MUD FEVER IT JUST WONT GO AWAY

YOU NEED TO GET YOUR VET TO COME AND SWAB YOUR HORSE'S LEG AND SEND IT AWAY TO A LABORATORY FOR CULTURE AND SENSITIVITY.

My mare started with what looked like bad mud fever november/ december having never had it previously and it got worse despite being on norodine antibiotics in her food.

After swabbing her leg it turned out she had pseudomonas and streptococcus. This bug is highly resistant to antibiotics and the only drug that it responds to is enrofloxacin ( baytril). My mare is in foal and cant have baytril as it will cause foetal defects. She was sedated and her leg tubbed in as hot water as she could tolerate with iodine in it so I could get all the scabs off ( scabs extended up above her fetlock joint) we then used a combination of flamazine and intrasite ( my mare had an area of skin that was sloughing off on the front of her fetlock that had to be dressed so was covered in intrasite gel and then melalin applied and bandaged).

After 2 weeks of washing her leg in dilute iodine everyday and pulling any stray scabs off , drying her leg and then applying flamazine her leg healed and she is now back out in the field. She was on box rest for 2.5 months. She now wears equi chaps in the field as once they have had pseudomonas they are likely to get it again.

There has been a lot of horses with pseudomonas this year, I am a veterinary nurse and have seen a few horses being referred to vet schools with it as it wont clear up, the horses find it painful and usually need sedating every day to have it treated.
 
flaxen - argh that must have been a very difficult situation with your mare being in foal! glad you found a way round it!

I agree a vet visit out is the best bet, however I also know a number of vets are very blase about taking scellotape samples, skin scrapes etc from mud fever legs (or what looks like them) which i find really irritating as I had to do them for a mare I ride at my yard (took the samples into the vet school and did all the tests like a real vet!!!
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felt very proud of myself when I diagnosed it! hehe)

I think the problem with mud fever is there are loads of myths, remidies etc for it and the main point that is often forgotten is that at the end of hte day its a bacterial infection......... plain and simple! Therefore you treat it with antibiotics........

unfortuantly some bacteria are resistant to antibiotics and so a culture and sensitivity screening may be require if the horse doesnt respond to broad spectrum topical treatment and often people don't want to pay for it all (Ithink this is often why vets don't bother.....)

If the horse in the OP doesnt/hasnt responded to topical treatment by now a vet should do a thorough investigation.

And answering a previous poster you have to remove the scabs to access the bacterial colonies underneath (as they are anaerobes and cannot survive on the surface of the skin, they have to stay underneath!) so treating ontop of the scabs is not useful!
 
Rubbing vegetable oil onto scabs loosens them and makes them much easier to come off over the course of a couple of days and more pain free. Once area is clean and scabs are off, green oils seemed to work really well. As a matter of course, I always wash my horses legs with copious amounts of cold water daily until water runs clear, rubbing with my hands if nec.
 
My tb is very prone to mud fever and being blistered in the past means he's very touchy with anything to do with his legs, can't even wash them! Every winter I try some new cream with no avail, even flamazine from the vets did nothing! I then tried aromaheel, applying it very quickly not even rubbing it in to the affected areas whilst picking his feet out! It worked! Within 2 days no scabs and in for days no sores! It really works for him and is worth a try! It even works over mud as he won't let me brush it off unless sedated! What a diva!
 
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PLEASE go buy some athletes foot spray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Its £3.50 I researched it it gets rid of it in a week just spray it into the sores!!!!!!! Stop making it sweat as this just breeds it stop wetting it as it needs to be dry to heal one day someone will listen to me it works everytime I use it! TRY IT!

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im with you, ive use it for years, and it works a treat and clears the MF up in days.

fungatrol is another good ointment.
 
I would get antibiotics to clear the infection, no amount of washing will kill it I wouldnt have thought.

I have a MF prone horse and my yard owner swears its something to do with the type of field. Moved field= mud fever gone.

I always leave the mud to dry, seems silly washing an already damp leg, since the bacteria thrives in damp. Then brush off mud the following morning. He is in at night to allow the legs to dry. Applying baby oil or 7 day mud away keeps the mud from sticking (although I wouldnt put on an infected leg!) I also put sudocrem on any odd scabs and so far so good.
 
My horse had it the first year i had him, i used pig oil and sulphur, lathered him on it with loads of sulphur.
It cleared it up and since then ive just religiously applied it every 5 weeks every winter and never had a problem.

Funnily enough i was 3 weeks late! and he started to get a touch of it on his hind, put the mix on and within 2 days gone!

I think once you get control of this bout of it, just make part of your routine to lather him in oil and sulphur every 5 weeks. prevention better than cure and all that.

Hope he heals soon x
 
Try switching to Top Spec comprehensive feed. I had a horse that was very liable to MF, then I swtiched to Top Spec and I realised that she didn't get MF. I still stabled her at night and used vaseline to protect before going out.
 
I agree with Lucy_Nottingham you get so far and get lazy just when it appears to be disappearing thinking you're on top of it and BAM it's back with avengance!
I have had to battle it all winter. Vet precribed Flammazine, it certainly helped but it was disgustingly expensive
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In desperation I tried a tub of Dermol 500 I had in the house, which was for me as I have occasional bouts of mild eczma, and it has been the best thing and far from expensive and is a non POM
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I apply it every day 2-3 times a day. Even when it looks good I still apply it as a preventative and will do so til the ground becomes dryer.
And I also use little pastern wraps for turnout, they help too, don't always keep them clean and dry but the area is warmer and less exposed to winter elements, and I put on the Thermatex leg wraps in the stable every night to dry them off (I never wash) and warm legs is good for healing as better blood flow.
Seems high maintenance but worth it to keep a MF prone horse sound
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So you are all avoiding trying a suggestion that cures mud fever and costs £3.50 I think you all enjoy have £4000 vet bills and remedies! Amazes me..
 
TheBlack, no not saying don't try but it seems odd that athletes foot spray (a treatment for a fungal infection) would work for a bacterial infection..........

not saying it doesnt! I think lots of things can help with this problem, but at the end of the day a bacterial problem is what it is!

also, it doesnt cost £4000 for a vet to come out,do a scellotape test and skin scrape, stain and examine it, and decide which antibiotic will do the best job at getting rid and at least you know which bacteria you are dealing with...

But no not saying ur idea is bad, just everyone is suggesting what they know to have worked. Including urself!
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At last Thank you! It contains tinactin. It is anti fungal but i think the bacteria turn fungal from being wet! ~Thus spreading like wildfire! Also can be used on ringworm and rainrot. I think any scabby weepy skin condition it will work a treat. ~I know I have tried it.
 
Ps antibiotics are antilife and not good for the horses gut just using them for skin problems is silly in my opinion. It isn't an infection its bacteria turning into fungal spores.
 
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