Mud Fever Nightmare

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kate.l

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Two of my horses are suffering with mud fever at themoment. They have been turned out for 4 hours or so during the day and stabledat night on clean, dry shavings. Parts of their field isquite boggy at themoment and walking them through these parts is pretty unavoidable! One horse'slegs swelled right up, so I had the vet out who prescribed him a weeks worth ofantibiotics. I've kept them both in for over a week now, i've been pickingscabs off and bathing using hibiscrub, making sure I dry off the legscompletely afterwards. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be showing much signsof improvement... The antibiotics have taken the swelling right down but thelegs are still very scabby. Having them stabled 24hours a day is unrealisticfor an extended period of time, they're getting ridden daily but it's just notpractical for them to have no turnout at all.... Extremely fizzy 4yo is really putting my riding to the test too!!

Does anyone know whether or not it would be a good idea to turn them out for afew hours a day? Providing I wash and dry their legs off when they come in - Icould apply a barrier cream too, does anyone have any recommendations? Anygeneral advice would also be appreciated!
Thanks in advance
 
I'd turn them out as much as possible. I'd also stop washing the legs every day, just let the mud dry overnight and brush it off, constantly damp skin won't be helping.

My youngster had a patch of rainscald last summer and I used Equitech Mud Stop lotion (think it also comes in a spray and a cream), massaged it onto the problem area once daily and within a week, the scabs fell off - no picking or daily washing required!
 
Do you think it's ok to turn out even though their field is muddy - I'm worried that the bacteria will get back into the area that are scabby and they'll be re-infected?
Despite the fact that I hose their legs off when they come in, they're wearing thermatex boots at night to ensure that they're fully dried off...
I will look into the equitechlotion - thank you!
 
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I used the Equi-Med Ag boots with great success on my horse's mud fever. Ideally you turn out in the day with nothing on your horse's legs and bring him in at night and wash his legs down and dry, then put the boots on. I loved the fact that I have the boots for life (for prevention as well as getting rid) and infact my field is very short grass and non-boggy so I left the boots on 24/7 some days. Google and give the company a ring. They are expensive to buy but longterm worked out cheaper than a vet bill and vet potions. Plus as I said you have the boots for life. Also really liked the fact that I didnt have to pick the scabs off so the boots were far less invasive for my horse and I didn't end up with a horse that is sensitive to the leg to touch because of constant picking of scabs. Recommended boots to a friend and she got the same good results. Good luck getting your horse better. Mud fever is a nightmare. Be patient with the boots and I am sure they will work for you if you decide to go down this option.
 
I use Aromaheel for mud fever. You can plaster it on and leave it for a few days after which time the scabs will all wipe away with cotton wool and you will be left with pink skin. I would then keep re-applying it until the skin looks nice and dry (if that makes sense).

Once you've got mud fever, stop hosing the legs as you'll only weaken the skin further.

And don't put any sort of boots on when you turn out. Thermatex leg wraps are great for drying legs, although a nice thick bed will also help.

I had persistent mud fever one year and the vet advised antiseptic cream (I used sudacrem) with cotton wool on top, then cling film and then vetrap. Re-do every few days. Once the skin was nice and pink not yellow, I left out the cling film and just carried on until it was healed and the hair had started growing back.
 
I think so - horses are both grey, so yes, just on white legs :( vet came out last week to see the one who's legs had swelled up and she didnt seem to think it was anything else... What else could it be?

Thank you for advice about boots, unfortunately the horse that is suffering the worst is actually for sale and he's got very fine legs so the boots probably wouldn't fit anything else that I have! So reluctant to fork out a great deal on something that I probably won't be able to use on anything else! They do sound great though and thanks for the reccomendation
 
jenni999 said:
I use Aromaheel for mud fever. You can plaster it on and leave it for a few days after which time the scabs will all wipe away with cotton wool and you will be left with pink skin. I would then keep re-applying it until the skin looks nice and dry (if that makes sense).

Once you've got mud fever, stop hosing the legs as you'll only weaken the skin further.

And don't put any sort of boots on when you turn out. Thermatex leg wraps are great for drying legs, although a nice thick bed will also help.

I had persistent mud fever one year and the vet advised antiseptic cream (I used sudacrem) with cotton wool on top, then cling film and then vetrap. Re-do every few days. Once the skin was nice and pink not yellow, I left out the cling film and just carried on until it was healed and the hair had started growing back.
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Thank you - did you turn yours out or leave in?

The scabs arent yellow and aren't weeping...
 
I would check that this isn't Leukocytoclastic Vasculitis which is UV photosensitivity. It was this time last year that my mare flared up with it horrendously on her white legs and after thinking it was mud fever for ages and nothing working when diagnosed with LV it was relatively simple to get rid of it over time. It causes lesions, swelling and soreness. Have a look on the Equimed Ag website for our case study with photos but if you think it might be this (many vets don't diagnose it correctly) then a start would be keeping the legs away from all light (bandages/boots right down over fetlock) and feeding zinc (I use a Biotin supplement as cheap and contains zinc), cut out any alfalfa as this is a known irritant and keep your horse away from any yellow plants (probably aren't any this time of year but buttercups triggered my girls flair up in late summer and the scabs only appeared in winter after her immune system went crazy with it) and keep away from snow as the reflected light is very intense. It is an odd condition but we have had total success with getting rid of it. The Equimed boots are amazing and I am sure you would sell them on 2nd hand no problems as being relatively new they don't come up often. If you don't want to stretch to them then trying any long boots that will help keep light away will help but the silver in the Equimed boots helps to dry out the lesions much quicker in my experience. PM if any of this is ringing bells and you want more help as I did a lot of research on this last year.
 
Thank you - I've never had this issue with the horse before, but I have recently fully clipped him, including his legs, which I normally leave on...
So I'm just jumping to the conclusion that it's mud fever, as it all seems to add up... I can take some photographs and post them on here if you wouldn't mind having a little look that would be fantastic thank you!
Is the condition just something that they can develop?
Thanks in advance
 
We slathed ours in medicated udder cream (pink one ) Don't wash as that is what the bacteria thrives on .Let them dry naturally .Horse will look a mess for a while but i would turn out as better off mooching around for any swelling . If you have to wash dry throughly with clean towels .I Was putting sudo cream with a few drops of tea tree oil mixed in on mine last year when it got to the stage where you just have that last stubbon bit that won't go
 
kate.l said:
I can take some photographs and post them on here if you wouldn't mind having a little look that would be fantastic thank you!
Is the condition just something that they can develop?
Thanks in advance
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I'm not a vet but happy to look at photos and see if there are any similarities! Yes the condition can come out of nowhere seemingly. Ours was healthy (if young/growing) but this is an immune disorder. Vets think it can be initially triggered by yellow plants. The molecules that sit under the white skin then start to grow over time which eventually cause the lesions and scabs. The UV light causes the molecules to continue to grow once the immune system goes into this self attacking mode so to speak. That is what I understand anyway. Ours was in a field with buttercups in summer and lesions didn't appear until Oct/Nov time.
 
I turned out but it was summer by then. I'd been trying to treat it since the winter :-( I thinnk I would still turn out as the legs would be completely covered !
 
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