Mud Fever Nothing is working

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Hawks27

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I have been through the forum and used some of the advice and after 2 weeks of no joy and his legs starting to get puffy i called the vet he has had antibiotics injection worst of the large ones shaved and cleaned a bottle of liquid which i believe was called karidox and i was given fuciderm and told to apply this every day and keep hibiscrub cleaning if required.
2days prior to finding anything i had brished him and his legs were smooth and clean no sign new years day i went to pick his feet out ebfore turning him out and his leg felt a little lumpy and warm on investigating what i thought was a cut a pick length of hiar and flesh fell off on examing his legs there were lots of scabby lumps and a similar long length came off his hind cannon i suspected mud fever (i must be lucky in 18yrs of working with horses and big yards i have never seen a single case!) i cleaned his legs with luke warm water and hibiscrub genlty towel tried and appiled sudocream to open sores as werent bleeding just raw. i went home did my research and it appeared i was on the right tracks so kept him in for 2 weeks just exercising him on the road mucking him out 3 x a day to ensure his bed was dry making sure he had a thick straw bed etc. kept hibiscrub bathing every couple of days and slathering on the sudocream to soften scabs and gently rubbing off the loose ones daily and applying more cream if nesacery. there seemed a litle imporvement but then he got worse so i called the vet again theres been some improvement but he is still getting fresh scabs even thou the open sores look much better hes not healing up and hes getting frustrated with being in as now been 4 weeks his 2 weeks of vet treatment is out and i will be calling the vet back today but if anybody has any other suggestions please let me know im thinking of asking the vet to take skin scrapings / bloods to make sure nothing moe sinister going on.
Horse is happy and healthy in himself eating and drinking well and i have no real concerns that he is ill at all other than the obvisou scabby legs hes not lame etc and thankfully is a darling and very tolerent horse.
I've bought the boots pig oil and sulphur and keretex mud shield powder in preperation for turning him back out but obviously he won't be going out till the skin has fully recovered.
I truley am at a loss and don't know what to try next so any advice greatly appreciated
 
The hibiscrub may be stopping the healing process, once the area is clean I just keep it dry and use whatever cream I have, only washing again if they get muddy or are really oozing from a sore, then only the target area, the antibiotics should be healing from within, it can just be a case of him being slow to get over it.
 
I would stop hibiscrubbing as you get into a cycle of wet legs, dry legs, wet legs, dry legs and then also it can get quite sore with the constant washing.

I have found that sometimes putting Aluminium spray on the worst affected areas helps too - it dries out the area and gives a breathable barrier to wet/mud - I have had some good results with it.

Then once the mudfever is clear - slather in pig oil and don't hose the mud off.
 
I think an awful lot of these problems are due to fungus rather than, or as well as bacteria. In your place I would only wash every few days and dry thoroughly afterwards. I would apply clomatrizole at least once, if not twice a day for the duration. I find sudocreme completely counter productive for MF, it has always worsened the problem rather than helping.
If you worry that the hibiscrub is too harsh ask the vet if you can get some malaseb.
 
Over washing doesn't help, neither does hibiscrub. My mare has her hind legs covered in it, she's like a leper with all her flesh dropping off, the only thing that is clearing it up is keeping her legs dry and i alternate between sulphur cream and keratex daily. If you want the scabs off try Muddy Marvel it's great stuff :)
 
I agree with everyone about the hibiscrub, don't do it too often. Also my horse may be unusual but he reacts to Sudacrem, it makes his skin very sore & then it starts peeling off in strips.
 
the vet mentioned this i stoped bathing the whole legs daily litterayl just washing any mud / stable muck off the affected areas before applying the fuciderm gel they gave me to help recover the scabby areas it just doesn't appear to eb doing much and its been 2weeks since started this process and am just getting a little worried thankfully though he isnt sick in himself which is good he seemed lots better in first couple of days after vet visit but now he is becoming sensitive on the sores and they appear to be getting worse which is concerning
 
I washed the sudocream off before the vet started on him as i found ti was making no improvement and he hasnt had any creams on since i have the muddy marvel stuff hadn't used it yet as wanted the vets work to complete first but i will give this ago and look into the aluminium spray too.
He hasnt had any obvisou reactions to any products where the scabs did come off the large areas the skin looks a nice halthy pink not red or irratated which is good but sadly he jsut keeps getting mroe scabs next to the healing ones. no of the exposed flesh looks irratated.
Thank you for the good responses
 
Look to nutrition as well - although this isn't a short term solution I know.

I had a mare that used to get mud fever and I changed her to a feed balancer and after some time realised that she hadn't suffered from mud fever since. She came in over night and I put vaseline on her legs every day before turnout as well.

My present horse came to me with mud fever as a 2 year old, in fact it was noted on the vetting. Since then he has always been fed a balancer - now Top Spec - he has never had mud fever. I check him regularly as I can hardly believe it, considering the conditions he is turned out in, and he comes in with soaking wet, muddly legs every day.
 
If it gets a good hold it can be a bitch to clear :(

When I put any cream on I not only apply it to the scabs but the whole area around which does seems to stop it spreading. I also never pick scabs, firstly because I don't want to make him funny about having his legs handled (horse is a bit of a wuss) & secondly because I think it damages the edges of the skin & encourages it to spread. They fall off as the cream softens them anyway. Lastly sometimes putting a thick layer of cream on & stable bandaging over the top can seem to be more effective than just cream, don't ask me why though.
 
Good point Orangehorse, I've had far less problems since feeding a good balancer & sorting out gut problems.
 
thanks orange horse i have considered this too i already feed a low sugar starch diet as i keep natural barefoot horses and his feet aren't fab i only bought him in october so not had him long hes a pink skinned overo american paint horse so he does have delicate flesh bless him. hes currently fed unmolassed chaff with micronised linseed brewers yeast seaweed and rosehips was considering changing him over to pro hoof from porgessive earth as his feet are not the best. hes not backed yet so isnt in ridden work but i am exercising him in hand till weather improved and i can ge thim started under saddle. Our fields arent too hurendous muddy gateways but majority of land isnt bad at all.
he also get s a couple of carrots and the fiber cubes in his treat ball no sugary licks no crap not a fan hes fed good meadow hay not haylage.
Not sur eif there is anything else i can feed him that would help improve his skin so recomendatiosn welcome as obvisouly once hes recoverd i want to do my damndest to make sure it never comes back.
 
Personally, I wouldn't use Hibiscrub, this is what my vet says about it:

"Who is still using Hibiscrub on open wounds?

Please note that on anything other than intact skin, only solutions of below 0.02% chlorhexidine concentration are considered beneficial for use as a wound flush, but not as a scrub. Higher concentrations are cytotoxic.
When a chemical is cytotoxic, it means that it kills certain healthy tissue or immune cells needed for healing. and some studies have shown its use to delay healing and reduce collagen production, decreasing tensile strength of healed wounds or lesions.

Hibiscrub is a chlorhexidine gluconate 4% solution used for hand disinfection, washing and skin cleansing before and after surgery. As such, it is not labelled for use on broken skin anyway so stop using it on open wounds including mud-fever type skin conditions."


I have had to deal with quite a few mud fever cases this year and some of them have taken 6 weeks-2 months of daily care to get rid of. I use Coatex medicated shampoo or Maleseb to wash the area (keeping the washing to a minimum as others have said), then drying, then either Fucibet cream (from my vet) or Flamazine. To get rid of scabs I put sudocreme, then cling film, then bandage, leave 24 hours, then remove and scabs come with it. All these horses have been out 24/7 while being treated as don't have the option to stable.

My vet's advice was you just have to keep at it, and so far, in every case, eventually it has gone, but as I said above, in at least 2 horses it has taken at least 6 weeks of daily care.

Good luck with your horse, I am sure you will get there in the end
 
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is pig oil, just baby oil? (sure someone told me that once?) We have been clear of any mud fever this year, then all of a sudden within a week, my mare's hair is so short, not broken the skin yet, but need to act fast!

My plan was to just wash off if and when necessary, and just petrolium jelly with added tea tree oil.
 
Definitely try Equi-Oil, worked within days for my mare when she had it pretty bad. Cleared it up and now I just keep a bottle handy to help prevent it. Check out their website, would 100% recommend it! It also helps with sweet itch and other skin conditions. Hope this helps :)
 
Agree with everyone about Hibiscrub, it should be banned for public use it's so dangerous to the skin. Also agree about the diet, it makes so much difference.

FWIW if the legs aren't swelling or they're lame then my old vet suggested letting it heal by itself which it does very easily; it's when you muck about that it seems to take longer and cause more trouble. My foal got it this year (with 4 whites and upto his fetlocks in water each day, not surprising) and I didn't touch it at all, it's clearing nicely now and the hair is growing back.

If you must mess with it then I recommend Protocon rubbed very gently in a circular motion but don't attempt to pull off any scabs; just keep applying the cream on top of the other cream and in a few days the scabs will be off and healing.
 
i have kept him in to ensure he keeps the legs dry and been mucking out regularly though day as he is a bit of a mucky devil, he has on the whole kept his legs clean and dry and have kept washing down to jsut wiping any mucky areas with a damp sponge cloth and toweling dry best as possible most days its been every couple of days an di have kept it to a bare minimum this last 2 weeks following much advice about thier legs being dry being the most important thing. i will investigate the following products mentioned am reluctant to turn him out in fear it will get worse and i don't want to put the field boots on incase they rub the scabs and cause more damage i havent picked any scabs if thiery losoe or crumbling when ive been applying the gel i have literally jsut brushed them off with my hand or teased them out of his feathers with my fingers if there still attached to the skin i havent touched them. i will look into the other proudcts recommend and trial them on different limbs and see which if any of them work. thanks
 
My poor boy has suffered from mud-fever every year I have had him until this year... I used to keep it at bay by keeping his legs clean and dry and treating any scabs with Flamazine, however, he permenantly had a little bit on one of his heels all year round!

In September he got another bad bout which resulted in more Flamazine + antibiotics and I had had enough!

Was recommended EquiMed AG Boots by Tempi on here - you hose legs, towel dry and pop the boots on at night... within a week all scabes went and despite the deluge of rain/mud/then snow/ then more mud, he has remained scab free :D
 
I agree re Hibiscrub and any other noxious chemicals. IMO seaweed is a poor source of minerals, particularly in some areas. Its high in iron which inhibits absorption of other minerals. Horses short of copper find it hard to fight off skin and other infections. I think the idea of swopping to Pro Hoof is a good one. It tastes foul so you may need to blend it with micronised linseed before stirring into the rest of the bucket food.
 
I'd try dermasol cream, I used this on a very stubborn case on my welsh a few years ago. Plaster it on and just wipe it off and reapply - don't wash it off. It breaks down the scabs and heals the skin underneath.

After it cleared I used udder cream as a preventative and it worked very well. I now only was his legs off if I'm going somewhere or for the farrier, they are then dried and he wears wicking stable chaps.

It's very trial and error, what works for one doesn't for another. Hadn't seen dermasol cream mentioned so thought I'd suggest it too you as another option :)
 
I have been having nightmares with MF with our very sensitive TB mare. It was bad enough it was starting to make her lame on and off. I have tried; Muddy Buddy shampoo (gave up as had to get legs wet too much), Bepanthen (baby bum cream) with Tea Tree and Lavender added, Purple Spray (to try to dry it out), then tried Hypocare (am) and Flamazine (overnight).

Current status is that the last 5 days she has been on box rest and will stay that way til it's got rid of - so far this is working;

Day 1 - Gently Hibiscrub and shampoo to remove dirt as much as possible.
Thin layer of Flamazine under gamgee and stable bandages. Left on for 2 days.

Day 3 - Swelling down quite a bit but one leg looking quite infected where largest scab is (bigger than 50p and about 8mm proud). Washed all bad areas with warm water boiled from kettle which cleared the gunk and made some smaller scabs slide off. Gently used warm sponge to remove any loosened scabs but worst ones still very stubborn in places. Decided to help things along on worst leg by using Sudocrem and clingfilming/gamgee/bandage and other legs used Flamazine and gamgee/bandage (no clingfilm). We thought Flamazine under clingfilm for such a long period of time might be too irritating.

Day 4 - Significant improvement on all legs but Sudocrem/clingfilmed area seeming to work best. Wash off with warm boiled water and gentle sponging to remove more loosened bits. Then loads of Sudocrem on all affected bits and clingfilm/gamgee/bandage all legs.

Day 5 - Wash/sponge scabs with warm water again causing the worst 50p sized scab to slide off (yay!) leaving nice pink skin underneath. Most scabs are now gone or very loosened and swelling is right down on the worst leg. Re-do thick Sudocrem, clingfilm/gamgee/bandage for a final go at remaining small scabs.

Day 6 (Today) - Will see what they are like later but plan is to sponge scabs again (hopefully all will be gone after that) and then apply thin layer of Flamazine over whole legs if not too raw and then gamgee/bandage which will be left on for 2 days.

After 2 days hopefully shouldn't need sponging so will just reapply Flamazine/gamgee/bandage and leave on for another two days. This should give the new skin a chance to heal in a sterile environment.

Hopefully if by day 10 the skin is looking ok then I will swop to Hypocare spray just to kill any bacteria and dry out and will continue to bandage for a few days more then eventually stop using the bandaging altogether and just use Hypocare spray. I will be using polo bandages with turnout boots over the top when she can start going out again (to stop T/O boots rubbing) and will ask YO to only turn out if dry/cold weather.

She is happy in (thank goodness) and fairly clean and hence until dry weather arrives against my usual principles of turnout being very important she will stay in if necessary. As an ex racer she is used to it and if it means stopping her legs getting sore then it must be done.

Sorry for the essay but I thought this info might be of help to others as it has nearly made me cry how sore it has made her....
 
I battled with mudfever in 8 horses for 3 months last year, so I know how frustrating it can be.

Where your horse is pink-skinned, I'd suspect he may have an underlying allergy or sensitivity that ia making it harder to clear up. Have there been any changes in his pasture, bedding, hay? Also all the scrubbing and creams may be making it worse.

What worked with mine:
Keep legs clean and dry. Wash only when muddy and use mild shampoo.
Stop using creams and ointments. These don't allow the skin to dry and provide a moist environment for bacteria and fungi to grow. Use zinc sudocream as a barrier only if turning out.
Powder legs with Gold Bond itch powder or similar,
Do not pick scabs, but you can rub off loose bits.
Make sure you are feeding sufficient zinc and copper. If not, supplement. Low sugar diet (I think you are already doing this).
Discuss with your vet the possibility of allergies and possibility of giving antihistamine or even a course of Dexamethisone. I have two that require this and both are long stockinged pink-skinned types.
As much exercise as you can give to help circulation and healing. I turnout as long as it isn't really muddy.
Wash brushes, towels, anything that touches MF to keep from reinfecting.

I haven't had nearly as much trouble with MF this year. We catch it really early and keep it clean, dry and powdered. Good luck with it.
 
hiibisrub once and try to get as many scabs off as possible if they can bare it leave them dry don't put barrier cream on it just traps in the injection let them dry out throughly don't hibisrub them or anything after the first time so try tio do a good done the first time when there starting to heal you can the use something like flazmine a thin amount over the area morning and night try not to mess with it too much.


Are the scabs yellow or a normal scab brown colour ? once they have gone a brown colour don't pick them anymore it healing it's really important you get all of yellow scabs off there the injection and the problem



good luck
 
For those of you who are struggling with persistent MF it may be worthwhile doing a search on here or google for leukoclastic vasculitis, especially if it affects the white skin of your horses. My gelding has this and although looks similar to MF it is treated in a completely different way. You would need yo have your vet diagnose this but it is worth researching the condition. I have found molasses, alfalfa and certain chaffs can cause a flair up.
 
I would consider leaving him in for a period of a few days to maybe a couple of weeks to allow the mud fever to completely clear up. Only when its 100% gone can you turn back out making sure the legs are completely dry before applying a barrier e.g. lard and flowers of sulphur mixed, or Keratex.

You really need to break the cycle completely.
 
After trying various things I have found that using Dermoline Tea Tree antil fungal shampoo helped on clipped legs. Thoroughly dry then apply either Keratex mud shield powder or the Lincoln Muddy Buddy powder. This keeps her legs dry and really does seem to keep the wet and mud out. I have tried pig oil, baby oil etc but the powders seem to work best. My mare is grey and lives out and has never had this before. I only wash her legs off, and then only from the fetlocks down, around every 7-10 days. The recent icy time helped the healing as no blooming mud to battle with. Its a test now as its back to wet and muddy conditions, field is on a gentle slope so fairly well drained. If only it would stop raining to help things dry up!
 
I managed to clear up a nasty case of MF very quickly using camrosa ointment. I can't recommend it enough! Had tried loads of other stuff and thought I'd give camrosa a try after being recommended by my yard owner. Washed legs with the shampoo, left legs to dry, applied ointment and kept stabled for 2 days. Reapllied
 
Bloody phone sorry!! Re applied ointment after 2 days and turned out as usual. Washed of worst of mud daily and within a week had no scabs or sores and had nice pink healthy skin! I now only apply ointment about every 4 day's. Well worth a go imo!
 
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