How long to heal after an abcess, effectiveness of keratex hoof putty?

[JaneSteventon]

Hello. My horse has had a deep abcess which has now cleared up (hopefully) The vet had to cut a medium sized drainage hole, and a week later a farrier plugged the hole up with keratex hoof putty and said he could go out in three days when this has hardened up. Kept him in a couple of extra days to be on the safe side so he went out on Thursday. However today i have tubbed his foot and plugged it up with more hoof putty, and kept him in becuse i am worried that with it now being muddy (he lives out) the drainage hole could become infected. We are now on two weeks after the drainage hole was first made. Does anyone know how long it takes for a hole in the foot to heal over enough for him to go out into a wet field or/and how effective keratex hoof putty is in wet muddy conditions. Dont want to rush him out before he is ready but he is now seriously fed up of being in. Oh and i tubbed his foot in seriously hot salt water and he didn't flinch could this mean that there is now protective horn over the sensitive tissue in the foot ?

 

[Patchwork]

I don't know about the hoof putty but we have always used a Davis boot (I think they are called) for turning out horses with holes in their feet! They are brilliant - you can put them on over a poultice or just over the hoof and as long as you get the right size I've never seen one slip or rub.

 

[miamibear]

I have used keratex hoof putty, its brilliant stuff.

I wait until the poultices have come clean for about 3 days then i make sure the hoof and hole is dry and clean and i stuff the hole. Rub a bit of mud/dust over the putty surface to make it non sticky, so it doesnt stick to anything your horse walks on.

You should be fine then, keep checking it periodically to make sure no stones are getting lodged in there and if not leave it in until it grows out with the hoof. Its medicated so shouldnt cause any further infection.

 

[Salcey]

Yep, as miamibear says Keratex hoof putty is brill stuff, it goes hard so quickly as long as you then rub some mud/dust over it should stay in nicely especially since you've got a nice deep hole to stuff.

 

[merlinsquest]

Hi,

We had a pony a couple of years ago who had an abcess... the vet told us to soak a wad of cotton wool in the green version of purple spray and to plug the hole with that. I found it to be very effective, but also tried the hoof putty with sucess... it hardens up when its cold so as the hoof will be in the cold mud it should stay in.

I dont think that the hole will cover over, its more a case of it growing out as the sole of the foot is replaced (according to my farrier anyway) so be careful if your hacking or fields are stony as they could push up into the hole if it is large!!

Good luck, our pony didnt have a recurrence of this all the rest of the time we owned him!!!

sarah

 

[MagicMelon]

Buy one of those poultice boots to turn him out in? That solves your problem straight away! We do this with my boy when he gets an absess (he's prone to them unfortunately) - after the farrier has been to say yeah the hole isnt full of puss anymore then we plug it with the keratex putty, wrap the hoof in animalintex (just helps to keep the putty in) then put on one of those rubbery poultice boots. I use this one:

http://www.robinsons-uk.com/products/Productdetail.asp?ProductCode=54620

Then I just chuck the horse out as usual. But I do keep him away from the other horses while he has the boot on as they dont exactly gallop about with it on so I dont want him bullied. They look like they have a welly on, so my boy just walks about with it. Its totally waterproof so keeps all the mud etc. away. The boot lasts ages too, we've been using ours about 3 years now. You do have to rinse the boot out when you chance the animalintex just because it gets a bit sweaty and smelly in there!

 

[Maggie2]

Would the hoof putty be any good for a mild case of seedy toe? I have used it too for holes in feet and found it brilliant, not sure about the seedy toe though, it has been cut out/back by farrier.

 

[miamibear]

My farrier said seedy toe needs to be kept open with the air to it. Cleaned regularly to get mud out and sprayed with iodine.

My boy had a crack which had a little seedy toe behind. Thats what i do with him!

I would have thought the keratex would work a treat but wont allow air to it thats all

 

[Maeshowe]

So would this putty stuff be okay for my horse's hoof crack. He stood on his own foot and ripped half his hoof off. It is now almost grown all the way down but because the bottom of the new bit isn't supported its still moving away. As those who have read the other abcess thread on here, he has just got an abcess through the crack. I would like to seal the crack to stop this happening but still allow it to come together when the hoof reaches the bottom.

Will the putty give enough to allow the hoof to grow or does it harden up too much?

 

[miamibear]

I would say it would be fine. Just make sure the abcess is fully drained first and clean then you should be fine. It doesnt set like rock and is meant for sealing abcess holes. You can get other keratex products for stabalising cracks

xx