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Post by HokieThea on Apr 24, 2008 15:43:36 GMT -5
So I was gone unavoidably for 2 weeks, and I came back to the barn last night to discover that Zak has a nasty case of mud fever. I've never sealt with this before. I was told by fellow boarders to give his legs a betadine wash, and then spray the area daily with Listerine. Does this sound like the right course of action? You know, just when you start to feel compitent about your equine knowledge, you feel stupid all over again...  |
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Post by johnnysauntie on Apr 24, 2008 16:22:53 GMT -5
Jag - despite having no white on his legs - is very susceptible. I've had good results by first giving a good betadine scrub (and rinsing thoroughly) and then drying his legs extremely well with towels and then handwalking him in the shedrow. When it's really bad, I do a furazone sweat on his dry legs, and try to keep him as dry as possible. As soon as he goes out in the mud, he gets the scratches.
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Post by TeachU2Ride on Apr 24, 2008 17:19:37 GMT -5
This is one of those things that'll get a thousand different responses for favorite remedies. The most important part of all of them is to keep the area as clean and dry as possible, with something on the raw skin initially to help keep it from cracking as the horse moves around.
I:
- clip the affected area as much as possible
- clean with Wound Wash (don't use anything with iodine anymore since I learned it actually irritates open tissue... and never put anything that stings on my horses - Listerine would certainly qualify - since I want them to let me touch their legs again!)
- air dry
- apply Desitin diaper rash cream, which is both soothing and moisterizing AND provides a barrier to moisture
If the horse comes in with dirt stuck to the Desitin, I simply use a clean, soft cloth to wipe it off and re-apply. I don't wash again because I don't want to keep wetting the skin.
Good results in 3-4 days with this method.
(And when I have a horse that's prone to scratches, I clip his fetlocks as soon as the weather turns muddy as a preventative.)
Good luck!
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Post by BoyleHeightsKid on Apr 24, 2008 20:04:20 GMT -5
JA you will find that now you have Jag on the Horseshine, he won't be as susceptible  Boy used to have such a bad problem and now that he's been on the Horseshine for over a year now, he's hardly had any problems with it.  |
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Post by hfhopper on Apr 24, 2008 20:24:12 GMT -5
JA you will find that now you have Jag on the Horseshine, he won't be as susceptible Boy used to have such a bad problem and now that he's been on the Horseshine for over a year now, he's hardly had any problems with it. Not to argue, but I must disagree with this. Riley is on a 1/2 cup of Horseshine daily and still got scratches (aka mud fever) this spring. This has been a chronic problem since I've had him. Hence why I started feeding the Horseshine last spring. I ended up going with the vet's recommendation of doing the bloodwork for a liver panel and complete workup. Vet said that secondary photosensitivity (looks like scratches, but doesn't heal like them) will show up in elevated liver enzyme levels. Fortunately, Riley's were fine, but now I know for sure. I guess as much as I've battled scratches, I'm willing to do the extra testing to get to the bottom of the cause. We ended up giving him an IV dose of sodium iodide, removing all of the scabs, clipping, and I'm scrubbing his legs every day with Malaseb shampoo for the next 2 weeks. If this doesn't work, then he'll get another dose of the sodium iodide in 3 weeks and we'll do a punch biopsy at that time. Trust me, I've tried every topical out there. Some worked, some didn't. But scratches are nothing to be taken lightly because they can become very serious and lead to horrible things like cellulitis or lymphagitis (sp?). I'd say that if you don't see any change in the condition in a few days, call the vet. |
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Post by jenarby on Apr 24, 2008 20:39:12 GMT -5
Wyatt got it really bad one year. Since he lived outside 24/7 I had to get really aggressive with it.
I clipped his hind legs as closely as possible (he never got it on the fronts....my guess because the hinds were white)....
Cleaned him with antibacterial soap and then dried his legs really well. Mixed 1/2 container of furazone with a tube of desitan and 10ml of deximethizone. Applied one daily and the process was repeated each day. After a few days the scabs got mushy and soft. Then I'd pick them off. This was the only method that worked for him. Once the scabs were gone and the skin wasn't irritated anymore I slathered plain desitan on each time I brought him in for prevention until the pasture dried up.
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Post by hfhopper on Apr 24, 2008 20:45:55 GMT -5
Jen's mixture is the ONLY thing that showed any sign of working for Riley. I think it's the Dex that does the trick because it works on the swelling and inflammation. That's the mixture I've been using this year too and it has show some signs of improvement, but the vet wanted to try something different. So I'm game for anything right now.
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Post by Einstein on Apr 25, 2008 6:53:46 GMT -5
I use Jen's mixture as well. You can get the Dex from your vet, then I mix it all up in a tupperware container and go at it. We didn't really see scratches in Colorado, it was so dry where I was, for 10 years. Come out to VA and last spring all the horses (except Mikey) who came from CO/WY had issues with it. I love desitan as well, it seems to help with so many things too!
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Post by Goalie on Apr 25, 2008 8:32:00 GMT -5
I'm going to sound like a broken record here too as I use jens mixture as well. It worked the best on Goal when he had it. It didn't take long before I could take the scabs off and he healed very nicely. He had been on Omega Horseshine for over a year and got it really bad and I ended up taking him off of the Omega as it didn't seem to do anything for him. Even my vet had said that Horseshine wasn't that great a supplement for Goal. To each his own regarding Omega, it just didn't do any good for Goal. |
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Post by HokieThea on Apr 25, 2008 8:34:41 GMT -5
The vet is due out next week anyway, so until then I guess I can just use a furazone/desitan mixture. I did clean it up good with a betadine scrub. He has some really big spots, and I feel like such a bad mom! At least they don't seem to hurt him at the moment. Thank you all for the advice!
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Post by Deb on Apr 25, 2008 9:03:49 GMT -5
Desitin Diaper Rash Ointment is great stuff. The main ingredient is Zinc Oxide, which can be bought in the pure form. It is used also for white muzzles to prevent sunburn and if your in the sun alot without a hat putting it on your nose will also prevent sunburning.
I have researched iodine/betadine and hydrogen peroxide. They are both a caustic substance that can actually do more harm than good for anything except with iodine for treating a new foals umbilical stump. They both cause the areas used on to kill/sear the new healing flesh as well as the injured area.
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Post by seanskate on Apr 25, 2008 9:20:29 GMT -5
A slight variation on Jen's "recipe", but this worked well with Shandi's crud.
4 oz tube of Desitin - use this not balmex or other diaper cream knock offs. Desitin is thicker and has more staying power
4 oz tube of Lotrimin (jock itch/foot fungus cream)
4 oz tube of neosporin or other antibacterial cream.
Mix and apply to clean dry legs. Cleared up Shandi's scratches very quickly.
Good luck
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Boy used to have such a bad problem and now that he's been on the Horseshine for over a year now, he's hardly had any problems with it. 
