mud fever for the first time.....in September

[Uniique]

Hi all

Scabby lumps have flared up on my 11hh ponies legs. He has never suffered mud fever in the past so I can't believe he has it in September with no mud...! I can only imagine it is sweat from when he is working despite being washed off when very hot and sweaty. He does a small amount of driving. Any tips to clear this up?

Thanks xx

 

[mjcssjw2]

are you sure?
vet thought my horse had mud fever, never had it before, ended up being mites, oh after we ended up with cellulitis and four mega fat legs.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Second above post: this year is a bad one for mites, my boy's had it like he's never had it before, PLUS mud fever when the weather was wet (which was basically ALL summer )

Is yours stamping his feet and/or rubbing his back feet against the other foot when standing? Is he scratching his feet with his teeth? Does he seem noticeably very itchy around his feet generally? If so its probably (but not necessarily) mites.

For mites on my boy, the vet prescribed Eqvalan (Invermectin): three doses to be taken at three fortnightly intervals. If yours has got lots of feather he'll be predisposed to mites as they like this sort of environment so you might need to clip off his feathers. I also use Neem Shampoo as a further deterrent or Tea Tree to soothe.

 

[Uniique]

Ohhhh hadn't though of mites. He isn't itchy with it. It is mainly isolated to one leg. He has very little feather so to speak. If I inspect closely will I be able to idnetify mites?

 

[Boulty]

You might be able to see little orange dots if there are mites there (depends on how close he'll let you look!)

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Whereabouts and on which leg(s) is the scabbiness?? Can you post a picture?

 

[Ali27]

Grazing on clover cause mud fever like symptoms!

 

[mjcssjw2]

i couldn't see them, my horse has no feather and I didn't catch him scratching and chewing if that helps.. this is what it looked like

 

[ribbons]

Another option may be photosensitivity. My vet diagnosed mud fever one bone dry September. It wasn't, and took some time to get to the bottom of as never suffered before. Turns out some feed/plants can trigger PS in a horse that has never had symptoms before. It presents very like mud fever.

 

[Jools1234]

that does not look to be a typical spot for mud fever or mites in MO, cant tell you what it does look like though

 

[mjcssjw2]

thats what i thought Jools, but going of what vet said when eventually got one to look, at one point his coronet bands were oozing!! Too be fair the treatment (dectomax) does seem to be improving it no end. Juat have more typical scabby bits not

 

[Jools1234]

poor thing sounds sore

a lot of horses did not read the text book and respond differently to how we would expect them to

glad to hear its improving

 

[mumperry]

No mud! you are lucky. My horses have been wallowing in it since May. First time in 20 years that I have not been able to ride in the fields because it has been so wet. I have just put mine on the herbal SuperSkin from Equus Health to see if it will help their skin this winter. It is much cheaper than the specific mud fever supplements so I am hoping I won't need them this year. Surely got to have a dry winter after this summer??!