Mallanders, laminitis and biotin

[Melandmary]

Hi , it’s been a while since I last posted but was hoping for some advice on a pony I have that came to me with mallanders. I spent last year applying various lotions and potions and they seemed to be improving, then this spring she came down with laminitis . Since then I have had her tested foe ems and Cushing and she tested positive for ems as did my other mare who came down with lami the previous year. Anyway, I have been feeding a low sugar/ starch diet since consisting of healthy hooves molasses free complete, fast fibre,linseed and progressive earth pro balance plus supplement. I noticed yesterday that her mallanders have got a lot worse( I have been preoccupied with the laminitis) and have found there is a link that biotin makes them worse. should I stop the balancer which is supposed to be helping her grow healthy foot?Somewhat confused as to what I should be doing for the best so any previous experience would help, thankyou

 

[Equi]

Are her feet bad? If they are okay you should try without the biotin. I use cetraben moisturiser on my lad and his skin has been better.

 

[Melandmary]

No they aren’t bad but because she is on a diet, very limited grass and has had lami I thought it would help her grow good hoof but to look at they are fine though she is a bit thin soled. I might have to swap her chaff as that has added biotin and alfalfa which are both no nos for mallanders, thankyou for your reply

 

[Goldenstar]

Biotin does encourage the mallenders IME .
The best potion ever for mallenders is mother bee soothe and protect cream you can find them online or on face book it looks expensive but it lasts .
It’s transformed Blue the cobs life his mallenders was gross and very sore when he arrived he was grumpy and unhappy it’s now completely under control it’s also been great on his chronic cracked heels .

 

[SEL]

Biotin does encourage the mallenders IME .
The best potion ever for mallenders is mother bee soothe and protect cream you can find them online or on face book it looks expensive but it lasts .
It’s transformed Blue the cobs life his mallenders was gross and very sore when he arrived he was grumpy and unhappy it’s now completely under control it’s also been great on his chronic cracked heels .

Did you clip the hair off to get the cream on?

My little cob is having an awful flare up. I thought I'd removed all her normal triggers but they went onto their winter paddock and she's been horrendous since. More sugar in the grass maybe? No idea. I'll have to sedate to get her feather off but I think I'm going to need to.

 

[Goldenstar]

Did you clip the hair off to get the cream on?

My little cob is having an awful flare up. I thought I'd removed all her normal triggers but they went onto their winter paddock and she's been horrendous since. More sugar in the grass maybe? No idea. I'll have to sedate to get her feather off but I think I'm going to need to.

Yes we clip Blues legs all year round .
When he came they where terrible, so sore with huge hard lumps and open oozing cracks that I could get my little finger into up to the first joint .
We had all sorts of stuff from the vets but did not find the answer until I tried this mother bee stuff which was a Christmas present within a fortnight they where no longer sore he was so much happier and calmer we now use it twice a week or more if we need to it does get worse at time and then get reduces all we need to do is apply more magic cream if it flares up.
We put in on then leave it a day then we can rub the scabs off easily .
We do have to give sedation ( just a tube now ) about every third or fourth time we clip to do a really good job at first we had to have a vet in attendance and buckets of sedation he had obviously had a lot of inexperienced handling and was a mixture of scared and angry ,it was seriously painful for him .

 

[SEL]

Yes we clip Blues legs all year round .
When he came they where terrible, so sore with huge hard lumps and open oozing cracks that I could get my little finger into up to the first joint .
We had all sorts of stuff from the vets but did not find the answer until I tried this mother bee stuff which was a Christmas present within a fortnight they where no longer sore he was so much happier and calmer we now use it twice a week or more if we need to it does get worse at time and then get reduces all we need to do is apply more magic cream if it flares up.
We put in on then leave it a day then we can rub the scabs off easily .
We do have to give sedation ( just a tube now ) about every third or fourth time we clip to do a really good job at first we had to have a vet in attendance and buckets of sedation he had obviously had a lot of inexperienced handling and was a mixture of scared and angry ,it was seriously painful for him .

Thanks - I'll give it a go.

She's got amazing feather but its so thick that you can't get into her skin when its there. She's fine with the rest of her body being clipped but legs are a real no. I've been wondering why she had really tight glutes then spotted her today twisting her back legs to scratch one on the other and thought that explains it....

 

[Goldenstar]

Thanks - I'll give it a go.

She's got amazing feather but its so thick that you can't get into her skin when its there. She's fine with the rest of her body being clipped but legs are a real no. I've been wondering why she had really tight glutes then spotted her today twisting her back legs to scratch one on the other and thought that explains it....

It’s worth trying it’s a horrible thing for them to endure .
Let me know how you get on .
Blues is fully feathered as well you can’t see his feet for them .

 

[Melandmary]

Biotin does encourage the mallenders IME .
The best potion ever for mallenders is mother bee soothe and protect cream you can find them online or on face book it looks expensive but it lasts .
It’s transformed Blue the cobs life his mallenders was gross and very sore when he arrived he was grumpy and unhappy it’s now completely under control it’s also been great on his chronic cracked heels .

Thanks goldenstar can I ask whether you feed a vit/mineral supplement containing biotin as I am loathe to give that up with them being on ems restricted diets

 

[Goldenstar]

I feed Gain opti care balancer I don’t think it contains biotin i will take a look tomorrow .

My horse is a cob clydesdale / ID but he’s in proper work and he has no metabolic problems I am not sure the opti care would be a good choice for a EMS horse .

 

[Chappie]

I've ordered the Mother Bee cream after reading this! Currently battling a flare up, my poor boy

 

[shortstuff99]

Yes biotin can make it worse.

For mine, he came to me with really bad mallenders. I washed the leg twice a week with neem shampoo and applied farriers M and S cream every day. That worked really well.

He is also on a low sugar/starch diet and has an all round vit and min supplement that doesn't have biotin.

He is barefoot and has great feet, no issues. The mallenders hasn't flared up since. If he gets small bits the cream goes on straight away and that stops it.

 

[Melandmary]

Hi thanks for the replies, I had been using the farriers formula one and also dermalene cream but I will order the motherbee one. From what I have read diet plays a big part in controlling it…it is an issue that starts in the hind gut with an over production of B7 I think ( it was an early hours of the morning google). Alfalfa and biotin are not good but I have been feeding both since the summer as an ems/lami/barefoot diet so looks like I will have to re look at my feeding plan too.

 

[Melandmary]

Hi, just a little update for anyone who is looking at tweaking their horses diet to help with mallanders. SEL pointed me in the direction of equinatural whose vit/mineral supplements don’t contain biotin and also as alfalfa and wheat feeds can be a trigger mollychop light and healthy is an ems friendly chaff with no alfalfa , soya or molasses ( sugar is also a trigger). There is lots of interesting reading on equinatural website regarding treatment of mallanders and their customer service was excellent ?

 

[Melandmary]

Meant to say honeychop

 

[Getbackboys]

clip the are, worm with ivermectin, apply frontline flea and tick to affected area, apply neem oil to affected area ofter 2 weeks soothes skin, keeps mites etc at bay encourages hair growth, continue to apply every 2 days just a light wipe of the area no need to lather it on.

just seen additional post on feed above very interesting so can treat outside actual injury and insides to stop it happening again by changing feed

 

[mavandkaz]

I am also battling a flare up over the last month or so. I've stripped her feed right back, although she wasn't on anything different anyway so I'm not convinced it's that.
I had wondered if it was the grass....mine moved fields beginning of November onto rested grass and I'm now leaning towards this being the issue.
Interested that others have had flare ups too - I wonder if the flush after the drought is causing issues.

 

[Sossigpoker]

The overproduction of keratin is caused by the same gene that gives them the feather.
There's no evidence of any feed stuff making it worse so there's really no need to restrict the horse's diet. Biotin is a form of vitamin B and is no more "harmful " than other forms of B vitamins.

The extra skin attracts equine mites, and the mites feeding off it will irritate the skin. So I'd get some Farrier mite shampoo, and use that a few times. And then apply a rich moisturiser of your choice, daily.

Avoid washing and getting it wet , just keep applying the cream. I initially used Farrier M&S cream to get it under control , now I just use a basic moisturiser. Mine had quite sore skin with cracks to start with , now he just has a dry patch. He is fed biotin in his supplements. I also feed added magnesium.