Why do people always know better than the vet?

[Smogul]

I remarked to a colleague that it had been an expensive weekend: cancelled lesson and out of hours vet. I was told it was ridiculous to call out vet for mud fever and that the vet should not have prescribed antibiotics and Danilon. Colleague has never seen horse and knows nothing of its clinical history but was quite confident that she was right and vet was wrong. Oh, well.

 

[ROMANY 1959]

Cos they don't know much..and think they are right...mud fever can turn nasty and lead to swelling, cellulite. Problems, and a vet call out...

 

[peaceandquiet1]

Well we got the vet to see our pony with mud fever, got better very quickly.

 

[JillA]

There are a lot of people in the horse world who can talk the talk - but nothing else. Take no notice. I have a neighbour like that (used to have a horse millennia ago) and I just smile politely, thank her and move on. She might be useful one day to alert me if there is a problem.

 

[Cortez]

Cos they don't know much..and think they are right...mud fever can turn nasty and lead to swelling, cellulite. Problems, and a vet call out...

Cellulite?

 

[Batgirl]

I think they mean cellulitis

 

[sunleychops]

All depends how bad the mud fever is. If you've caught the early signs then I wouldn't call the vet. If however it hasn't been picked up on for some reason then I perhaps would.

Although it would take very severe mud fever for me to call the vet and I would like to think I would notice it much sooner!

 

[Cortez]

I think they mean cellulitis

I know they do; just had visions of tubby horse bottoms running through my head. Naughty of me, I know

 

[pip6]

Thank you, really made me smile at the thought!

A lot of arrogance in equine world.......like those that call the vet / farrier then ignore the advice because they don't like it. Why bother to pay for a professional opinion. If you have that little respect for them, you have the wrong vet / farrier.

 

[tabithakat64]

This

All depends how bad the mud fever is. If you've caught the early signs then I wouldn't call the vet. If however it hasn't been picked up on for some reason then I perhaps would.

Although it would take very severe mud fever for me to call the vet and I would like to think I would notice it much sooner!

 

[JillA]

I had a horse with mud fever (well, dermatitis to be precise) which didn't respond to any of the conventional treatments. Vet visit, tube of prescription ointment and it was gone in 10 days. Doesn't always mean you have failed if you get the vet out.

 

[ROMANY 1959]

Predictive text strikes again...yes I meant cellulitis !!!

 

[Shilasdair]

I remarked to a colleague that it had been an expensive weekend: cancelled lesson and out of hours vet. I was told it was ridiculous to call out vet for mud fever and that the vet should not have prescribed antibiotics and Danilon. Colleague has never seen horse and knows nothing of its clinical history but was quite confident that she was right and vet was wrong. Oh, well.

I would only call a vet out of hours for an emergency, so I'm wondering how you let mud fever progress to the point where it becomes an acute medical emergency?
S

 

[ribbons]

I would only call a vet out of hours for an emergency, so I'm wondering how you let mud fever progress to the point where it becomes an acute medical emergency?
S

Yes I wondered that. Out of hours for mud fever seems a bit strange, it doesn't usually go from manageable to emergency in hours.

 

[MyDogIsAnIdiot]

Yes I wondered that. Out of hours for mud fever seems a bit strange, it doesn't usually go from manageable to emergency in hours.

Some horses can be fine with it and then suddenly get very very sore - there was one like this on my last yard. The horse might be of the feather-y persuasion and OP might have only just noticed that it has gotten quite bad, especially if feathers are being left alone and not fussed with in an attempt to prevent mud fever.

 

[glamourpuss]

I would only call a vet out of hours for an emergency, so I'm wondering how you let mud fever progress to the point where it becomes an acute medical emergency?
S

I have to agree I thought that as well. I'd happily call a vet out for mud fever if it wasn't responding to how I was dealing with it, but you get an idea pretty quickly if that's the case, no?

 

[Shilasdair]

Some horses can be fine with it and then suddenly get very very sore - there was one like this on my last yard. The horse might be of the feather-y persuasion and OP might have only just noticed that it has gotten quite bad, especially if feathers are being left alone and not fussed with in an attempt to prevent mud fever.

Mud fever is a bacterial skin disease; I would disagree that horses are ever 'fine with it'. Efforts should always be made to cure it.
And 'not noticing' is mismanagement.
S

 

[Sussexbythesea]

Yes I wondered that. Out of hours for mud fever seems a bit strange, it doesn't usually go from manageable to emergency in hours.

Yes it can. Cellulitis can develop in a matter of hours from only a small wound.


"Cellulitis typically starts with sudden swelling that is warm and painful to the touch. As the infection progresses, the swelling may spread to affect the entire leg and the horse can develop a fever. Lameness may become so severe that the horse refuses to bear weight on the limb. Drainage may develop from cracks in the skin, and some horses become depressed while losing their appetite. The infection can progress to this point within a few short hours. Some horses develop life-threatening complications, such as laminitis or necrosis (death) of skin tissue, causing it to slough off."

Note the "sudden" and "infection can progress to this within a few short hours"

Also "The size of the wound does not seem to matter: A horse can develop cellulitis from a pinpoint puncture as easily as from a large laceration."

If I have seen suspect swelling in addition to the wound/ mud-fever I have got a vet out that day for antibiotics. It may not be needed but I don't have a crystal ball so can't tell if it will pass or get worse and neither can anyone else.

 

[Thriller]

I probably wouldn't call out of hours for mud fever, but then i have been lucky enough to have never had to deal with it. If i was in that situation..who knows. I do now have a little collection of anti-biotics and danilon though, so i would not have needed the vet in this case lol

 

[sport horse]

A very experienced horse vet said to me some years ago that they were at the point of giving up practice as they would go out to a new horse owner in a DIY yard, carefully explain how they wanted the horse to be treated but then found on the next visit that the prescribed treatment had been overruled by another person in said yard and guess what, the person overruling had no qualifications and the said horse was no better! Very depressing that those who do not know are so willing to give their views and often on this forum without even seeing the horse.

 

[MyDogIsAnIdiot]

Mud fever is a bacterial skin disease; I would disagree that horses are ever 'fine with it'. Efforts should always be made to cure it.
And 'not noticing' is mismanagement.
S

I know that - just speaking of what I have seen!
I would never leave mud fever without treating it either as it can develop into something serious very quickly. As the OP has said.

 

[Shilasdair]

Yes it can. Cellulitis can develop in a matter of hours from only a small wound.


"Cellulitis typically starts with sudden swelling that is warm and painful to the touch. As the infection progresses, the swelling may spread to affect the entire leg and the horse can develop a fever. Lameness may become so severe that the horse refuses to bear weight on the limb. Drainage may develop from cracks in the skin, and some horses become depressed while losing their appetite. The infection can progress to this point within a few short hours. Some horses develop life-threatening complications, such as laminitis or necrosis (death) of skin tissue, causing it to slough off."

Note the "sudden" and "infection can progress to this within a few short hours"

Also "The size of the wound does not seem to matter: A horse can develop cellulitis from a pinpoint puncture as easily as from a large laceration."

If I have seen suspect swelling in addition to the wound/ mud-fever I have got a vet out that day for antibiotics. It may not be needed but I don't have a crystal ball so can't tell if it will pass or get worse and neither can anyone else.

If you are going to google, then copy and paste information about cellulitis from Equus magazine, at least copy it all.

'In horses, the predisposing factors for cellulitis are not completely understood, but poor hygiene, the bacterial population on the skin, decreased blood/lymphatic circulation and breaks in the skin are all thought to play a role...'

See more at: http://equusmagazine.com/article/the-cause-of-cellulitis-in-horses-8504#sthash.tlJiIDng.

So 'poor hygiene' and 'bacteria' then.
S

 

[Shilasdair]

I know that - just speaking of what I have seen!
I would never leave mud fever without treating it either as it can develop into something serious very quickly. As the OP has said.

i've worked with horses for decades (I'm in my five hundreds now) and have yet to see mud fever deteriorate to require an emergency call out at the weekend, that couldn't have been managed/treated by the vet well before (if the owner can't manage it).
S

 

[glamourpuss]

However: going back to the OP, I can see her frustration. She has called the vet & someone who doesn't know the horse is scoffing at the vets treatment.

This does happen all the time though doesn't it, one of my horses is incredibly strong XC, I'm being careful with bitting etc because I'm not a fan of just chucking in the strongest bit & think lots of factors need to be taken into account. I also have a fantastic instructor & we are collectively trying to work it out.
However, this didn't stop a girl I work with (who has never seen the horse or me ride) telling me to put him in a 3 ring gag on the bottom ring with a grackle. I explained politely why I didn't think that was suitable & she got all sniffy saying that it's what she always jumps her horses in. Well that makes it totes fine then 😳

 

[Shilasdair]

How is Emma69 these days?

S

 

[Podgelover]

I am such a pansy, I call the vet all the time. they must think im crazy, one time I rang them to tell them my boy was eating carrots really oddly and I was worried there was something wrong with his teeth, it was just a phone call... but still! I am very much a get professional opinion or worry about it non-stop person.

Some people just think they know your own horse better than you! When my boy was shifting (early signs of colic) I got my yard friends to have a look for their opinion and they tried to tell me his stable bandage was too tight, god knows what would have happened if I had listened to them

 

[Podgelover]

also I have had the vet out for mud fever (not out of hours) and I still maintain its the easiest way to do it, the treatment cream they gave me cleared it up within 3 days! Why wouldn't you? Can't be faffing about with shop brought stuff that doesn't work!

 

[peaceandquiet1]

Our vet said our pony had almost certainly got mud fever after a wound of some kind, the cellulitis flared up very suddenly. We don't have any mud and pony had been checked over and ridden the day before. So I would be careful not to criticise too much-not always mismanagement. What is mismanagment is playing around with home treatments when the horse is suffering and needs the vet.

 

[BeingKate]

Not sure if this helps the OP or anyone else but my vet recommended simply scrubbing with hibiscrub and plastering in Sudo Crème. At our new yard 4 out of my 5 horses have got mud fever this winter, but caught very early, this treatment cleared it up within a few days thank goodness. I've used this method for years on and off at previous yards...

 

[Shilasdair]

also I have had the vet out for mud fever (not out of hours) and I still maintain its the easiest way to do it, the treatment cream they gave me cleared it up within 3 days! Why wouldn't you? Can't be faffing about with shop brought stuff that doesn't work!

Why wouldn't you call a vet out of hours for mud fever?
Because vets are humans with lives, their time is precious, and maybe, just maybe someone has a real equine emergency which needs them.
S