Mud fever

[sjdress]

My horse has been diagnosed with mud fever, even though there is no mud! I’ve owned her 16 years and she has lived out over winter and has never had this before.
can anyone give some advise on how to prevent this happening again once it gets wetter and muddier.

 

[ycbm]

I would test her for Cushings of you haven't already. New skin weakness is a symptom and her age points in that direction.
.

 

[Esmae]

I would test her for Cushings of you haven't already. New skin weakness is a symptom and her age points in that direction.
.

This, all day long. Then smother with sudocrem and sulphur mix until situation resolves. It was the only thing that helped my old chap.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

My much younger cob was getting a skin problem on her legs when they either got sweaty or wet, we started her on Forage Plus winter balancer, then their Summer balancer and fingers crossed no more skin problems so I would recommend FP but would also test for Cushings.

 

[sjdress]

Interesting, I didn’t know it could be a symptom of cushings I will look into getting this tested

 

[paddy555]

Do you have mud fever or leucocytoclastic vasculitis is ie photo aggravated vasculitis?

when mine had LV he was treated with cream made up the vet and had to be kept away from light and his legs dry until it healed. Then I kept him in Sox for a year afterwards to allow to resolve. mine happened in Nov when there wasn’t any mud

 

[Errin Paddywack]

My boy was very prone to pastern dermatitis in the summer and had it all over his back one winter on his white patches (appaloosa). I started him on Milk Thistle and it cleared almost immediately.

 

[Hackback]

Mud fever isn't a symptom of Cushings as such, but horses with Cushings are more susceptible to it because their immune system is compromised. They can also be more prone to worms etc, a fact that I only learned (or maybe forgot and relearned) from my vet a couple of days ago.

 

[AmyMay]

Udder salve (not cream) is your friend.

 

[Hobo2]

Just to add if it does not respond to treatment and given pony’s age and it could be possible cushings you may need to resort to a course of steroids. My mare who has cushings started with ‘mud fever’ late last September again no mud . It ended up being what paddy says above she went on steroids for nearly 3 months to totally heal as her immune system went rouge. It is all gone now but I am on red alert for any little skin breaks so it does not get a grip again.
Good luck getting on top of yours .

 

[Pinkvboots]

I would question its mud fever if there is no mud there are other things like it that it could be.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

This, all day long. Then smother with sudocrem and sulphur mix until situation resolves. It was the only thing that helped my old chap.

Always patch test first though. Suncream made my old lad a lot worse.

 

[Pinkvboots]

Always patch test first though. Suncream made my old lad a lot worse.

Agree be careful sudocrem has benzyl benzoate in it and some horses are allergic one of mine is and it makes all the hair fall out.

 

[Carrottom]

If there is no mud or constant wetting of the skin I would suspect photosensitivity which looks similar. Filtabac cream applied daily cleared it up for my lad.

 

[PurBee]

Try a copper and zinc supplement

 

[paddy555]

this was a post I put on another thread. Searching back years produces a lot of useful info about LV and how to deal with it. I tried a variety of things before getting the vet and their cream which was udder cream, steroid and AB, The photosensitive part was the important bit.

the post I was really grateful for was I think in about 2010. (which I found on searching) it was about LV and someone had written privately to Prof. Knott and had shared his reply on here. It was about the fact that the molecules involved were large and took a year to change so you had to continue to keep the sun/light off for a year. I didn't realise that. I guessed that I had LV, the cream worked well but knowing I had to protect from the sun for at least a year was the final bit of info I needed. Plus whoever posted a link to Silver Whinneys.

 

[soloequestrian]

I'd also go for Filtabac. I had one with vasculitis - I never managed to get completely on top of it but Flitabac was the most useful thing for him and I'd imagine it would also help if it is mud fever.

 

[ycbm]

Agree be careful sudocrem has benzyl benzoate in it and some horses are allergic one of mine is and it makes all the hair fall out.

Insecticide stuff? I don't think so. Zinc oxide topically can damage human skin, I'm allergic to the zinc oxide plasters they used to use. Maybe it was that?

 

[Pinkvboots]

It used to have it in the ingredients maybe its changed now tbh I haven't looked at the back of sudocrem for years now.

Zinc oxide is in quite alot of horse creams and sprays now didn't know they used it in human stuff.

 

[Pinkvboots]

I just found an old pot and it has sodium benzoate it it may it's that, I know it makes the hair fall out if I use it on Arabi so I don't use it now so don't tend to buy it anymore.

 

[jenni999]

Aromaheel by Aromesse is amazing for mud fever (even while you diagnose any other issues). Really soothing and easy to use so no picking of scabs required.

 

[sjdress]

Aromaheel by Aromesse is amazing for mud fever (even while you diagnose any other issues). Really soothing and easy to use so no picking of scabs required.

Thanks for the recommendation, I will look into this. I am slightly confused how picking The scabs helps, as then they just scab back over. Am I supposed to do this every day/weekly? The vet said just keep picking them off. In 25 years of horses I have never had to deal with mud fever so it’s all new to me!

 

[jenni999]

Thanks for the recommendation, I will look into this. I am slightly confused how picking The scabs helps, as then they just scab back over. Am I supposed to do this every day/weekly? The vet said just keep picking them off. In 25 years of horses I have never had to deal with mud fever so it’s all new to me!

With aromaheel you plaster it on for several days in layers and turn out as normal. The scabs soften under it and you just wipe it off after about 3 days. Then repeat. You'll get lovely pink skin and some hair regrowth. I have converted my whole yard to it ! No pain from picking scabs and totally natural

 

[NOISYGIRL2]

Mine was PPID and had mud fever come on in the summer of 2019, tried all the lotions/potions/antibiotics etc nothing worked. I can highly recommend silver whinny sox for horses, fantastic and the best thing I bought in over 40 years of owning a horse.

 

[jenni999]

Mine was PPID and had mud fever come on in the summer of 2019, tried all the lotions/potions/antibiotics etc nothing worked. I can highly recommend silver whinny sox for horses, fantastic and the best thing I bought in over 40 years of owning a horse.

silver whinny socks have worked on a couple of horses on my yard.