mud fever losing the will to live

[Franblundell]

my pony has got mud fever this year not from going out in the fields as he is currently stabled to rest our fields, but he got it from hunting as he was hunting every wednesday & saturday. hunting now has stopped for lockdown & he has developed mud fever on front two heels .
i have been using warm water & malaseb from the vet to loosen and get scabs off. drying the legs as best as i can with a towel and then applying flamazine, i use my thermatex wraps to put on afterwards to warm the legs up.
is this all i can do ??
would you leave the legs to air throughout the day?

 

[Tash88]

Yes I think I would leave the legs to air, as you are rough drying them with a towel and you want them to dry out, rather than retaining moisture.

I think you are doing all you can treatment-wise - best of luck!

 

[dogatemysalad]

I'd avoid using leg wraps as a moist warm environment is a gift to bacteria. Also, unless you use a clean towel and leg wraps for each use, you may be invertently spreading the infection.
I've had good results by washing the legs with muddy marvel shampoo which is left on for a few minutes, then rinsed thoroughly and thickly applying the topical cream of your choice before wrapping in cling film and putting stable wraps over, so the horse can't eat the cling film. Remove after half an hour or so because the cream and cling film generates a lot of heat. Use your fingers to gently remove the softened scabs, but don't pull any stubborn ones. Smooth the cream over the areas where the scabs have come off and leave the legs uncovered.

 

[HappyHollyDays]

Stop washing and wrapping the legs and don’t pick the scabs off, it just creates new areas for the bacteria to get in and reinfect. If after a few days the flamazine isn’t helping I would have another chat with the vet as you might need some antibiotics to get on top of the infection. Mud fever can be a real burger to get rid off, my Connie had it all over his heels in August and it took about three weeks of cream to finally clear it up so don’t give up.

 

[Franblundell]

I'd avoid using leg wraps as a moist warm environment is a gift to bacteria. Also, unless you use a clean towel and leg wraps for each use, you may be invertently spreading the infection.
I've had good results by washing the legs with muddy marvel shampoo which is left on for a few minutes, then rinsed thoroughly and thickly applying the topical cream of your choice before wrapping in cling film and putting stable wraps over, so the horse can't eat the cling film. Remove after half an hour or so because the cream and cling film generates a lot of heat. Use your fingers to gently remove the softened scabs, but don't pull any stubborn ones. Smooth the cream over the areas where the scabs have come off and leave the legs uncovered.

hi, thank you so much for your reply, i’m thinking about malaseb his legs and soothe it for the scabs, leave on for 10minutes rinse and dry thoroughly with a towel, then add my flamazine, wrap loosely with cling film, thermatex wraps around the cling film. in the morning i can take it off and add the flamazine where the scabs have come off, leave the legs to air during the day in the stable.?

 

[GinaGeo]

I've previously been told not to use warm water as it open the pores up and allows the infection to deepen.

When my Connemara had this earlier on in winter (also from hunting), I did wash with dilute hibiscrub, dry with kitchen roll in a dabbing motion and then leave it to air.

The next day I smothered his heels in Aromaheel and just kept re-applying.

Cleared it up pretty quickly.

 

[milliepops]

I'd avoid using leg wraps as a moist warm environment is a gift to bacteria. Also, unless you use a clean towel and leg wraps for each use, you may be invertently spreading the infection.

this.
use cotton wool to dry it off, then you can easily see that you are drying with a clean bit each time. if you buy it on a roll you get plenty for your money, also softer and a lot more absorbent than a towel.

 

[SEL]

My vet told me to stop washing if I could - and if you're no longer going out in the mud then get it clean once and then keep applying antibacterial cream. We did need antibiotics though

 

[Bradsmum]

Another who has had good results with Aromaheel. It's quite thick so stays on though that does mean the area gets a little gloopy but it does the trick. Added bonus is that I love the smell!

 

[Shysmum]

No washing or scab picking, apply slathers of pig oil and sulphur (after a patch test) and the scabs will come off and the infection will heal. I apply pig oil once a month, no mud sticks to it.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

My boy had it bad. I left well alone. Just popped some cream onto scabs to soften them but didn't pick them.

 

[vam]

Mine gets mud fever with just a hint of rain, it more the change of environment (dry to wet) that is the issue not actual mud, she went on a field with long grass that was wet and got really scabby pasterns.
I have found washing off the worst thing I can do so she doesn't see the hose unless I have time to dry but I really try to avoid that. What I have found that helps is lots and lots of udder cream. Let the mud dry, brush off really well and rub the udder cream in. Even washing, towel drying then applying it will help. You need to rub it in and keep applying as it seems to create a skin barrier that can cope with mud/wet better, the scabs eventually lift off but I would never pick them off or try and get them off before they are ready.
As he is in the stable I would just apply it morning and night and keep his bed as dry as possible. It will take a while, if you can put some on before you ride and after if you have to clean his legs, I really wouldn't clingfilm as I think it it not letting the legs dry properly.

 

[HashRouge]

Mud rash is never one size fits all when it comes to treatment. With my mare, sudocreme is an absolute godsend. We've had quite a bit of trouble this year, so for two weeks she came in at night (normally she is out 24/7) and to start with I applied sudocreme mornings and evenings. We don't have much mud (her mud rash is usually caused by rain or wet grass) so I could apply the sudocreme without washing. However, every third day I did wash her legs and use some dilute hibiscrub to remove the build up of sudocreme. I then towel dried and applied some cream I got from the vet, rather than the sudocreme. Within 2 weeks she was healed and now she is just having sudocreme on once a day. I do find that with her, washing her legs is never an issue and actually seems to help. It's certainly never made things worse! Maybe because I only tend to do it when her legs are already wet?

 

[MissMay]

I was told never use a towel always use kitchen roll and everytime you dry somewhere change to a new sheet.
If staying in I wouldn't bother hosting I would stable in a big bed and brush off the next day when dry then use a barrier cream keep doing that for a week and see.
hosing daily is often what prolonged the issue

 

[holeymoley]

Ditch the leg wraps. If you intend on using them again, make sure they’re washed at a high temperature.

Hibiscrub and softening the scabs helped when mine had it. Pat dry with kitchen roll or a towel(again change the towel every day and wash at high temperature) leave it to the air and it should disappear in about a week. Wash anything that’s came in to contact with it- ie brushes.

 

[Orangehorse]

If he has got it from hunting it might from a place that is locally known as bad for mud fever. There is one locally and the vets say they get lots of calls out after the hunt has gone into this particular wood. Some people won't go in but go round the outside, and it is huge.Also affects horses who have gone into the stream and had to go through mud to get back out. Speaking from experience here.
The only solution to this sort of mud fever is antibiotics from the vet

 

[2 ponies 2 dogs]

My friends horse had long term mud fever, even in Summer, turned out the mare had Cushings.

 

[Gloi]

Mine got mud fever easily for the first couple of years he was here but after being on first Progressive Earth Pro Balance then Equimins Advance he no longer has had any despite being in the same conditions. Also a Cushings test is sensible especially is the pony is not young.

 

[Red-1]

I wash with Malaseb, but wet legs, massage in neat and leave it on for a few minutes before rinsing.Then dry with paper towels. The best cream was Demobian, but you can't get it now but I use an emollient cream, can be Centreban, or udder cream, or flammazine (although I have not found that to be a magic bullet) or the cream from the tack show in the blue tube, white writing that smell nice (can't remember the name). I found it isn't the cream, it is the massage that does the trick, gentle but persistent.

I then do whatever they do for the day, at night I wipe the cream downwards only, not ruffling the fur, then bandage with Gamgee, use one way one day, the other way the next, then discard. Cotton wool also works from a roll, but makes a mess in the stable!

Next morning, remove and wipe downwards only, massage new in and do activities of the day, repeat.

I use Malaseb again when the leg is gloopy and doesn't satisfactorily wipe down with the paper towel.

The leg is open to the air in the day, bandaged with clean and breathable Gamgee at night. The stable bandage also helps to prevent filling, but must not be too tight.

 

[Landcruiser]

No washing or scab picking, apply slathers of pig oil and sulphur (after a patch test) and the scabs will come off and the infection will heal. I apply pig oil once a month, no mud sticks to it.

This exactly. Simple, cheap and very effective. I discovered this after a terrible stubborn case where my horse ended up on oral and topical antibiotics and hideous swollen weeping legs. I could hardly get near his legs, they were so painful. I actually used baby oil and flowers of sulphur rather than pig oil, but it’s similar I think.
Anyway, it helped straight away and was like a miracle cure on both my horses - the other one had a less accute but equally stubborn case.