Mud Fever and Lameness

[Maclinda]

Three weeks ago, and completely out of the blue, my horse had a severe case of mud fever. She was incredibly lame with it, leg was swollen, and couldn't weight bear. Vet was phoned immediately, who administered antibiotic and anti-inflammatory injections, a course of oral antibiotics and danilon, with a steroid cream. Swelling went down pretty quicky and she really improved but fetlock and heel was still really raw and scabby. Have been treating it topically and it has definitely improved but the fetlock is still swollen so contacted vet again. After consultation he advised more Danilon for inflammation and gave me two more topic creams as he really thought the swelling was due not to further infection but to the surface continual mud fever. Three weeks on its definitely improved, there are not much scabs left except for the inside of the joint but this is my problem. The fetlock joint is still a bit swollen where the worse is still remaining and my horse although completely sound in walk is still "feely" in trot and definitely taking a short stride on this side (hindleg is one affected). My questions are(sorry bit long-winded) is it normal to take three weeks for this to heal, should it still be swollen where the scabs are, and should she still be "lame". Any advise would be greatly appreciate. Vet coming out to another horse on Tuesday and I will get him to examine her again, but until then it would be good to be reassured!

 

[be positive]

It can easily take that long to heal, once the initial infection has gone and you have removed the cause the damaged skin needs time to fully recover and while it is healing it will still be tight and sore.
The same with the swelling if it was really bad it will take weeks to go back to normal, possibly months if lymphatic system has been involved, plenty of movement should help the swelling go down but her movement will be restricted until the skin has healed and she feels more comfortable .

 

[wellsat]

I know this isn't one of the questions that you asked but I'd recommend the forage plus balancer. My horse hasn't had mud fever since starting on it.

 

[Tnavas]

Zoom to the chemist a buy a bottle of Nizoral shampoo - wash her legs well with it using hand hot water. Lather up well and work well into the hair. Leave to dry

Make sure that you wash all around and beyond the currently affected area - why vets still insist on treating it as a bacterial infection is beyond me - It is fungal and responds best and quickly to antifungal shampoos - with Nizoral being one of the best.

Check all the feeds you are giving for Lucerne (Alfalfa) as this can cause photosensitisation in some horses which appears with the same symptoms as mudfever but doesn't respond to the NIzoral.

 

[Andalucian]

I've seen a few difficult cases of mud fever that were also infected with lice, until the lice issue was resolved the mudfever kept oozing and open as the lice were feasting on it. Worth treating for lice as well I think.