Mud Fever - Advice please

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shmoo

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:)Never had mud fever until this year so clueless - but willing!

My two were living out - bought loads of great rugs thought we were set for the winter with no fuss then mud fever strikes. YO has been great, let me two vacant stables so I can treat them but since they've been in at night their fetlocks swell - not huge but the girls have cankles... only on the back where the mud fever is worst, and they are mostly back to normal when they come in at night.

The advice I have been given so far is; Wash with hibbiscrub until the scabs are off - dry their legs - then udder cream mixed with flowers of sulphur - recoat in the morning before they go out?

I've washed and put the cream on but haven't taken the scabs off yet? it sort of goes against everything I would think to be right?

Is that something I should be doing? Obviously I want to do the right thing, just need that bit of extra confidence in my actions.

Oh, they are 14 & 18 if that makes a diff?

xxx:confused:xxx
 
I dont keep using hibiscrub, one wash should be enough to clean the area, then put on cream which should loosen the scabs and you can gradually ease them off, I find if you are too aggressive, unless it is really severe, you risk spreading it and making things worse.
The legs will swell standing in overnight, there is some infection so only natural that this is going to cause some swelling, if it gets worse or does not go down with exercise you will probably need antibiotics. Bandaging or wraps can help reduce swelling and keep the legs warm and dry, I use them then put cream on in the morning before they go out, do not use warm water to wash as it opens the pores allowing more infection in.
 
You need to get the scabs off as they hold the bacteria which cause mud fever to spread. My mare has it for the first time this year as she is living out. I use a weak hibiscrub solution in a bucket of lukewarm water 2-3 times a week depending on the weather. When it was frozen there was no need to wash mud off. I then dry the area, check for scabs and get any off. Leave it to dry thoroughly then when it was sore I used Flammazine from the Vets, cleared it up in no time atall. To protect from mud I use Pig Oil, dont use the sulphur part of it as it can burn the skin. The oil keeps the mud off really well and I only re-coat her legs 2-3 times per week in line with the Hibi cleaning. Baby oil is good to use too but I do find the pig oil thicker and perhaps longer lasting as well as working out economical to use.
 
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