Mud Fever - Horse Kicking Out

Jinete12

Jinete12

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My boy has mud fever and I've been managing to keep it under control, but over the last 2 days I've slipped up somewhere and new patches have appeared further up his legs.

He's an absolute nightmare with pain and it's impossible to get the scabs off without nearly getting my head taken off. Today I managed to get cream on to try to soften scabs by placing huge dollops on a plastic shovel handle and smearing it up and down his back legs whilst someone else held up a front leg, but it was far from easy.

Does anyone know any treatment in a spray form that would loosen scabs? I really want to try to get it under control myself before resorting to sedation.

Any ideas?
 
Wont be easy but Ive heard of people putting the cream on then wrapping the leg with cling film. This softens the scabs by preventing air getting to them to dry them out. If you put a bandage over the cling film it will keep it in place hopefully. Ask your vet for some Flamazene cream, thats good for mud fever. May be difficult in this weather but cold water would numb the pain your horse feels so perhaps you can get close enough to do the above. Otherwise sedation is probably the only way.

Hope that helps.
 
Thanks Rowenna, I've been spraying with pig oil, but scabs didn't seem to soften - at least not enough for me to pull off very quickly so will give baby oil a go.

Thanks for you comment too Izzwizz. My plan had been to clingfilm & bandage legs this afternoon, but I didn't have a hope of doing it. After getting the cream on, he was literally kicking out if I so much as looked at his hind legs! I know it's sore, but he really is the biggest wimp!
 
I would play safe if I were you, not worth getting your head kicked in, and get your horse sedated. Its an awful condition and the vets told me when I was dealing with it that the Flamazene cream is used for burns victims so very soothing and healing.
 
Flammazine is good, but not at all cheap! Muddy marvel de-scab lotion works just as well with our boy that gets it really badly, and he doesn't seem to be sore with it.. We give him a lickit and lots of fuss while we do anything with his legs while he has mudrash. He's not kicking to be nasty.
 
My horse used to get really really bad mudfever. Weeping huge scabs and swollen legs. Was awful. Vet told me to stop hosing his legs off when he came in from the field muddy and brush off when dry. I always do this now and hes never had it again. He used to kick out too and i tried everything. We used a combination of udder cream mixed with anti biotic/antiseptic cream and this got rid of it eventually. I would bandage his legs loosely at night and when he eventually went out again i put keratex powder all over his legs and this seemed to help.
 
I dont remember Flamazine being particuarly expensive. I rang the vets, told him what was going on and went a picked it up so it didnt involve a vet visit. Think it was about £6 at the time, around 4-5 years ago. Obviously it may be a bit more now but worth it if it sorts out the problem.
 
I found derma-gel was good for mud fever and when it got close to healing so no more open scabs we would spray with 7 day mud away I think its naf, and it works similar to baby oil to repel mud :)
 
Izzwizz said:
I dont remember Flamazine being particuarly expensive. I rang the vets, told him what was going on and went a picked it up so it didnt involve a vet visit. Think it was about £6 at the time, around 4-5 years ago. Obviously it may be a bit more now but worth it if it sorts out the problem.
Click to expand...

the last flammazine we got was over £30 a pot!!!:eek: maybe there are varying levels of intensity of it?
 
I think Flamazine comes in a pot or a tube - could explain price differences.

Well, the massive amounts of sudocream smeared on with a shovel handle last night did the trick! Scabs had all softened and lifted this morning and I managed to give his legs a good clean with hibiscrub and wrap with thermatex leg wraps to dry (in between kicks!). It looks sooo much better today. Still sore, but pink rather than bright red. Think I might be able to get on top of it now :)
 
We paid well over £30 for a tub of flamazine two years ago. We've had a little tube of it too - that obviously would have been cheaper, but didn't last two minutes...
 
OP, please don't try to take the scabs off; let them fall off on their own. Nicer for your horse and safer for you.
Just dollop some cream on them (as you did) which will soften them up and they will roll off when they're ready. Also look at the diet as healthy skin heals quicker and everything comes from within; Brewers Yeast is a good coat and hoof conditioner and it's pretty cheap too.

Even if you leave MF completely alone (as one of my vets recommends), it will heal itself eventually and as long as there's no infection, it's a good thing to do as the horse's body repairs itself. Wild ponies don't get treatment do they?
 
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