Mud fever cure Pigoil & Sulphur help!

[L&B]

Yep that time of year again I'm afraid.
Have just got a little filly (yearling) who has mud fever on her hocks and heel crevice - it's presenting itself as cracks and dandruff looking crusty bits deep in her feather.
Can anyone comment on whether a thick mix of pig oil and sulphur can help my wee girly once her legs are clean and dry??

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Yes, but the trick I've found is to keep legs dry, oil til it resembles a slick and keep in if possible til any cracks are healed. Oil, oil, oil. Patch test sulphur and pig oil for allergic reaction.

 

[L&B]

Thanks so much for the reply. So you don't think the oil and sulphur will make it any worse? Doesn't it sting? Providing the legs are clean and dry. I have her stabled currently and although I hate keeping babies in our yard is a quagmire atm. So just not worth it.

 

[BlackRider]

I use this as a preventative - for treatment you are probably better getting some cream off the vet.

 

[applecart14]

Pig oil is just melted lard. Its easier (and by far cheaper) to buy some lard from your supermarket, buy some 'flower of sulphur' from your garden centre (dry powder in bottle with shaker on top like 'shake and vac') and mix the two in a tupperware container without melting the lard. Apply liberally with gloved hands and wash off the following week (using lots of washing up liquid) and make sure you dry thoroughly (hair dryer and kitchen towel dry) and then reapply for the next week.

You can do a test patch if you like, but when we used to apply this to our horses in the winter twenty odd years ago we just used to put it on and they never reacted.

Our horses couldn't wear boots during the time the lard was on their legs but to be honest in those days there weren't a lot of horses wearing boots anyway! It was very effective as the lard preventing the water pentrating the hair and acted as a water repellant and the FOS worked as an anti bacterial powder.

 

[Midlifecrisis]

The sulphur is for mites...just use pig oil and patch test first..if skin cracked and sore the sulphur will sting. Wash legs and dry thoroughly , apply cream for healing skin don't pick scabs off. Keep horsey in if really bad in the dry. When going out apply lots of oil as a barrier don't wash or rinse off when coming in from field. Brush dry mud off in morning. Mud fever supplements in feed may help "strengthen" skin and reduce incidence.

 

[Gloi]

Pig oil isn't melted lard, however lard does work as a barrier.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Just another warning re. using pig oil with sulphur basically. Someone else has mentioned this; please do be careful and make sure you patch test BEFORE using it as it can cause a very nasty reaction.

I used it on my pink-skinned, white-fetlocked traddie coz I'd seen someone mention it on here: and didn't realise how caustic the stuff can be. My poor lad, came up very hot, pink & irritated because of it.

I can use pig oil on its own, with Neem oil and/or Tea Tree and/or Lavendar oil added; but with sulphur its a big no-no

I worry when I see people on-line and on social forums advocating its use.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Pig oil is a coconut derivative, not lard. Do patch test, I've heard several times that horses have reacted badly to it. It is very common for mudfever prevention/support of skin and as a barrier, but that doesn't mean that it's ok for all horses. The key is getting the skin healed and free of open grazes/scabs. That probably means keeping the horse in.

 

[tallyho!]

Pig oil, coconut oil, olive oil... anything that keeps the moisture out and kills bacteria is good.

However, mud fever is a sign that the skin is weak itself. Is the horse getting enough vits and minerals to keep skin healthy? Or is it a case of too much of a good thing? (i.e. too much grain/starch/sugar/allergens).

What I would do is keep the skin dry and put the horse on a two week detox of just hay and handful of grass chaff. Go from there but treat the infection as you would normally and keep as dry as possible.

 

[Tnavas]

Applecart14 and cinnamontoast

Pig Oil is Liquid Paraffin not melted lard or derived from coconuts, it is a highly refined mineral oil. A bi product of Petroleum. The Sulphur is anti fungal and a basic antibiotic

OP

Wash your youngsters legs with Nizoral shampoo. Dilute with hand hot water, lather up well and work well into the hair. I use a face cloth as the slight roughness helps to lather up the shampoo and also gently removes scabs.

Do not try to pick off the scabs, they will come off in their own time. Generally I've only had to wash once or twice and the Mudfever has cleared up.

 

[twiggy2]

Applecart14 and cinnamontoast

Pig Oil is Liquid Paraffin not melted lard or derived from coconuts, it is a highly refined mineral oil. A bi product of Petroleum. The Sulphur is anti fungal and a basic antibiotic

this

 

[applecart14]

Applecart14 and cinnamontoast

Pig Oil is Liquid Paraffin not melted lard or derived from coconuts, it is a highly refined mineral oil. A bi product of Petroleum. The Sulphur is anti fungal and a basic antibiotic

Apologies, I stand to be corrected. I didn't realise that. Like I say we used to use lard and flowers of sulphur and assumed that pig oil was a fancy (and therefore expensive) name for melted lard!

Well you learn something new every day.

Here are other posts about lard and FOS.

http://www.devonhoundbassets.co.uk/index.php?page=8
http://community.preloved.co.uk/forums/discussion/98098/flowers-of-sulphur.html?startrow=1

http://www.arabianlines.com/forum1/topic_new.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=13254

 

[Gloi]

It is actually called pig oil as it is used to oil pigs. They can suffer from dry cracked skin too (Even before cooking)

 

[Tnavas]

Applecart14 - I too used to use lard on heels when I was a kid - a very good but annoying treatment as it usually had hardened into a solid block by the time I went to use it.

Gloi - pig oil is used for when pigs are shown

 

[JenHunt]

Pig oil is just melted lard......

nope, it's mineral oil.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

My bad and I keep reading about it and keep forgetting! When I first heard of it, many years ago, someone did actually ask if it was melted pig! :biggrin3:

 

[applecart14]

My bad and I keep reading about it and keep forgetting! When I first heard of it, many years ago, someone did actually ask if it was melted pig! :biggrin3:

Ha my memory is bad too. In looking for articles about using lard I found an old H&H forum post where someone told me it wasn't lard, but it was a long time ago and I've since forgotten all about it!

 

[L&B]

Blimey!! Quite a debate going on over what pig oil is
Thanks for all the replies though!!
I think what I'll do then is wash and dry the legs thoroughly.
I have fungatrol so will apply that for a few days and keep her in, then will turn out after 3-4days indoors with fungatrol after pig oil and sulphuring her up.
She is fine with both. Have patch tested.
Will look into diet as suggested though she is only on hay and a basic M&YS mix for vits and mins over winter.

I suspect its all my fault she has this in the first place as she is a traditional so has quite some feather coming and is maximum sabino so almost entirely white except little gingery sprinkles on her ears -- and I turned her out with only a quick squirt of pig oil/sulphur!

PLAN! Anyway, thanks again for all the replies

 

[rascal]

I know a cob that had mud fever, it was due to feeding alfalfa, could be something in her diet. We never feed the stuff.

 

[Tnavas]

I know a cob that had mud fever, it was due to feeding alfalfa, could be something in her diet. We never feed the stuff.

That one would be photosensitisation rather than Mud Fever - any horse that doesn't respond to treatment for mudfever is possibly reacting to Lucerne (Alfalfa) in their diet. Also too much clover in the grazing. Generally just about every processed feed contains Lucerne.

Well worth checking the ingredients

 

[DClements]

Hi there, I'm from New Zealand and it seems this forum is really active and has alot of good advice. I brought a new TB who arrived with a small amount of mud fever which has now got really out of control. I took him to the vet as one of his hind legs got hot and swelled, she gave his a long lasting antibiotic injection and said to wash daily with sunlight soap, dry and apply an antibacterial / antibiotic cream which I have been doing but not getting anywhere. This forum talks a lot about pig oil and I'm trying to work out what that might be in NZ and what the ratio of pig oil to sulphur or pig oil to tee tree oil might be so that I can make something. I also have him on a supplement to help internally. Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[be positive]

Hi and welcome, we try not to wash once the initial mud/ general gunk has been removed as daily washing can hinder healing, pig oil is used more as a preventative being sprayed on a few times a week to stop mud sticking, a plain baby oil will do much the same or you may find it as liquid paraffin, some horses are allergic to sulfur so be careful if using on a thin skinned tb, at the moment with yours I would stop washing and apply a really good cream several times a day, ideally one that does not get claggy when applied so the air can still get to the skin and also look at giving him something to boost his immune system and encourage healing from within, just seen you have done this so that may take time to make a difference.
The other thing that comes to mind as it is summer with you so unlikely to be wet, is that it is not mud fever but something else such as leukocytoclastic vasculitis which will require different care to get to the bottom of and can be very hard to deal with.

 

[Petalpoos]

I found Lincoln Muddy Buddy Kure cream to be brilliant when I had a mare with mud fever a couple of years ago. You just clean their legs (don't pick off any scabs) wait until they are dry and then apply the cream. After a few days it all clears up, but I continued to use as a preventative over the winter. Since that one attack, my mare has never since had mud fever. Odd that she has it on her hocks though - are you sure it is mud fever? My mare also had a reaction to UV that caused her to have sore patches on her heels.

I also have a theory that they get these things when they are stressed - my mare had been to the hospital for a few days previously, so maybe it is related to the move? If that is the case, it may not recur once she is settled.

Good luck!

 

[Gloi]

I really like the Keratex mud shield powder as a preventative if you can get the legs clean and dry before you apply it.