Mud rash and hibiscrub

[[127815]]

My new mare has bad mud rash in her pasterns. She has very thick feathers and is in foal. I contacted my vet who said to try cleaning it with hibiscrub.
So I now have my hibiscrub and a mare with horrendous feathers (I have cut away what I can, she's quite sore)
Do you think it will be ok if I put her hooves in a bucket of diluted hibiscrub, so it gets right in to the infection or with this method just spread more dirt etc?
I know to dry after I have cleaned with the scrub. Should I apply sudo creme or just let the air get to her pasterns?
Never delt with mud rash so bad before, she must have had it for years 😢 the vet has said if this doesn't clean it up she will be getting some antibiotics in her feed to help. Scrub first though. Any input most welcome thanks

 

[PorkChop]

Personally I would wet poultice for a couple of days to soften the scabs so that they are easily removed.

If I use hibiscrub I use as little as possible in some cold water, work it into a foam, then lather onto the area, leave for 5 min and wash off.

Thoroughly dry and use something like flamazine. I wouldn't swap to sudocreme or udder ointment until it was well under control.

When she is less sore I would clip all the hair surrounding the sore bits.

There are many different ways to deal with it, but thats how I do it

 

[Kylara]

Hot water and soak, either with a bucket or sponge. Then hibiscrub. It is going to sting so sponging I'd on may be easier to manage. Dry off and then you can cream it I use flamazine but sudocream or udder cream also works well. If you can clip the legs very close allowing as much air circulation as possible

 

[Pinkvboots]

I wouldn't even be using hibiscrub it's so harsh and can do more damage than good, I would just use a barrier cream as mentioned above and leave alone I think the more you wash the area the more bacteria gets into the skin and hence makes it worse.

you shouldn't remove the scabs either scabs form to protect the skin underneath because it is damaged leave the scabs u til they fall of naturally or you are exposing the sore damaged skin.

 

[Casey76]

Ah mud fever... everyone will have a different opinion

Don't pick the "scabs" off, they are dried lymph which has been exuded through the skin. If you pick them off (even if softened beforehand) you are opening the skin to further bacterial infection.

I would clip her feathers as close as you can, tub her feet with warm water (warm water it more tolerable I winter I find) and a gentle cleanser (I use chlorhexidine or baby bottle sterilizing tablets) which will soften the encrustations and surrounding skin. Then I would apply a barrier cream (sudocrem would work, but as it contains benzylbenzoate, it might sting). Keeping the skin soft will prevent cracks appearing in the joint flexures. Do not be tempted to pick! Brush away any crusts which detach naturally.

 

[Nudibranch]

There are so many different views as Casey says. However I will share my vets advice, which has cleared up mf on my tb....do not wash or wet at all. Clip off as much hair as possible (I know you've done that). Bring in daily for 7-8 hours after towelling off mud or wet...again do not wash! No lotions and potions, just air and dry. Let the scabs fall off by themselves, which they will. He gave me some cheap and cheerful udder antibiotic cream in single use tubes, only two applications, which helped to speed things up. But after that, no creams or barriers.

 

[Goldenstar]

Get rid off the hair.
If the horse is very sore plaster with udder cream cover with kitchen roll then bandage over leave it overnight then wash off with hibiscrub use what cream the vet advises .
Keep the horse dry till you have the skin settled .
You will then need to use a barrier of some sort when turned out liquid paraffin is cheap and works well but there's masses to choose from.
I only use hibiscrub when things are in a real mess as it's very tough on the skin and you must need to make it dilute enough its easy to use it too strong .

 

[Maesfen]

There are so many different views as Casey says. However I will share my vets advice, which has cleared up mf on my tb....do not wash or wet at all. Clip off as much hair as possible (I know you've done that). Bring in daily for 7-8 hours after towelling off mud or wet...again do not wash! No lotions and potions, just air and dry. Let the scabs fall off by themselves, which they will. He gave me some cheap and cheerful udder antibiotic cream in single use tubes, only two applications, which helped to speed things up. But after that, no creams or barriers.

Hurray for your vet; excellent advice and worked numerous times for me so it's not a fluke and it's not a lazy way to deal with it, you just have to give it time but it is the least painful way for the horse too.
If there is ever a medicine that should be banned for sale to the general public it should be Hibiscrub, vile stuff for the skin surrounding any issues so repeated washes in it only makes thing spread and worse.

 

[Casey76]

There are so many different views as Casey says. However I will share my vets advice, which has cleared up mf on my tb....do not wash or wet at all. Clip off as much hair as possible (I know you've done that). Bring in daily for 7-8 hours after towelling off mud or wet...again do not wash! No lotions and potions, just air and dry. Let the scabs fall off by themselves, which they will. He gave me some cheap and cheerful udder antibiotic cream in single use tubes, only two applications, which helped to speed things up. But after that, no creams or barriers.

I'd agree that if you are still at the small scab stage, then it's best to leave well alone and keep dry. However if you have fissures forming, the skin needs to be kept soft and supple (ime), especially in the commissures to prevent the skin from splitting when it is flexed.

I've had my boy off the field and onto hard standing for 5 days now as he was starting to get some tiny crusts. His field is 6ins deep of slurry with run off from the muck heap, so hardly a very healthy environment, especially for a horse who gets MF easily and aggressively. :/

 

[Goldenstar]

Hurray for your vet; excellent advice and worked numerous times for me so it's not a fluke and it's not a lazy way to deal with it, you just have to give it time but it is the least painful way for the horse too.
If there is ever a medicine that should be banned for sale to the general public it should be Hibiscrub, vile stuff for the skin surrounding any issues so repeated washes in it only makes thing spread and worse.

Many of the general public have brains and are well able to dilute hibiscrub properly and use it correctly .

 

[lamlyn2012]

I would do as your vet has instructed.
I have just dealt with a case of dermatopholis, which is the same bacteria as mud fevet. Vet told me to bath with hibiscrub which I did for three days. Three days is not a long to clear up a problem and if hibiscrub is effective in doing this I can't see a problem with short term use. Do dilute it though and rinse of well and dry as much as poss. The scabs do need to come off before it will heal. The first five layers of skin are dead so I was told to work in very well and leave on for ten mins. You need to dilute in warm water which will help penetrate. The only cream I would ever use is flamazine. Mine is allergic to lanolin which is in sudoecreme.

 

[[127815]]

Thank you very much everyone! It really is quite a hard one! Lamlyn2012 I'm thinking this too, she is in her stable and will be for a few days while she's getting the scrub. I have diluted it very mild and dried as good as I can. She was a brave girl. Just wish I could rid it quickly for her. Hopefully this will have made a wee difference for a start.
Ill update after a week or so on this thread with hopefully good news.
Thanks again folks! ��

 

[JDH01]

Hibiscrub is an really excellent tool in the horse care kit and not harsh if used and diluted as Per the instructions. It is used as skin prep in human theatres but never ever undiluted. Read the instructions and follow them if you are using it. Used undiluted it will damage tissue.

 

[Equi]

Clip the hair as close as possible, like use a dog clipper with a 15 blade if you can. 40 blade if you really can! I then used hibiscrub and after drying it off lathered it with dermoline - however mine only got it in the last week or so of winter turnout paddock, then was moved to grass so was dry and no more mud.