Mud fever scab removal on a difficult horse

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SadKen

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My new boy has mud fever on his white leg on the inside. There are some scabs, nothing too awful but clearly sore. Trouble is, he doesn't like me touching it, so scab removal has been impossible so far. Not got any helpers til the weekend. Any tips for softening/removing scabs in this situation? All I managed this evening was to rub on some wound wash and some eqyss micro tek :(

I have some sudocrem but have read mixed reviews and am worried about outing it on a wet scabby leg!
 
Baby oil is good for softening scabs and getting rid on not too bad cases. It also waterproofs the legs a bit and helps prevention.

With worse cases, muddy marvel scab removal has always been the easiest with my horse that used to get it really bad.
 
The Muddy Marvel range is fantastic. I bought a kit of three and I was able to treat the mud fever that my sensitive mare had. Even better, the barrier cream has stopped her getting any more mud fever for the last 6 years (I'm not still using the same tub though ;) ).

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Heel to hoof cream, keep putting it on daily, scabs will lift off. You can also cover legs in any cream or oil, wrap in clingfilm, bandage over night, shampoo next day, scabs will come off.
 
Best thing to do is slather a load of aqueous cream on, wrap in cling film, pop a boot on (all not too tight of course) leave in the stable over night then wash off in the morning with a sponge and an antibacterial wash (Lincoln Muddy Buddy range is very good).

You have to make sure you get the scabs off, get the area really dry then apply a thin layer of mud fever cream and keep as clean and dry as possible.

This routine was all that worked for m y horse and it took me months to work out the best course of treatment. Vet also recommended clipping the hair away from the affected area.

Feel free to PM me for more advice, this is one problem I spent months tackling.
 
The easiest way I have found to deal with this is, don't pick off the scabs. Don't wash and scrub it. The more you piggle at it the worse it will get. Mix about 3 desert spoonfuls of Flowers of Sulphur into a 250 gr tub of Sudocreme. Slather on dry scabbed area and leave it for about 48 hours. Repeat and leave it for about 3 days. Repeat and leave it for about a week. Don't force off the scabs but after a week or 2 of doing this they will dry up and start to come off by themselves. Keep doing this sort of regime until it's all gone. Took me about 3 weeks with my horse.

Good luck with it.
 
i know you've got lots of suggestions, so I'll add another - slap on pig oil and sulphur, and the scab will lift off within days. Do all the legs every fortnight, and you should have no more problems. My lad is heavily feathered and the POS is the only thing that's worked. WITHOUT taking off any feather.
 
Personally I wouldn't do the clingfilm and bandaging - bad mudrash tends to make the legs swell over night, and I would also want air to get to the scabs to help it dry out.. My other concern is the pig and sulphur - do a test to check your horse is not allergic to it, as my friend (a vet) said she saw so many cases where they were..

Was also told by all vets that treated our horse (and there have been several..) that gets it ridiculously bad, to definately get the scabs off as quickly and gently as possible. I'm not saying picking it til it hurts the horse and bleeds, but by using something that does it gently, such as the muddy marvel descab or flammazine from the vet. Even when my horse's legs were swollen and sore he didn't mind either of those creams..
 
Suelin said:
The easiest way I have found to deal with this is, don't pick off the scabs. Don't wash and scrub it. The more you piggle at it the worse it will get. Mix about 3 desert spoonfuls of Flowers of Sulphur into a 250 gr tub of Sudocreme. Slather on dry scabbed area and leave it for about 48 hours. Repeat and leave it for about 3 days. Repeat and leave it for about a week. Don't force off the scabs but after a week or 2 of doing this they will dry up and start to come off by themselves. Keep doing this sort of regime until it's all gone. Took me about 3 weeks with my horse.

Good luck with it.
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Totally agree with this - Mudfever scabs are not ordinary scabs they are made from lymph that has oozed through the skin and congealed around the surrounding hair - forcable removal is like trying to wax the horses legs - pulling hair out by its roots.

I wash mudfever legs with Nizoral shampoo as it breaks down the scabs and also kills the fungus that has attacked the skin in the first place. Some of the scabs will drop off while washing and others will go in a few days. It's a pain free way of treating the affection.
 
Suelin said:
The easiest way I have found to deal with this is, don't pick off the scabs. Don't wash and scrub it.
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Exactly. The reason he's difficult is because they hurt - so don't touch them.

As others have suggested, baby oil, sudo cream or udder salve. All will soften them and allow the scabs to come away gently.
 
I use Muddy Marvel, get it from Robinsons. Just brush loose mud off, slather the legs/heels in the cream each day then the scabs will fall off and heal up on their own. Mine gets mud fever on both back legs and usually needs to be twitched for me to clean his legs and treat them. Now I've discovered Muddy Marvel, all I do is brush him and whack the cream on.
 
Zinc and Caster Oil cream from the Chemist (it's used to prevent/cure nappy rash on baby bottoms). It soothes as well as removes the scabs; you don't have to wash it off as the scabs will come off as you apply the cream the next time. The cream protects the skin once turned out, too.

Once the skin has healed, put some cheap vegetable oil in a clean washing up liquid squeezy bottle, and apply to the area before turning out to make the skin more waterproof. Hose off any wet mud when you fetch the horse in - don't rub at it but you can remove excess water by squeezing with a dry towel, and the legs will dry in no time. Used to live in essex where you could make pots out of the clay, and mud fever was rampant, but only ever got mud fever once - this regime works!
 
I've always used baby oil with Aloe Vera on rain scald and when I had a youngster with mud fever who wouldn't co-operate I put it on his leg (2 yo with mud fever on inside of hind leg, just squirted it from the bottle) and it softened the scabs overnight and he allowed me to handle it the next day but I was so pleased with the result that I just put some more on it and it was sorted in a day or so.
 
Agree with Black Beastie.

My horse has flexural dermatitis (also known as mallenders and sallenders, depending on whether it's on front or back legs). The scabby situation is very akin to mud fever. Slather on baby oil - probably two days running, and gently but religiously working it right in through the hair - I don't do anything else in that time. Just let the oil do its work, and then the scabs will just start to fall off on their own. No hassle, and my mare has come to love having the oil rubbed in.

I haven't currently got a horse with mud fever, thank goodness, but two friends' horses have, and the one that is doing better is the one where the owner hasn't picked the scabs off, just softened them till they fell off on their own. But this is just an observation - no scientific proof behind it.
 
Ooooh-kay - lots to think about then!

I think I will try baby oil today/tomorrow/friday. I've ordered some Muddy Marvel so that should be here at the weekend. Then I'm going to try pig oil and sulphur as a barrier once it's cleared up if he's not allergic (will patch test first). My dad has suggested honey which I thought was a bit nuts, so googled it and he may be right... so might try that if he is allergic. I also ordered some Keratex!

I also think I'll invest in some turnout boots. He doesn't rage round the field much, and I'll only need to put on one leg as he has never had mud fever on any of the others. Poor ole soul!

Thanks for your tips everyone. Seems like it's a case of suck it and see!
 
Heel to hoof cream. Keep applying daily, no need to keep washing or attempting to pick scabs off and upsetting your horse. That stuff will soothe, heal and scabs will come off on their own when ready :-)
 
From experience, i'd give turnout boots a miss for mud fever! Mud usually gets underneath and the horses leg gets wet and warm which is perfect for breeding bacteria! I sold my equilibrium close contact ones after one use.
 
Zinc and caster oil. Absolutely brilliant. Also rub on once mud fever has cleared up as a preventative.

If he really suffers with mud fever feed Allicin powder in his feed. It's the active part of garlic and a "wonder drug", as it kills MRSA etc when sparyed on too.
 
Having inherited a mare with seriously bad mud fever I have tried most things, we now use a concoction made by our vets but I find the best thing for removing when really scabby and sore is to put on a hot poultice overnight and the scabs literally all come off the next day avoiding too much fiddling and the painful removal. Sudocream is good on the sore skin underneath afterwards but personally I find it has little effect on the scabby areas and also helps keep the air out.
 
SadKen said:
Well that's a plus, less expense! Just had a text from hubby having seen my ebay purchasing. It just says 'I knew that horse would be a money pit'. hahaha :D
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BUSTED!! That made me laugh...

I use the Muddy Marvel stuff too. Haven't had much mud fever yet, but my chap has white legs, and had a few scabs earlier in the year, so I'm taking precautions now. I've also got some stuff my vet makes up, which will be ready to go the moment I see the signs.
 
I use sudocrem. was told by vet never ever to pick scabs off. if they don't come away on their own then they are not ready to come off and doing so will introduce infection

if you've ever tried picking a scab off yourself that is still attached you know how much that hurts! :(
 
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