not digging all over the place or too deep). I have hoof testers and a knife. I hot police for a couple of days and then cold poultice. I wrap it up really well and turn out.

The abscesses stopped about a year after I started feeding formula 4 feet, they've discontinued it now, waiting to see if they come back.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

It was actually my farrier that told me not to bute for an abcess as it stops the body trying to reject the infection. A good poultice on foot and turn out to get the blood pumping to push the abcess out.

 

[poiuytrewq]

I’ve always been told not to bute an abscess.

 

[ycbm]

I have never buted an abscess and I have never had an abscess fail to resolve with one bout of lameness, though in two cases that lameness went on for a while. I don't know if bute would have changed things but it's my understanding it's that it's the corrosive nature and the pressure of the fluid produced by the inflammation that allows the abscess to fight its way out. So I would be reluctant to bute even if told to, unless being non weight bearing was going to cause the opposite foot to have problems.

I don't think you can blame yourself for this though. First you were told to do it, second your horse was in a lot of pain and that's difficult to watch and third it's far from uncommon for an abscess to fail to clear first time.

Fingers crossed you're on top of it now.
.

 

[honetpot]

Bute is an anti-inflammatory but will not affect how antibiotics work, or else we are all xyded! It is hard to move when you are in pain, especially when weight-bearing on your feet, human or equine. I perhaps give them a full dose, and then cut it they can move but they are not going to go charging around the field, and I get them out and moving as quickly as possible, with, nappy, vet wrap, gaffa tape, and gaffa taped outer layer, dressing. Not had one for a while, but it works for me.
Vets will often not give antibiotics until the abscess is found, opened and drained or its tracked a path out of the hoof that can be kept open.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

When my big Draft mare had an abscess which refused to clear, my vet persuaded me to give her bute to keep her comfortable. The abscess finally cleared after she had been on Prascend for about a week

 

[marmalade76]

Best to get your farrier out if you think your horse has an abscess. I've never used bute for an abscess and if I can find it I dig it out with a hoof knife myself, if not I get my farrier out to do it for me.

 

[ecb89]

I was told to bute as movement encourages it

 

[millitiger]

I've never buted for an abscess for the reasons above.
IMO you need to be cruel to be kind with abscesses sometimes, so mine get poulticed and put in the field so moving around to encourage it to come out.

Unless there are thoughts there is something else underlying, I would cut the bute completely.

 

[meleeka]

I’d give bute if they were on 3 legs so they could be turned out. It won’t stop the build up of pus which needs to happen for it to burst. In my experience it doesn’t do a lot for abscess pain though.

 

[irishdraft]

I was also told not to bute but my horse was in absolute agony with 2 abscesses so I gave danilon on welfare grounds as I thought he was going to colic with the pain he was in, think sweating, groaning & rolling x

 

[Orangehorse]

The vet said to give Danilon every time my horse has had an abscess, which is quite often, despite me not really wanting to. But he gets in such a state and is not stoic at all. Lesser of 2 evils. I have also never had a simple abscess, they seem to go on for a long time.

 

[Goldenstar]

No bute it suppresses the inflammatory reaction .

 

[BronsonNutter]

Bute and danilon are fairly rubbish for reducing inflammation - they should just be viewed as painkillers! Absolutely fine to bute a foot abscess.

 

[Goldenstar]

No they are both good at tackling inflammatory conditions .

 

[Flowerofthefen]

Bute and danilon are fairly rubbish for reducing inflammation - they should just be viewed as painkillers! Absolutely fine to bute a foot abscess.

Problem is bute slows the whole process of the abcess bursting down so you run a real risk of the abcess becoming septic etc.

 

[NightStock]

I actually asked my vet this question a few years ago, she'd never heard of advice not to bute and said it made no difference to the time it took to resolve but the most important thing is to reduce pain and encourage movement, I will use Danilon if they need it.

 

[ycbm]

I actually asked my vet this question a few years ago, she'd never heard of advice not to bute and said it made no difference to the time it took to resolve but the most important thing is to reduce pain and encourage movement, I will use Danilon if they need it.

I'm not sure your vet has the evidence to back that assertion up. Many of the abscesses which resolve with no bute will be in the ownership of people who don't call a vet because they feel competent to let it resolve by itself.
.

 

[ycbm]

Bute and danilon are fairly rubbish for reducing inflammation - they should just be viewed as painkillers! Absolutely fine to bute a foot abscess.

ETA stupid response, misread the original!


I have been told the reverse, on this forum by a vet, that they are rubbish anti inflammatories but good at pain killing. In my experience, it's good at both. Maybe not the best at either, but good at both.

 

[Carrottom]

I telephoned our equine vets about this a couple of years ago. My friend had been advised by a local vet to give Danillon.
The equine vet advised not to give bute or danillon in the first instance. If the abcess wasn't resolving after about 10 days she advised x rays to see what was going on.

 

[blitznbobs]

I think this is easy - why would you want your horse to suffer? Abscess is infection not inflammation and anyway they arent that good anti inflammatories youd need some serious steroid action to damp down inflamation to that extent. Id go as far as to say its cruel not to give painkillers to an animal (or human) in pain.

 

[NightStock]

I'm not sure your vet has the evidence to back that assertion up. Many of the abscesses which resolve with no bute will be in the ownership of people who don't call a vet because they feel competent to let it resolve by itself.
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Well she was a qualified vet so I would imagine she has seen more horses suffering from abscess than the average horse owner, but of courses she is unlikely to view horses with an abscess that don't receive pain meds at all, however, may have also seen more horses that haven't been given pain meds and have an abscess that is refusing to resolve, despite their owner feeling competent to handle it.

In this case I had an abscess that was refusing to emerge, mainly due to her very hard feet I think, it did eventually track up through coronet but only after I got her on danilon and got her moving.

 

[ycbm]

In this case I had an abscess that was refusing to emerge, mainly due to her very hard feet I think, it did eventually track up through coronet but only after I got her on danilon and got her moving.

The problem is that it might have done exactly the same and the timing of the danilon was coincident with the abscess bursting. I'm afraid that no conclusions can be drawn from one case.

Your vet will likely only have seen the tip of the iceberg for abscess treatment. Most of them I've known about have been dealt with by the owner or by a farrier. There are other vets who advise against bute, there's no concensus among vets on this.

We would need some research on very big numbers of horses to answer this question.
.

 

[ycbm]

I think this is easy - why would you want your horse to suffer? Abscess is infection not inflammation and anyway they arent that good anti inflammatories youd need some serious steroid action to damp down inflamation to that extent. Id go as far as to say its cruel not to give painkillers to an animal (or human) in pain.

Nobody "wants" their horse to suffer. It's not cruel if it shortens the pain.

I realise I'm questioning a doctor here, but surely inflammation is the normal response to infection?
.

 

[Surbie]

I initially gave bute to mine on vet advice when his abcess first showed (he's only had one, after the YM at a previous home used him and his mate as lawnmowers for some very lush grass. Both horses got abcesses shortly after). He was sweating and shaking and using the wall as a prop, and this is a normally stoic horse.

My experience was that the abcess didn't resolve from the first bursting. Or dirt got in and it built up again. The x-rays showed it tracking horizontally along the foot. It took 9 months from start to finish, but he hasn't had another (touches wood frantically) for the last 5 years. It's the only one he's ever had, according to past owners.

Am not suggesting that it's the same in your case OP, but we have had 2 horses on our yard present with what was thought to be abcesses, only for it to turn out to be laminitis.

 

[meleeka]

I think the comments on this thread prove there’s no definitive answer

 

[spotty_pony]

No Bute for an abscess - Bute will stop the infection from tracking down and being able to drain out of the hoof. It also makes it take a lot longer to drain.

 

[Gallop_Away]

When one of mine had an abscess last summer, we were advised by vet to give him 2x bute for a few days. When I told my vet we suspected an abscess, they advised that it was better to get him comfortable and moving than to leave him standing in considerable discomfort and reluctant to move. He was hoping lame and to not give him some form of pain relief would have been cruel imo.

The farrier came out on day 3 and popped the thing just at the toe. He was then back 90% sound. Poulticed for another 2 days and he was back sound.

I would never deny my animals pain relief if they require it.

 

[meleeka]

No Bute for an abscess - Bute will stop the infection from tracking down and being able to drain out of the hoof. It also makes it take a lot longer to drain.

How will it stop the infection tracking down? Does anyone actually know?