Seedy Toe....

[joey_olop]

YO reckons Blackie has got a really seedy hoof-he lost his shoe yeaterday & is really cracked.

What is the best way of treating this as he has never had it before & Ive never dealth with it before either. I put hoof moist on his feet everyday-Ive done this religiously but it dosnt look like its helping it.

Thanks :)

[shandy84]

Get your farrier out to check or your vet you will then be advised by them what to do

[Roofio]

ok, if he does have seedy toe here are a few things i have been doing...

antibac hoof disenfectant
cornucrescine hoof disenfectant
virkon soaks
borax soaks

if you tap the area where your YO thinks it is, does it sound hollow?

good luck, its not much fun!

[MelanieD]

Virkon, borax and milton all good. Can soak in borax even with a shoe one, not sure about the other two. If really minging then clean trax is good, but if really minging you need your farrier and/or vet to look at it as well not just try to treat it yourself.

[joey_olop]

Its not minging though-it is really dry with rings on the outside of the hoof & its crumbling underneath around the frog.

Does anyone know what causes this?? He is not lame on it & his feet are really strong, cob feet so not sure how he has managed to get this.

[Joyscarer]

Having gone for needing hoof moist in early spring, the ground is so damp I haven't needed it all summer.

[teabiscuit]

how much borax per soak do you need? and how many times/how often do you need to soak?

many thanks

[MelanieD]

Is it the sole thats crumbly? That's probably just normal exfoliating sole and nothing to worry about. There's usually at least a bit of a suspicious smell if there's infection there. Seedy toe is an infected bit at the toe, often either a small hole or a crack visible on the wall if the hole is hidden by a shoe. Soaking in borax (2 teaspoons to a gallon, about 10 mins a couple of times a week) won't do any harm if it isn't seedy toe but I think it'd be good to get the opinion of someone a bit more expert than YO before panicing too much..

Its normal to get a little bit of infection under shoes but a bit of damage to the foot or a very mild attack of laminitis that isn't even enough to give obvious lameness while shod can be enough to give something for the bugs to feed on and spread beyond the normal bit of ick under the shoes and around nail holes.