Sodding mud fever

H

hadfos

Well-Known Member
Joined
8 June 2005
Messages
8,775
Visit site
Am sooo mad,my boy hasnt had mud fever this bad in 12 yrs
frown.gif
,thought i was doing well to keep on top of it with all the crappy weather we have had!Started with a tiny patch that i have managed to keep small for wks,now it has blown up and his pastern is a right mess!Vet came out sedated,scrubbed has given cream and bute but it looks like it is spreading,and i cant get scabs off even after soaking in hibiscrub as he knows what is coming ARGHHHHH(she didnt give antibiotics as apparently the cream is the dogs danglies but i personally think she should have,the swelling is getting no better,and from previous experience i no damn well it is infected somewhere)!
Ohhh well,guess i will have to call them out AGAIN(yes he is intent on bankrupting me this yr
crazy.gif
)!
Bless him,he is soo sore
frown.gif

Had my vent and i guess i will get to ride him at some point this yr
grin.gif
 
I feel your pain as my old mare is very susceptable to MF, she even gets it on her belly :-( I would maybe keep him in or yarded until the ground has dried up? I found pig oil and sulphur cleared it up as well as prevented it..
 
For goodness sake stop Hibiscrubbibg or washing it it, you're weakening the skin still further. Just plaster it up with a good cream,(Protocon, zinc & castor oil cream, Sudacrem, Savlon or similar) repeat daily and don't start picking scabs off as they will roll off as you're applying the cream; once it starts healing, gently massage the area as you put the cream on and each day you'll notice more scabs rolling off it'll take a few days but once it starts healing, it'll get better quickly. Do not pick, that's plain unfair and un necessary. Try to keep the legs dry if you can, if you have to turn out and they get wet again, don't wash off but put on stable bandages to dry the legs off then brush mud off when thoroughly dry. If you can. look at the diet as the healing should start from within and diet is a good place to start making sure your horse is healthy.
 
[ QUOTE ]
For goodness sake stop Hibiscrubbibg or washing it it, you're weakening the skin still further. Just plaster it up with a good cream,(Protocon, zinc & castor oil cream, Sudacrem, Savlon or similar) repeat daily and don't start picking scabs off as they will roll off as you're applying the cream; once it starts healing, gently massage the area as you put the cream on and each day you'll notice more scabs rolling off it'll take a few days but once it starts healing, it'll get better quickly. Do not pick, that's plain unfair and un necessary. Try to keep the legs dry if you can, if you have to turn out and they get wet again, don't wash off but put on stable bandages to dry the legs off then brush mud off when thoroughly dry. If you can. look at the diet as the healing should start from within and diet is a good place to start making sure your horse is healthy.

[/ QUOTE ]
1.Vets instructions,apply hibiscrub at night,dry off,leave overnight,before turnout apply anitibiotic,steroid cream
smile.gif

2.His diet is the same as it has been every yr for the last 10yrs and he looks a picture of health on it,i think the fact that we had snow then rain,snow more snow then rain flooding fields may have something to do with weakening his skin and allowing the bacteria in,especially if i have missed a little nic!
3.I have washed mud off legs for the last 10yrs and havnt touched with a brush,been mudfever free,this yr i havnt and i have chronic mud fever now!
Was having a rant,it isnt new to me,and sadly the way you have described dosnt work,not for my lad anyway..they are all different and when mudfever is concerned you treat the way in which works for your horse...mine was washing off,drying overnight,My cock up is this yr i havnt done it thinking we be alright if i left alone
mad.gif
,wish i had as he only out for 6hrs,18 hrs he stabled!
 
I agree 100%, the more you hibiscrub the worse it gets,zinc and castor oil in the morning before turn out has done the trick for me. other than that leave it alone!


[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
For goodness sake stop Hibiscrubbibg or washing it it, you're weakening the skin still further. Just plaster it up with a good cream,(Protocon, zinc & castor oil cream, Sudacrem, Savlon or similar) repeat daily and don't start picking scabs off as they will roll off as you're applying the cream; once it starts healing, gently massage the area as you put the cream on and each day you'll notice more scabs rolling off it'll take a few days but once it starts healing, it'll get better quickly. Do not pick, that's plain unfair and un necessary. Try to keep the legs dry if you can, if you have to turn out and they get wet again, don't wash off but put on stable bandages to dry the legs off then brush mud off when thoroughly dry. If you can. look at the diet as the healing should start from within and diet is a good place to start making sure your horse is healthy.

[/ QUOTE ]
1.Vets instructions,apply hibiscrub at night,dry off,leave overnight,before turnout apply anitibiotic,steroid cream
smile.gif

2.His diet is the same as it has been every yr for the last 10yrs and he looks a picture of health on it,i think the fact that we had snow then rain,snow more snow then rain flooding fields may have something to do with weakening his skin and allowing the bacteria in,especially if i have missed a little nic!
3.I have washed mud off legs for the last 10yrs and havnt touched with a brush,been mudfever free,this yr i havnt and i have chronic mud fever now!
Was having a rant,it isnt new to me,and sadly the way you have described dosnt work,not for my lad anyway..they are all different and when mudfever is concerned you treat the way in which works for your horse...mine was washing off,drying overnight,My cock up is this yr i havnt done it thinking we be alright if i left alone
mad.gif
,wish i had as he only out for 6hrs,18 hrs he stabled!

[/ QUOTE ]
 
Agh! You DO neeed to keep picking the scabs off, as your vets have advised. The bacteria that cause mud fever are unaffected by products applied on top of the scabs. The scabs need to come off GENTLY to expose the underlying infection to the product being used to eradicate it. You won't weaken the skin if you are very gentle, and I'd soften them first by soaking in warm water. Would your ned stand a foot at atime in a lovely bucket of warm water? Sadly, the best cure for mud fever is no mud but in the UK you can usually only achieve that by stabling the horse for most of the flipping winter. Might be easier for the next week or so as the weather forecast (well, for Wales) is dry and settled.
 
I managed to get resistant scabs off by bandaging over damp cottonwool plastered with sudocrem with a pad of clingfilm over (not wrapped around as it is like cheese wire!) and left overnight.
Once you get to the pink skin underneath you can treat it.
My vet gave me Fuciderm but it didn't work for mine (she had antibiotics as well) and I mixed Flower of sulphur with sudocrem and we cleared it up in a week after doing it the vets way for 3 weeks!
 
when i had to treat a horse with mud fever we started with the washing with hibiscrub routine but i wasnt really working, had the vet out for another reason but he had a look - gave us betadine cream and were to use this after the washing ect. horse got really fed up of having his feet washed so tried just using the cream for a few day - it worked really well! it was think enough to stay on all day, and would be able to pick some scabs off each time before reapplying and it started to clear up much more quickly this way.
tbh that cream is awesome imo, will treat so much. u can get it perscription free from a human pharmacy too but its not cheap. and def in this case washing was not doing anyone any favours.

hope it clears up soon however you treat it.
smile.gif
 
Fair enough, our vets will have to differ in how they like it treated, there are many ways to skin a cat!
I agree, what works for some doesn't for others and in my case, mine have always got worse and harder to shift when I washed than when I do it the cream way, perhaps our soils are different too which all counts.
 
Different horses respond to different types of management. IMO neither MFH or Hadfos are wrong - just different.

You need to do what works with your horse - and what your vet tells you to do. Other's views are important as they might give you a clue for treatement you hadn't thought of before. But could we be nicer to each other?

For what its worth we're having one of the worst outbreaks of mud fever on the yard just now. At one point nearly half the horses were in with it. Our vet said it was the same everywhere.

Using the cream method for my lad just spreds it massively and makes it sore. But there is a more fine boned warmblood for whom that method works better as it is gentler. For my lad we have to wash and completely dry every day. We also use a barrier powder rather than a barrier cream for the same reason. But others, usually the finer leg types, do better with cream than powder.

We just need to find the best method for each horse. Listen to other's views - but we each know our own horse best. Hugs Hadfos... You're not alone. Most of us are suffering right along with you. Good luck!
 
Not sure if yoyr horse is clipped or not, but i have never clipped my horses or trimmed there feathers before winter, that way nature (and hair) does the trick and protects those fetlocks.
 
[ QUOTE ]
For goodness sake stop Hibiscrubbibg or washing it it, you're weakening the skin still further. Just plaster it up with a good cream,(Protocon, zinc & castor oil cream, Sudacrem, Savlon or similar) repeat daily and don't start picking scabs off as they will roll off as you're applying the cream; once it starts healing, gently massage the area as you put the cream on and each day you'll notice more scabs rolling off it'll take a few days but once it starts healing, it'll get better quickly.

[/ QUOTE ]
Yes yes, I do this, and it works. Conotrane is good, it's for bed sores or something?!

ETA Also my instructor found one day conotrane, next day wound powder did it even better.
 
Hugs Hadfos. Hope it clears soon. If its any consolation I have a Friesian with full feathers, never wash / brush esp when wet. Couldn't work out why he was stamping on his water bucket backwards, had a look... Raging mud fever on all 4. Nicely covered by the feathers!!!

My old boy on the other hand also had the vet out as his was infected. I have found that the greasy cream and Pig oil and Sulphur works wonders. Fuciderm also didnt work for me. Esp as they were living out at the time... (Vet comment... well cant you bring them in, don't you have stables...)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top