Mud fever... Help!

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Dizzle

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Can someone please make it go away. :(

Field is lovely and dry and although not really bad, his mud fever isn’t really getting better, it’s not puffy, swollen and he’s not lame on it or anything so no point calling the vet, but there are still scabby bits there and it’s always a worry as it’s an infection risk. Plus I’m getting bored of having to clean and dry it every single evening (OH hasn’t noticed that I’m using several tea towels a week on the horse, luckily!)

Originally I was applying sudocream for turnout and then washing it with Hibiscrub in the evening, drying and applying more sudocream.
Now he’s getting NAF mud barrier for turnout (although this has nearly run out it was leftover from a friend) and in the evenings it gets washed with hibiscrub, sprayed with purple spray, dried and left.

I’d really appreciated if it would just go now, so what’s a sure fire way to get rid of it and in what time scales?

At my disposal I currently have:
-Hibicrub
-Coal tar soap (tea tree oil based)
-Purple spray
-Iodine Spray
-Sudocream
-NAF Mud barrier thingymagig
 
What her skin wants, is to be left alone and just kept clean and dry for a few days. The best thing to do, is to keep your horse out of the mud for a few days a week. On a Friday night, bring her in, clean off her legs, get them dry and don't put any jollop on them. Then don't put her out again until Monday morning. As it is the weekend you have no excuse not to ride him. It is surprising what keeping them completely dry for a few days does.
 
My vet advises loads of antiseptic cream all over scabby bits a layer or 2 of cling film vet wrap over the cling film to keep it in place then stable bandage leave for 24 - 48 hours and voila scabs all gone. Then i just keep putting mud guard on to keep it at bay if it is still wet and muddy, if dry i just leave them with nothing on to breathe.
 
Maybe less washing. I was under the impression that washing lots especially with something quite strong like Hibiscrub can just weaken the skin and make it worse. I've been slapping on derma gel to soften the scabs and then just rubbing them gently to see if they want to come off (not picking them!). I've just started using sudocreme as it's cheaper than derma gel!!

I think mud fever is a bacterial infection so the priority is to get the scabs off and let it dry out. If it's really stubborn maybe some antibiotics from your vet will help to get rid of it. I think the key is to soften the scabs and remove them without weakening the skin further.
 
tracey01 said:
What her skin wants, is to be left alone and just kept clean and dry for a few days. The best thing to do, is to keep your horse out of the mud for a few days a week. On a Friday night, bring her in, clean off her legs, get them dry and don't put any jollop on them. Then don't put her out again until Monday morning. As it is the weekend you have no excuse not to ride him. It is surprising what keeping them completely dry for a few days does.
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Absolutely agree with this.I recently had a mare returned to me after being loaned out. The loaner had mentioned that she had picked up a "touch" of mud fever.However later she told me she had been washing the mare's legs and hibiscrubbing them.The result, the most blistered legs with the hair falling out. (Shes a TB) I've had her back a month now, and the legs are gradually returning to normal size. DON'T WASH!!!!!! All I've done is to put some soothing Apium cream on the scabs which are nearly all gone.
 
I’m so confused!

Basically I need to keep it scab free and dry, that’s the general gist but then without washing it too much or covering it up with lots of creams???

Someone once recommended a wash for eczema as it moisturises too? What about washing it with the tea tree oil soap instead?

Would the vet suggest/prescribe something for mud fever over the phone? (to save me £££ on the call out fee?)
 
Instead of washing them then should I just clean them and apply either purple spray or iodine spray instead?
 
The problem with asking on here is that many people have used many different approaches, and quite often they are conflicting!

My mare got mud fever in September last year, during a dry spell. It rumbled on for about 2 months but never bad enough to call the vet. In the end, I found that hibiscrub was drying her skin out terribly and making it more inflamed. I swapped to povidone iodine scrub instead which is antibacterial and antifungal too, I think, but didn't make her skin red and angry.

I cleaned it every night with this, to make sure there were no scabs - one thing that everyone agrees with is that the scabs have got to come off one way or another. I left it dry overnight and then plenty of barrier cream or sudocrem to go out in.

Another thing that really did work, much to my surprise, was those turnout chaps from Equilibrium. Never thought they would do any good, but they really did help keep the mud off.
 
Dizzle said:
Would the vet suggest/prescribe something for mud fever over the phone? (to save me £££ on the call out fee?)
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Hmm, doubt it - can you get the horse to the surgery instead? I think they usually prescribe flamazine now.
 
milliepops said:
I swapped to povidone iodine scrub instead which is antibacterial and antifungal too, I think, but didn't make her skin red and angry.
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I have tonnes of iodine spray (slight ordering error online :?) so would this be similar to the povidone iodine scrub? The problem with the not washing is that if I apply sudocream I need to wash it off the leg at the end of the day to be able to clean it and apply something else, I’d hate to keep layer Sudocream on!

Well one thing is for sure, stop with the hibiscrub!

I did have a look at the chaps but IMO you’d need a couple of pairs in order to ensure that a clean dry pair was going on everyday and that’s ££££!
 
Yeah, I'm lucky that we have a heater in the tackroom so I can dry my set out overnight. And she only had it bad on her hinds, so I only needed one pair anyway :rolleyes:

I expect the iodine will be similar - tbh I used Carex soap which is gentle but also antibacterial to get the cream off first, then the iodine (gently) after that. Know what you mean about it being hard to get the cream out. Make sure you clip the hair short too - that makes it MUCH easier to de-scab.
 
Your vet should prescribe something over the phone or at least discss the options with you over the phone if your horse has been seen by them fr anything (even a vacc) in the last 6mths or so. We prefer to use medicated sampoos for small animals rather than hibiscrub which can be drying.
 
Friends horse had really bad mudfever and farrier friend reccomended feeding farriers formula or similar and this year has not had a single symptom. Needs to be fed all the time though.
His theory was that the hoof is just an extension of the leg so if you are feeding for good feet you improve coat / skin too.
It definately worked for my friend.
 
Vegetable oil is very good - just rub it on scabby area for a couple of days and scabs will loosen and come off more easily without being sore. You could then dab on green oils or if you have some fucidin
 
The bacteria that causes mud fever is anaerobic so it needs the scabs and stuff to live, by putting on a lot of creams and stuff you're actually helping them to carry on, I agree that you need to soften the scabs- maybe try just regular water to get them off. Then just leave the legs alone, they need to be dry and not covered with any form of gloop/spray/oil etc for a couple of days.
 
My horse has had badish mud fever this year. All I have done is apply a layer of Equimins mud relief stuff, and it clears up.

Did this last year with my other horse, it worked for him to.
 
You have my sympathies - twice last year I had to get the vet out for Arion and twice he had to be given antibiotics to clear up mud fever. :(

I used pig oil and sulphur to get rid of the last of his scabs - just rubbed it on and left it, no washing of the legs and no hibiscrub once the worst of it was gone - trying to clean his legs with hibiscrub on the vets advise was akin to attempting suicide as I dodged flying legs because he was in pain :(

The pig oil and sulphur loosened the scabs and they fell off easily with normal grooming the day after each application - I used it daily for a week, then once a month religiously even if the sun was splitting the trees - topped him up with a daily application for a week just before winter and then back to once a month - we have had a few little scabs this year but no serious mud fever thank goodness - he has none at all at the moment despite the large mud patch we are calling a field - lots of rain here at the moment.
 
Hevs, poor you! I think I’m just going to keep it clean and dry (no washing) and apply the iodine before bed. See how that goes over the next week.

There’s so much conflicting advice on how to treat it, I will give the vets a call if there’s no improvement by next week.

I suppose though if I try and keep it clean, dry and zap it with a spray that should knock it on the head if I’m removing scabs.

Whoever suggested hair removal… he’s a TB so there isn’t a huge amount of hair in the first place, do you still think it would help? *I’ve images of him with shaved ankles now*
 
Yes getting rid of the hair will really help - had to get my arab sedated so I could clip his legs out in order to clear his up in the autumn - the skin could never get totally dry under the hair which was making it worse
 
For mud fever first I wash legs using just a hosepipe and cold water, dry them then plaster on zinc and castor oil cream (comes in huge tubs used for nappy rash in babies). The following morning, wipe off the cream and plaster on more before he goes out. Wash at night, dry in a deep straw bed or thatch of straw under bandages until perfectly dry, then plaster on more zinc and castor oil, wipe off and reapply before turnout.

Once the mud fever is beaten, put some cheap vegetable oil in an old washing-up liquid bottle, and squirt over legs and use hands to smooth down to skin to create an oil barrier before turning out, wash off with hose and cold water when he comes in and either use a deep straw bed or straw thatch under bandages to make sure always dry at night.

Can't go wrong!
 
My Tb had horrific mud fever and I got some excellent advice on here. I washed the legs thoroughly in a mixture of baby shampoo and dettol and left to dry. Then I plastered the legs with sudocream and wrapped in cling film and bandaged overnight. Then I washed the legs again scrubbing gently to remove the scabs, left to dry and then coated the legs with sudocream every night and kept him in. It cleared up really well and the hair has all grown back. It was not infected although it was very sore
 
Theresa F sent me a PM about using pig oil and sulphur, and my cob has gone from having horrendous mud fever all year round (when we lived in the north east which is driest bit of UK) even when in overnight, to being able to live out 24 hours in wettest wales with no symptoms. The more you wash the legs, the more you remove the natural oils in the coat which offer some protection, I'm sure Theresa won't mind if I send you the PM.
 
Anyway, have sent PM.
My advice would be to keep her in overnight, hose legs, but no washing or rubbing, let them dry ( or nearly dry) and while she is in spread any kind of antibacterial/ antiseptic ointment eg Sudocrem, or Flamazine etc all over the scabs and wrap (loosely cos they will swell overnight) in cling film.
The next day, remove cling film and rub off the scabs which should be nice and softened.
Then coat legs liberally with the pig oil and sulphur (see PM) and turn out.
Bingo!
 
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