Mud Fever/Swelling and Lameness

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Amy_08

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My horse has never suffered with mud fever before, but about ten days ago I noticed she had it on three of her heels. I couldn't understand how she got it as it was when it was really cold and the ground was rock solid. Anyway I took off the scabs, cleaned with Hibiscrub and then applied Sudocrem. Two of the legs were only tiny scabs and appear to have cleared up quickly, however one leg hasn't. She was lame on this leg the day after I noticed the mud fever and cleaned it up, but came sound for a couple of days and is now lame again. Her leg has also swelled up. She is in at night and out during the day, and the leg does go down during the day, but is still slightly puffy. I have been bandaging at night as well. Any advice greatly appreciated
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Now not sure what to do-do I get the vet, or do I wait a little longer and see if it starts to clear up. I was cleaning it everyday, but have left it for a couple of days now and I just keep reapplying the Sudocrem.
 
my mare gets this i know to search her feathers for scabs now though - i noticed her leg was warm and swollen making her slightly lame - imagine those cracks you may get on your thumb in the cold weather they are agony! i imagine this being similar on her leg, if you have to use hibiscrub only use a very weak solution and rinse well use warm water too (i only use warm water to clean), i use some cream with antiboitics in (try asking chemist), have a close look and see if anymore starting anywhere as its strange she was ok then went off again, if definately no scabs i would be inclined to contact vet just in case needs antibiotics,
i only bandage the site if its going to be frosty as she lives out, otherwise it makes a nice warm environment for the bacteria to breed
 
Mud fever can happen at anytime. My horse normally gets it when its warm + wet and when there isnt any mud around. Its the bacteria rather than mud that cause it.
I have found that each horse is different when it comes to treating mud fever. I tried loads of things on my horse.
Keratex Powder - made the scabs really dry and sore and his skin crack.
Sudocream - made the scabs sticky sore and yellowy
MSM Cream - didnt do anything, didnt make them worse or better

In the end I called the vet out and they gave me some of their home made cream. Its was green and it was vaseline mixed with an antibiotic/anti inflamatory. This is the only thing that has ever worked on my horse. It only cost £9 for about 500g tub which I thought was a good price from the vet.

If your horses legs have swollen/filled then it sounds like it may have lymphangitis. Lymphangitis normally occurs when there is a bit of an infection. Its where the fluid doesnt flow properly around their system so it builds up. Normally with exercise the swelling goes down but then when they stand again the swelling comes back up. My horse got lymphangitis and needed anti biotics to get rid of the infection he had. After the cream and the antibiotics *touch wood* the mud fever has gone.

If it was me then I would probably call the vet out just to get your horse checked out and they might give you some cream or if they think he needs anti biotics.
However, I know that other people on here have success getting rid of mud fever using some lotions and potions without calling the vet. As I say, each horse is different.
Maybe you could call your vet and ask if they do a cream for mud fever and ask if they will send you some without a call out? Worth asking?
I hope you find your horses cure to mud fever
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I think I'll give my vet a call and see what he says. Thats a good idea about asking him if they have a cream they could send me, but worried about the swelling and possible infection like you say, so maybe I'll get him to come and have a look at her to put my mind at rest.
 
Just had similar problem with my horse, been battling with it for weeks, using antibiotics, different creams and potions etc, was just given a tube of something used for cow mastitis to put on it by a vet friend yesterday and have never seen it look so good as today! It really has almost worked overnight... will find out the name if your interested or your vet might know..!
Hope you get there anyway!!
O, also found a shampoo called malaseb works well to get rid of scabs. Hope this helps
 
Amy_08 I am in exactly the same situation, I noticed my mare had some mud fever scabs last weekend - after we had had a week of frozen ground and no mud. I'm a bit cross with myself because the week the ground was frozen I didn't oil her legs with pig oil and sulphur as I had been every other day previously.

I spoke to my vet who let me have a tub of Flamazine for her (the vet has seen her recently for something else). I only got the tub today so can't tell you whether it will work.

It did seem to be improving with what I was doing which was hoof to heel to remove the scabs and Shapleys MTG on top afterwards. Tonight I used the Flamazine to remove the scabs and put a layer on before I went home.
 
will have a look tomorrow, it begins with an S. And yes, been a good few weeks now I'm afraid lol! But it is nearly cleared up now, just being extra careful where I work him!!!
 
I second Malaseb shampoo, that worked for another horse I know.
I think its for dogs with skin conditions but it worked on her horse!

Another cream I have just thought of is a cream called DEMISOL. This is the best thing I found that wasnt from the vet. I used this for ages last winter as it made the scabs fall off and seemed to help the skin heal underneath.
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Unfortunately this winter the mud fever was too bad so I had to call the vet.
This link will tell you more about it.
http://www.bestpetpharmacy.co.uk/detailed_product.asp?id=353
 
Same here. My horses came up over night. After a week of battling I had to get the vet out as it did get pretty bad. We applied Dermisol with clingfilm to sweat the scabs off, then clipped the leg right back to the skin and applied Noroclox - a cow mastitis treatment.
It took a while to get rid of it totally but fingers crossed it has done the job.

J
 
yes you can get flamazine from the vets very good product thats what cleared my boys mud fever up i would wait 3 -4 days for the swelling to go down if it has not with all the cleaning and care you are givn it call the vet!
 
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