Raw, sore mud fever - what to use?

Jingleballs

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My boy has always suffered from mud fever. I treat the legs regularly with oil & sulphur and although it never fully clears it, it does help to manage it.

On Sunday I did applied more oil and sulphur ( I do this every week or so). At this point he had some scabs but the skin looked healthy. On Tuesday I went to apply some udder grease to the scabby areas and he was very unhappy about getting his legs touched and on further investigation the mud fever has gotten worse - the scabs are no longer there and the skin is very raw and sore looking.

I can't understand why - I've used oil & sulphur for years with no issue. I have just started using udder cream as I'd heard this was very good for soothing the skin - could he have taken a reaction to that?

We also don't have any mud at the moment as it's frozen so the area's around the raw skin are clean.

I've slathered his legs in sudocreme for now and plan to do so every day until the weekend when it's due to be milder and I'll get a chance to wash them.

Just wondered if anyone had experience of anything like this and what's best to use on the sore skin?
 
My horse was suffering from this earlier in the year and it was very painful for him. He hated me touching it :(. I used Sudecreme at night and plastered it on, before i turned him out I plastered his legs with udder cream. It seemed to work and cleared up quite quickly but maybe I was just lucky?!
 
My old boy had a nightmare with this! We had the vets out and they couldnt even stop it, it just spread all the way up hes leg, i used heel to hoof and all the scabs were gone in 48 hours and a lovely healthy pink skin was left, he did lose he's fur but that grew back and he never got it again, he was in so much pain with it, cracked, bleeding, swollen etc etc, can not rate this stuff enough!! I also told someone to use this on facebook the other day and she wrote to me 3 days later thanking me and said all the scabs were gone!!
http://www.thepetmedicinecompany.co...nimalintex-Hoof-Shaped-Dressing-3s-HEE001.php
 
Lucyad had that with Oscar - she thought he had taken a reaction to the PO&S. Now, she has decided it was the scabby horrible stuff coming off and not actually the oil as although things all got much worse, they then quickly cleared up??
 
Lucyad had that with Oscar - she thought he had taken a reaction to the PO&S. Now, she has decided it was the scabby horrible stuff coming off and not actually the oil as although things all got much worse, they then quickly cleared up??

I was thinking along those lines too SM.

I did use a bit more sulphur than usual so that may be a factor.

Interestingly, although some bits are now raw and sore, other bits that were really scabby and crusty have now almost completely cleared.

I'm going to see how it is again tonight - if it's started clearing I'll keep applying the sudocreme for now. If not I'll maybe have to get the vet although flamazine has never helped it in the past.
 
I wouldn't touch PO&S. I have had great success with alternating sudocreme and Aromaheel which is fantastic.

(antibiotics for a really serious case also worked, but only after swabs were taken and the nasties identified)
 
I think whatever you do do, OP. You must stop the PO&S immediately. Wash off the area with plain, warm water, dry gently with a towel, and then stable with the legs left bare.

I think that once MF has got to this stage it's difficult to self manage, and you need veterinary intervention.
 
I found sudocreme worked best for mine, had flamazine which didn't make any difference.Pig oil is great as a preventative but I don't mix it with sulphur after one of mine reacted to it.
 
My horse has never had what I would call full blown mud fever, but when he sometimes get the odd scabby bit I smother with boots medicated nappy cream, white pot, blue writing, gets better in a matter of days, I'm not a lover of hibiscrub after making a solution and getting it on a cut I had on my hand, it stung like hell so no wonder horses don't like having it done, I'd rather go with as amymay says plain water or salted water, consult vet as may need antibiontics and maybe pain killer/antiinflammitory such as danilon for a week
 
Aroma heel, works wonders.
Have tried flamazine from vet, sudocreme and others. Aroma heel is easy to use, just smear it on thickly and keep doing so. Soreness goes, scabs slide off, can't recommend it more highly.
 
Muddy buddy cure cream, honestly it's magic. I got to the point off calling the vet as it was that bad and the poor pony couldn't even walk without it spliting open and bleeding and I couldn't touch it very well, I had tried everything but it just got worse and worse. I went into my local tack shop and was sold a tub off this lincoln cure cream it's about £16 but uses silver within the mix and proven to kill the bacteria. I took it to try before I called the vet and honestly the stuff is like magic. You apply it on top the scabs and within 3 days all the scabs had fallen off and I had nice pink skin left to heal which didn't take long.
I can't rate this stuff enough and would suggest anybody to use it even though it's in a boring black tub which don't do it justice. I'm always keeping it in stock now.
 
I agree with AmyMay. If the horse is very sore and can't stand to be touched then it may be a better idea to call the vet and get bute and antibiotics.

The trouble with asking on a forum is you get good ideas for mild mudrash, but a lot of people who think that there horse has bad mudrash actually only has mild mudrash. I had a livery yard, and have seen it with my own eyes! If the horse is already at the bad stage its not the time to be trying different lotions and potions.

I have one that gets very bad mud rash. He doesn't need mud either - any form of wet can do it - snow is particularly inflamatory.. The only thing that works 100% with him is keeping his legs dry full stop. We have used everything on him bar sulphur (as good friend, a vet, says she sees many allergic reactions - especially in chestnuts with white socks, which he is) and they all work a bit, but this year keeping him on a half acre hardcore paddock has kept him completely free of it. He goes out in the field once or twice a week for a couple of hours and his legs seem to cope with this.

When he was at the bad mud rash stage, either flamazine from the vet or muddy marvel descab gently took the scabs off. Then I wouldn't put anything on them - leave the area to dry out and heal rather than covering it in softening lotions etc.

Good luck OP. It really is a nightmare. So glad we have missed out on it so far this year (first winter ever with this horse!)
 
I was thinking along those lines too SM.

I did use a bit more sulphur than usual so that may be a factor.

Interestingly, although some bits are now raw and sore, other bits that were really scabby and crusty have now almost completely cleared.

I'm going to see how it is again tonight - if it's started clearing I'll keep applying the sudocreme for now. If not I'll maybe have to get the vet although flamazine has never helped it in the past.


I've had a nightmare with mud rash this year, I think due to the mild and wet weather - Oscar has never had it before (I do the preventative PO&S every week or so, mainly to make it easier to clean mud off!). First signs of mud rash were fur stripping off his hind cannons. As it was higher than gets particularly muddy I imediately thought it was an alergic reaction to the PO&S (or possibley too much Sulphur in new batch) and stopped using it, instead battling with hungreds of Sudocreme (which made a disgusing mess when mixed with feathers and mud, as you can imagine). Bought Hibiscrub but couldn't bring myself to use it as wetting legs and stripping oils off further seemed wrong in the situation.

Unfortunately the mud rash then appeared properly, getting quite sore and chapped at the heels in particular. He started not wanting them touched. I started using the PO&S again and within 1 week the scabs were all gone. 2 weeks later his legs are back to normal and hair is growin in nicely. I wish I had just persevered with the PO&S in the fist place.

However worth noting Oscar's were nothing worse than pink, scabby and chapped looking. They were not open, oozing, infected or bleeding - I would get the vet in for anything worse (or if Oscar's hadn't cleared up so quickly after me starting back on the PO&S it would have been my next step).

Worth also noting, at the same time I kept him in for 2 days of intensive treatment to completely dry his feathers out (turn out in my garden only!), got the muddy gate dug out and hardcored, and the weather froze at the same time too, so a few other factors assisted.

Hope Caspar's clears up soon.
 
The thing I found with the cure cream was you don't have to get the scuba off for it to work. It even comes in a powder like karatex so if you can't handle it just sprinkle it on and does the same job but I only used the cream. My ponys was bad and in my line off work iv seen plenty off cases off mud fever even one case the vet struggled to heal and never seen a product work so quickly as this cream. It kills the bacteria which is what u want and until u try it u won't believe it. i'm well impressed but the pot really dont do any jusice to the product.
 
Sudocrem all the way! plaster in on if its really sore to touch and the sudocrem will ease the pain when it starts to get a little less red and sore I would bathe with warm water and hibiscrub to remove the scabs and bactiria then keep applying the Sudocrem (oh and keep horsey in to keep legs dry) after a few day it would normally clear up.

My horse has had it nearly every winter ansd have treid all sorts and this is what works for him.
Good Luck x
 
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