Thrush?

[JulieM]

Brig picked up thrush about three weeks or so ago. The farrier was able to cut a lot of it out when he did his feet. Seemed to have left, and now it's back.

I've been painting that iodine stuff that begins with the letter P on his feet every night and last night I put Koppertox on his feet, too, now that it's wet out.

What is the best way to treat it? And, once it's cleared up, how can I keep it from coming back?

When I was a kid I sprayed bleach on my horses' feet every night and they never had any problems, but I'd like to find a less caustic way to treat and avoid it.

Thanks!

I wanted to edit to add that he does have his feet picked daily, twice if I ride. His stall is cleaned every day (that he is in). Brig picked up thrush when it was dry as a bone in OR (he never had it last winter or spring). Sometimes the area near the gate was wet because water from his trough was dumped there, but it dried within 24 hours, and he has enough grass in his pasture that he doesn't stand at the gate all day. My understanding is that thrush can be contagious and the last horse in that pasture is the one that I've written about before, who is neglected.

[diane]

I never heard that one.. its not contagious.. try a old timey treatment. use some Reducine...

[Deb]

Mix up some Sugar and Iodine until it is the consistency of thick Honey. Pack the hoof with the Sugardine; then place a folded up baby diaper on the hoof and wrap with duct tape to keep it there. Some horses are just prone to getting thrush.

[Lis]

Once you get it under control, thrush buster once a week can help prevent. I have a mare that is prone to it, she had chronic thrush for a while..that wasn't fun to deal with.

I've never heard that it was contagious either. Unfortunately, it's just the time of the year for all that fun stuff.

[Smay]

But seriously now, don't mess with thrush. Under certain conditions, it can be very damaging, and even get infected up inside the hoof, cause tracts up in there, lead to bad things such as septic pedal osteitis... don't ask me how I know this! Get Clean Trax, Thrush Buster, or one of the other numerous antibacterials and get on it before it causes any holes in his frog.

[juliab]

I just bought some Thrush XX and it now comes in this ingenious spray bottle that works upside down. It is SO much better than those squeeze bottles and you can really control where the stuff goes.

[tbrescue]

I have always used the pete ramey remedy, anti fungal cream and triple antibiotic cream mixed in equal parts and had great results. Moose had the worst thrush I'd ever seen when he arrived, his frog was split all the way through to his heels it was gross. He healed in about 2 weeks with daily application, never had an issue since and it's been WET here all summer

[laughalittle1]

I also had a farrier tell me that for really bad cases- he has mixed penicillin and vasoline together. Applied the mixture to the area. He believes that alot of the koppertox and stuff like that can be too caustic. Since the vasoline is water resistant (keeps a barrier from the "elements" and the hoof) which helps keep moisture out, but allows the penicillin to treat the bacteria. He said to put the mixture in a feeding syringe (those usually have a long pointed tip) so that it can be applied directly in the deep areas along the frog and in the frog.

I've never had to do this, but he said it works really well. And that is the only thing he uses anymore.

[ZenRider]

I've had good luck with Thrush Buster for those occasions. One thing, where gloves, because that purple die does not come out easy.

[Rusty]

My farrier recommends 'dry cow' for thrush that is in a deep crack/central groove that is too narrow to get cleaned to the bottom and has poor air circulation. Dry cow is the antibiotic mastitis prevention antibiotic applied to teats when a milk cow is being dried up in preparation before calving. The tubes come with a thin, longish syringe end that is ideal for application. You just squirt in until you see it has filled in the cavity. You then press folded gauze into the groove/crack to keep it open so air can get in. Do daily until sufficient new frog has grown in.