Hydrogen Peroxide

[BAILEY67]

Hi All,

Those that use the above for Thrush, where do you buy it and do i need to mix it with water? and if so how much of each

Thanks

 

[zoelouisem]

Hi, when i use it for treating for thrush i get the strongest stuff from the chemist use a syringe to squirt it on the affected area (use gloves) i then scrub the foot with diluted hibiscrub leave to dry and then put on something protective use effol hoof ointment i find it very effective. It then helps keeps the hoof cleaner till you next clean. I prefer effol as the hoof can still breath.

 

[Lainey123]

I would use Milton 1 part 5 parts water. It's brilliant. I use to use Hydroden Peroxide and my farrier went mental!! said if it touched live tissue that the horse would go mad as it hurts like hell! Milton is great and clears it up in not time, i put mine in a squirty bottle, clean out feet and give them a good squirt.x

 

[fburton]

You should be able to get suitable stuff from Boots.

Whether you need to dilute it will depend on the strength. The usual strength for treating wounds is 3% and this would be suitable for putting in hooves to kill thrush. Stronger solutions are sometimes used to bleach hair - up to 8%. My personal belief is that 8% could be used safely in the hoof, if one makes sure it doesn't come into contact with skin. However, if you wanted to be on the safe side, you could dilute it with an equal volume of water first, just before use. In any case, peroxide quickly breaks down into water and oxygen (that's what kills the anaerobic bacteria and causes the bubbling), so prolonged contact with small volumes isn't going to be harmful. Don't get it in your eyes!

Stronger peroxide solutions are possible, but I doubt whether a high street chemist would sell those.

 

[cptrayes]

Do you have an agricultural chemist near you? The cheapest way to buy it is 100 VOL, which is 30%, and water it down to 3% by adding more water. Don't touch it that strong, it will turn your skin white and burn if you don't wash it off quickly.

 

[YorksG]

I must admit I prefer to use tea tree oil for thrush, it works well as it clears up the fungal problem and the oil then prevents re-occurance.

 

[MrsHutt]

Bought some last week from Boots - 6%, £1 for a small bottle. YO recommended it in the first instance, but H is the incredible self-healing horse, and the thrush had gone when I went to put it on! At least it seemed that way - will see tomorrow (I'll have it in the car, in case) if it's come back.

 

[BAILEY67]

Thanks All

I was looking at the 3% in the chemist today so ill bob out and buy that tomorrow, we seem to be getting rid of the infection so fingers crossed.

 

[criso]

I would use Milton 1 part 5 parts water. It's brilliant. I use to use Hydroden Peroxide and my farrier went mental!! said if it touched live tissue that the horse would go mad as it hurts like hell! Milton is great and clears it up in not time, i put mine in a squirty bottle, clean out feet and give them a good squirt.x

Interesting - Frankie was fine with hydrogen peroxide but went mad when I used milton, much waving of hooves and stomping of feet for ages after - sometime I think he just likes to be different.

What you mustn't do is what a friend of mine did and ask for hydrogen peroxide and when the chemist asks what you want it for, say "thrush".

 

[JenHunt]

What you mustn't do is what a friend of mine did and ask for hydrogen peroxide and when the chemist asks what you want it for, say "thrush".

heheheee!

my farrier told me to use hydrogen peroxide for seedy toe and for thrush - he says that generally it breaks down so quickly on contact with bacterial cells that it will kill them preferentially to healthy keratinised skin cells (hoof/frog/skin etc) which are much tougher.

 

[cptrayes]

^^^ would have LOVED to have seen the chemist's face!

Criso your farrier must have used it far too strong - at 3% it doesn't hurt at all in an open wound, never mind kill healthy flesh!

If you are going to a normal chemist don't tell them that you want it for a horse at all - they can't legally sell it to you if you do. Say you want it for your first aid box.

The other place is the opticians - contact lens disinfectant is 3% HP (check the bottle to make sure).

 

[outandabout]

I and others on my yard have had considerable success in treating persistent cases of thrush using various things from Red Horse Products (there is an extensive range!) - both the trimmer and my instructor said that hydrogen peroxide was too harsh, and the trimmer recommended the Red Horse range as she had found in her 10 years of work that it was the most effective of anything else she had used.

 

[criso]

Didn't know you weren't supposed to buy it for horses - my local chemist in a very urban bit of london just seemed bemused but sold it to me.

cptrayes He's fine with the peroxide (i buy 9% and dilute ) even when i spilt a bit and gave him ginger streaks in black feathers. It was the milton steriliser tablets he had issues with and I diluted far more than the packet said.

 

[honetpot]

Hydrogen peroxide that you buy from the chemist for irrigation is already diluted and is safe to use in wounds. It used to be used a lot in human wound dressings but not so much now. On contact it fizzes and this helps remove dirt and dead tissue and what is left is water. The easiest way to get it in the right place is to use a syringe.
For general cleaning the best thing to use is normal saline which can be bought sterile from the chemist.
Hibiscrub is a cleanser but it is very irritant and I would not use it on wounds or broken skin, hooves should be OK. I would not put Milton near a wound as it is caustic and even very diluted used would slow down healing.