Managing mud fever

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Jackobean

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Hi

Was wondering if you could give me some advice on managing mud fever.

As I suspected he would, my palo/wht youngster has got terrible mud fever that has developed seemingly out of nowhere this week with the change in weather. I feel terrible as his legs look quite sore. :(

I had bought some pig oil & sulphur in anticipation of this & was going to get him done at the weekend. However I discovered the mud fever & as his legs look quite chapped, I wasn't so sure it was a good idea to apply it at the moment.

So what is the best thing to do ?? He lives out 24/7 although I can bring him in if I need to. This isn't ideal though. I have just moved him into the top field which is very dry, so this should help slightly.

Obviously I am going to have to bring him in to dry him off to be able to do something about this but what do you suggest? There's so much advice out there in books etc, but would rather hear from people who keep horses with mud fever. In all my years of owning a horse, I have never owned one who suffers from it so this is a new one to me! :confused:
 
Whatever you do, don't get into washing his legs every day because unless you dry them very, very thoroughly you will just make it worse, and don't ever pick the scabs off, you will just make him very, very sore and reluctant to let you anywhere near his legs. Wash them once with hibiscrub and blather with udder cream (or another similar barrier cream). If you can get him in a couple of times a week long enough to wipe most of the mud off with a cloth, and then allow to dry so that you can brush it out, you should be able to reapply the udder cream. I have just come across the most amazing nappy rash cream, Bepanthan, that may be good for if it gets sore, it is expensive but I have never seen such fast results with nappy rash and it is a barrier cream, certainly one I will be putting in our first aid box instead of the sudocreme!
 
If you catch it early enough then pig oil and sulphur can clear it up, as well as being a brilliant preventative. But if it's got bad and the leg's swollen then you really need antibiotics.
 
I have had a 3 year running battle with mud fever on my cob's white legs.

If his legs are bad at atm you may need to bring him in to give him a break from the mud. If you get some flamazine cream from your vet that helps clear it fairly quickly - unless it is so bad you need antibiotics.

Once it is clear - or very nearly clear - start the pig oil and sulphur. Ideally you need to use the oil / sulphur mix before anything starts - its a preventative, not a cure. But it really does work. After 3 years of never being entirely clear of mud fever Cob has been completely free of it since Feb (yes we do get mud fever in the summer too). We apply the pig oil mix every 3 - 4 weeks when it is dry and every 2 weeks when wet.

It does burn thier legs slightly. Cob's skin always looks red for about 24 hours but he doesn't seem to mind it being touched. I know my hand tingles for a few hours if i've put it on without a glove. I would not put it in raw skin - I suspect the horse would go through the roof!

Oh.. and don't do it the day before he is due to be shod. The farrier will hate you!
 
my yearling has come up with a bit of it on her back legs, i havent washed them yet as i have ordered some stable boots so when i get them i will wash them with warm water & hibiscrub dry with towel and pop the boots on overnight to totally dry them and slap on sudacream till its clear of scabs then use zinc & caster oil cream to prevent more (much cheaper than sudacream)
 
If it's bad, then the first thing you;ll need is some antibiotics from the vet - they can also supply you with a solution to paint on the legs, which again will help clear it up (forgotten its name).

You will need to get him in overnight to allow the legs to dry off totally after an initial gentle wash in warm water with a little hibiscrub. You can then gently remove those scabs which want to come off (don't force them).

For prevention Pig Oil and Sulpher is really good - but as with all these things you need to be applying in anticipation of mud fever - rather than as a result of it.

Don't be tempted to start bandaging, booting or putting turn out chaps on because that will make the whole situation much, much worse. The legs need to breath - and preventing them will simply make the MF worse.
 
You really do need to get any scabs off before you can expect the skin underneath to heal.
We found that when Splish had a large patch of mud fever a sudocream wrap worked brilliantly, slather the affected area in sudocream - really thick, bung loads on, and then wrap the patch in clingfilm - you'll need to keep them in overnight, maybe with a stable boot over the top. then in the morning, you wipe all the cream off, and the scabs should have softened and will come off with the cream, leaving pink skin underneath. There's no point in putting any flamazine or other antibacterial cream over the top of the scabs, as the bugs live underneath them. you can keep doing the wrap until all the scabs are off and the skin is completely clear. Then get started with the prevention.
 
preventative & cure: sudocreme mixed with sulphur

Do be aware though if you compete affiliated that Sudocreme would cause you to fail a drug test
 
There's no point in putting any flamazine or other antibacterial cream over the top of the scabs, as the bugs live underneath them.
Click to expand...

Flamazine should actually help to soften the scabs (which is what needs to happen before you can remove them).
 
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