Remedies/ treatment for Seedy toe?

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Zimzim

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My horse has just developed a slight bit of seedy toe in his off fore, so just wanted to know if anyone has any remedies or treatments they use to help it?

Thanks :)
 
Fresh air is the enemy of those bacteria,

You can also use white lightening gel - that's expensive but good. You may find it very persistent though so your hoof care professional should take a look and perhaps open it up a bit to allow air and antibacterial treatment. One option is a treatment hole above the seedy toe. .
 
brucea said:
Fresh air is the enemy of those bacteria,

You can also use white lightening gel - that's expensive but good. You may find it very persistent though so your hoof care professional should take a look and perhaps open it up a bit to allow air and antibacterial treatment. One option is a treatment hole above the seedy toe. .
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Beaten to it!! Another vote for fresh air. The bacteria are anerobic and so only live in areas that air doesn't get to - this is why grease based treatments like stockholm tar are such a bad idea. White lightening is ace - the liquid is a little cheaper and lasts longer (you mix the amount you want with the same volume of white vinegar and soak cotton wool in it - pack it into the space and tape it up so it has a good saok). It is fab because it doesn't damage living tissue (like hydrogen peroxide, milton etc), but just is a chemical reaction between the white lightening and the vinegar that gives off oxygen. So it is just the air made by the reaction that kills the bacteria - clever stuff!
 
Hi thank you for your reply, my farrier has managed to open it up abit to allow me to treat it, it is only slight but want to get on top of it before it develops further.

I try really hard to keep his feet clean when he comes in at night and before he goes out, but with their field being so boggy its a bit of a nightmare!

I will have a look for that white lightening gel/ liquid, I've never heard of it so its worth a go!

Ive seen people use stockholm tar but I never thought it was a good thing to use.
 
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No - not a fan of any gunks. Only thing on the feet should be water.

Just to provide a bit of discouragement - is he shod with toe clips? If so these can cause damage, that then allows seedy toe to get in - and in the long term it can be almost impossible to get the deficiency in the hoof to close up.

I have a hard working bare footer - he still has a deficiency in his toe where the toe clips were - despite 6 years of barefoot and multiple attempts to unload/resolve - it has affected the why the sole grows a that point.
 
brucea said:
No - not a fan of any gunks. Only thing on the feet should be water.

Just to provide a bit of discouragement - is he shod with toe clips? If so these can cause damage, that then allows seedy toe to get in - and in the long term it can be almost impossible to get the deficiency in the hoof to close up.

I have a hard working bare footer - he still has a deficiency in his toe where the toe clips were - despite 6 years of barefoot and multiple attempts to unload/resolve - it has affected the why the sole grows a that point.
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Hi Brucea, no he isnt shod as hes 3.5yr old, and Im hoping to keep him barefoot as long as possible. Hes a high percentage of TB but his feet are not that bad, I dont think its helped with the field being so boggy at the moment, there moving into a new field in a weeks time thats much dryer and doesnt get boggy so Im hoping that may help, I've never had a horse with seedy toe before so its a new experience with me!
 
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Low sugar diet. Trying best to ensure no minerals are missing and balancing them against forage if possible.
I think soaks are best but I cannot stress enough the importance of getting sugars in diet as low as possible from my experience.
Seedy toe/white line disease attacks unhealthy lamina so you need to enable the horse to grow healthy lamina and time to grow a healthy hoof otherwise it will just keep recurring imo.
 
Have your farrier cut away the dead bits and then put in eucalyptus oil and do this daily and you will see a change very quickly

Good luck
 
Clean it well, you can use hydrogen peroxide if it isn't too deep as it disassociates into water and oxygen when it hits the foot, hence kills the anaerobic bacteria, and rinse, dry, pop in some CuSO4 crystals or put them in a bit of vaseline, or equally, decathlon's frog cleaner, blue liquid, same as above. Never fails. ( the teisan gel suggested above also has copper in it)
 
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