Mild Mud Fever - best treatment?

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Footlights

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I think my horse has mild mud fever on his two white feet. I have been smothering them in sudocreme every day for about a week now, but it doesn't seem to be getting any better.

He lives out 24/7 - the fields aren't muddy, but I suppose with all the rain recently it is very possible that it is mud fever.

Should I carry on with the sudocrem and wait for it to clear up when the weather dries up, or is there is better treatment to try? We don't have any hard standing, so it is going to be quite difficult to get his legs completely dry before treating.
 
I would try muddy marvel barrier cream, cleared my girls mud fever up a treat + it's very waterproof (:
 
I would probs just give them a quick rub down with a towel so they are dryish (: but should be fine even if they are a bit wet
 
If it doesn't clear up when the weather dries up it could be mites- I'm paranoid about them now, as when we bought our first horse he had them but even the vet thought it was mud fever. Treatments did nothing and we only realised it wasn't mud fever when it was summer and no mud around!
 
horsemadelsie said:
If it doesn't clear up when the weather dries up it could be mites- I'm paranoid about them now, as when we bought our first horse he had them but even the vet thought it was mud fever. Treatments did nothing and we only realised it wasn't mud fever when it was summer and no mud around!
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Interesting. What is the treatment for mites?

I thought mites like horses with lots of feather? His legs and heels are practically bald!
 
They usually do, but our boy is 3/4 ID and hasn't got feather at all.
We were told by our vet to change all bedding and wash brushes etc, and spray his legs with large bottle of frontline (prescription only). This did work out quite expensive and time consuming but it worked.
I know another horse more recently who just had a jab from the vet that cleared them up.
We have since used a cheap mite repellant spray from the local saddlery, and our boy has been turned out with horses with bad mite problems and hasn't picked up any.
The chances are it is mud fever especially on a fine skinned horse, but might be worth getting the vets to check next time they are out if there are still scabs.
 
Thanks all, going to to pop to local feed store today and see what treatments they have. Sudocrem is obviously not working - I think this is the first thing I have found Sudocrem not to work on, and I use it on everything!!
 
Nizoral shampoo is awesome for mudfever - usually one thorough wash sorts it out.

You can buy Nizoral from a chemist - it contains Ketaconisol which kills the fungus that sets off the mudfever.

Dilute with hand hot water and lather up well working well into the skiin. Wash completely around the leg and well beyond the afected area.

Try to get hold of a mineral block that contains zinc and copper and leave ouot intht epaddock so the horse has free access to it, both these minerals help strengthen the skin from within.
 
For Mud fever gently rinse the areas daily with Hebescrub (which wll soften any scabs), rinse and dry and gently remove any softened scabs. The Hebescrub will soften the scabs.
For mites gently clip the feathers etc on all four legs. Ask your vet for a large bottle of Frontline and spray as per instructed.
 
Footlights said:
I think my horse has mild mud fever on his two white feet. I have been smothering them in sudocreme every day for about a week now, but it doesn't seem to be getting any better.

He lives out 24/7 - the fields aren't muddy, but I suppose with all the rain recently it is very possible that it is mud fever.

Should I carry on with the sudocrem and wait for it to clear up when the weather dries up, or is there is better treatment to try? We don't have any hard standing, so it is going to be quite difficult to get his legs completely dry before treating.
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We use sudocreme for mild, but when it won't shift, pink lotion from the vets. Never fails to sort it within a day, amazing stuff.

Don't chuck generic creams on though as will just give a nice moist environment for it to thrive!

Pan
 
Thanks everyone. I am going to try and wash his affected legs with diluted hibiscrub tonight, dry them with a towel and then apply the udder cream that I have bought. If it doesn't clear up soon I will be contacting the vets to get some stronger cream.
 
If it is mud fever I would bathe with hibiscrub and remove scabs gently. Then thoroughly towel dry, apply Flamazine cream for a few days, it has Silver sulfadiazine which will kill any nasties (you can get it from vet or online if you have a prescription).

Then go back to sudocrem or liquid paraffin with a cap full of hibiscrib in it.

I find the liquid paraffin mix the best as it is really good at softening any scabs, the small amount of hibiscrub in it will kill any bacteria under the scabs, and it is cheap. I use this mix as a preventative method too.
 
OWLIE185 said:
For Mud fever gently rinse the areas daily with Hebescrub (which wll soften any scabs), rinse and dry and gently remove any softened scabs. The Hebescrub will soften the scabs.
For mites gently clip the feathers etc on all four legs. Ask your vet for a large bottle of Frontline and spray as per instructed.
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Please DO NOT try to remove the scabs! If you wash the area with Nizoral the scabs will come off by themselves.

Mudfever scabs are NOT normal scabs - they are made up of lymph which has oozed through the skin and congealed around the hair giving it its characteristic spikey look. When you physically remove the scabs you will pull hair out by the roots causing the skin to break and bacteria to move in and the mudfever to become worse.

Removing the scabs is PAINFUL! You risk infection, inflamation and lameness by forcing the scabs off. Believe me! - my boss used to make me scrape and pick scabs off the racehorses and with 100 or more in training you can be sure there would be a few each week with mud fever.

Since discovering that Nizoral treats mudfever, greasy heel and rain scald really quickly I've not picked off another scab since.

For the sake of the horse - those of you with mud fever prone horses give Nizoral a try.
 
This depends on the severity of the mud fever, my first pony had eczema and terribly mud fever so his legs were a mess! We had some special shampoo prescribed by the vet which we used, however if it is only a mild/average case then the muddy marvel range is good.
Believe it or not but the tip with mud fever is to keep the legs dry at ALL times, people who hose of their horses legs after bringing them in are only creating worse conditions for getting mud fever! Instead you need to let any mud on the legs dry and then brush it off asap!
As regards to mites we used to get an injection from the vet for my first pony, I don't remember what it was called but I think it was every 6 months or something? Anyway the injection worked a treat and got rid of all the mites! :D
 
Get some hibiscrub - usually found in most good tack shops. Dilute as instructed on bottle, soak little bits of cotton wool in solution and bathe scabs until them come off, towel dry thoroughly, then apply sudocreme/antiseptic barrier cream - keep doing this 2 x daily until all scabs are off and skin healed - Its because the grass is so lush and wet at the moment. My old horse used to suffer from summer mud fever and not winter!! - probably because he was out 24/7 in the summer but in the winter his legs were hosed and he was in on a dry bed at night.
 
Hibiscrub with warm water for 10 mins, rinse off. Do this on a daily basis.

Before turnout, dry the leg (or if out 24/7 just top up as and when). And douse in keratex mud powder. It's a waterproof barrier powder that stops mud etc penetrating the skin and also treats mud fever.

Creams etc dampen the skin and in my experience wash off in the grass/mud. They also leave your hands a right mess!

The powder is designed to prevent water/mud getting onto the skin. I swear by it and it's cleared my boys legs up for nearly 12 months now and he was bad for mud fever.
 
What will keep your horse free of mudfever -

1 A fungus free skin - At the first sign of mudfever - wash with Nizoral - end of mudfever.

2 A diet that contains Copper and Zinc - find a mineral block that contains these and leave it in your horses paddock so they can feed adlib. This will generally keep your horse mudfever and sunburn free.

I have a young horse I bred with a white face and two long white socks - as a foal she got mudfever and sunburn when the mineral block ran out. Replaced block and all came right again. While I was away a few months ago the block ran out and I came home to a sunburnt youngster. Replaced the block and the the sunburn was gone in a couple of days with no treatment. Yesterday I noticed Ruby has a patch of greasy heel - today I have replaced the mineral block which the recent heavy rains have dissolved - I'll report back about the greasy heel in a few days.

There is really no need to spend money on all these different powders, creams and stuff.
 
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