Hoof abscess treatment

Ladyknight

Ladyknight

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May 6, 2007
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Queensland, Australia
My farrier was out today and showed me where a abscess has formed on my horses hind hoof. I have been searching for some information on the net.
For treatment, I am planning to soak it once a day in warm water and epsom salts, then apply some iodine to the hole and apply animalintex, a flat piece of hoof shaped plastic my farrier gave me(amyone knw what this is called?), and then bandage and duct tape it.

Is this an okay treatment?

I am very annoyed at myself for not noticing it sooner, I will not go through my excuses but would really appreciate your advice. As a first time horse owner, I am slightly freaking out. Help?
:confused:
 
Go and get yourself some disposable nappies! Slap on the animalintex, a nappy over that, a poly bag then duct tape to within an inch of its life. Works a treat and they can be turned out with it on as it wont let the mud through.

Dont beat yourself up about not noticing it - its one of these things that happens no matter what you do or how careful you are. Some horses are more prone than others and some tend to get them at certain times of the year.

If your horse had been that bad with it you would have noticed because they look as though they have broken a leg with an abcess!:eek:. Real foot in the air - cant walk stuff!
 
Ok the best thing I have found for Abcess or bruising of the foot is Iodine and sugar, yes sugar it is fab, and the iodine prevents the foot from getting moist and draws out the abcess.

Mix the two together and pad out the sugar over the infected area, cover with old nappy, or similar then vetwrap. the sugar compacts down and goes in the smallest of nocks and crannies.

Works a treat i promise.
 
Yeah It is amazing I learnt this trick of the trade when working for an Internation showjumper, thought he was joking at first but asured me he was not. could not believe how well it worked and so much cheaper than animalintex!!;)
 
I would follow what your farrier has advised. The nappy trick is a good idea if you want to turn your horse out as otherwise they wear through the duct tape really quickly and get mud in the dressing. Get someone to help you if you can otherwise you will get backache! When I had to do a poultice for ten days :eek: I had an upside down box nearby with everything I needed cut/soaked etc ready in the order you need it so you can get it all on without having to fiddle around otherwise your horse wants to put its foot down and you have to start again! Good luck!
 
Thank you so much for all your answers, I really appreciate it. Im off to but some disposable nappies. :)So after the gunk is all drained out of it (someone said it can take about 5 days?) I should stop putting iodine on it and ujst protect it , giving the hoof a chance to regrow? Is soaking it still beneficial when it is all drained?
 
Just a word of warning. Iodine is neucotic to Live tissue/cells (especially when used at the wrong concentration) and as an abscess often tracks close to the live, sensitive structures and tissues in the foot, it can kill the living tissues therefore slowing the healing process.

I would use Manuka Honey as it kills bacteria and is very good at preventing fungal spores from taking hold.

Because the Manuka Honey has a high osmotic potential it draws moisture in to it which causes the the abscess to be drawn out. Also the Bacteria can't survive in the honey environment and burst.

You will also find that if you have any thrush around the colaterial grooves of the frog the honey will get rid of it.

It a wonderful natural product and aids healing.

Manuka Honey, Breast pads (yes breast pads as they are again highly absorbant) and then a nappy on top works a treat. Then Gaffa tape it to make a protective shoe ;)

Even once it has stopped drawning you can continue with using the honey and breast pads for a few more days.

If you have a hole left where the abscess has drained I would then pack the hole with a product call "hoof Stuff" by Red horse or if it isi a small hole "ArtiMud" www.red-horse.co.uk That will stop dirty getting in till it grows out (you will need to change it every 5 to 7 days though)
 
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Hi, I have just had exactly the same thing happen to my mare, the vet came this morning and drained an abscess. My mare lives out and so I asked if I should cover it with animalintex vet wrap and duct tape etc. like everyone says you should and he said that the best way of dealing with these is to keep the horse in if you can for about a week so it stays dry and clean. He told me to tub it for a couple of days but not to dress it with anything. The vet is an equine vet who has seen plenty of them judging by his age(!). Luckily there is a stable where I am that I can put her in so she is in there now with a dry clean hoof.
 
I disagree strongly with having a vet or farrier 'open up' an abscess. Firstly it's entirely possible for them to 'open' the wrong spot, even for an experienced equine vet. And as for less experienced... I've even heard one vet say & demonstrate that if you dig & don't find it, keep digging until you do!:eek: I would be removing the shoes if he has them, giving the horse as much light exercise as possible, in hoof boots for protection if necessary, and non anti inflammatory painkillers if absolutely necessary. I would be soaking the feet daily and after the abscess bursts, in diluted ACV or epsom salts.

I also disagree strongly with locking a horse up. The more exercise the better. If a vet has opened up the live corium to the outside world, infection is a very real problem tho, especially if it's muddy. If this has been done in wet weather, it may be necessary to lock up the horse for a few days until some new sole material has grown, but it's imperative that the horse still gets lots of exercise.
 
wundahoss said:
I disagree strongly with having a vet or farrier 'open up' an abscess. Firstly it's entirely possible for them to 'open' the wrong spot, even for an experienced equine vet. And as for less experienced... I've even heard one vet say & demonstrate that if you dig & don't find it, keep digging until you do!:eek: I would be removing the shoes if he has them, giving the horse as much light exercise as possible, in hoof boots for protection if necessary, and non anti inflammatory painkillers if absolutely necessary. I would be soaking the feet daily and after the abscess bursts, in diluted ACV or epsom salts.

I also disagree strongly with locking a horse up. The more exercise the better. If a vet has opened up the live corium to the outside world, infection is a very real problem tho, especially if it's muddy. If this has been done in wet weather, it may be necessary to lock up the horse for a few days until some new sole material has grown, but it's imperative that the horse still gets lots of exercise.
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Totally agree with you ;) The amount of people I hear giving anti inflammatories (bute) in large doses to horses with an abscess and wonder why when they take them off it the horse goes even more lame; is just unbeliveable.

The inflammation is their to help drive the infection out, by giving bute you technically immunocompromise the horses. The immume system can't work correctly if you take the inflammation away and stop it from doing what its designed to do.

Movement ie being allowed to move arround in a feild, helps the expel the infection and provides good circulation to the foot. Cutting away at the foot is so detrimental to the structure of the foot its quite unbelievable vets still keep "digging"
:(


Sorry went off on one there, i'll climb back under my stone now :p
 
Hi, Wundahoss and Samboc77, first - sorry its so long but can I ask for some more advice please? I tend to agree with your points of view here although I have done what the vet has advised me. I have never had to deal with abscesses before (although I have had several horses) and when my horse came down with one on the first day of her purchase(!) after the previous owner dropped her off, I was unsure what it was and then after a couple of days called the vet. He was useless and dug a small hole in her foot, told me it was an abscess and gave me antibiotics. I told him she lived out and that how should I keep it clean etc. He said to tub a couple of times but otherwise just leave it. He did the whole thing in about 5 mins flat. Anyway there was no way she would let me touch it (she is young and was not used to having her feet handled) so it got left. She came sound and everything was fine until 6 weeks later when she was hopping lame. I still have not got a blacksmith being new in the area and quite isolated and I have not needed one yet so I did speak to one who was recommended to me but he could not come out until another 2 days later. All this was complicated by the fact that she was booked in to go to a training yard to be started in 2 days. I ended up with the equine vet who spent ages making a drain hole by the toe and a sort of channel half way round the wall of the hoof. His advice was antibiotics, keep her in to keep it out of the mud , tub it but not to cover it with vet wrap and duct tape like I have been reading about. So because she lives out and I don't have a stable, the trainer kindly agreed to have her as she would have to live in during training anyway. She still would not let me tub it - buckets of water spilled every time, and even trying to pick it up, she sort of hops with the other back foot and tries to move away and I am not strong enough to hold her so she stamps it back down.

My questions are that if she gets this back again I don't want to keep her shut in with it because the only stable we have is too small for her really although she did spend a night in it before going to the trainers. BUt how can I manage it when I can't tub it or even hold it long enough to get some duct tape on it. Most of the time I am on my own with no one to help me.

I keep reading different approaches and it all seems really conflicting advice to me. Should I have left the abscess to burst on its own even though she could not even hobble far enough to come for her tea and was obviously in pain? I am just trying to prepare in case it comes back again. I managed to get a disposable canvas boot thing on her hoof to get her to the horsebox and the trainers yard and I really hope it kept the mud out. I was not advised by the vet to use anything on it like iodine although he did say that she needed biotin coz her hooves were soft.

Wundahoss - I note from some of your other posts that you feel hoof health is not just adding biotin but looking at the overall vitamins etc. that a horse needs. Do you think I would be better off feeding her with a good balancer? Her hooves are nice with no cracks or anything. She has never been shod.

I would be really grateful for your opinions so that I can sort this out in my head and be prepared for if it happens again. I feel totally confused by it all. Thanks in anticipation.
 
Sorry it's taken a while to get back to this one...

What's the saying... that if you ask 4 different horse people's advice you'll get at least 8 different opinions?? You'll always find conflicting information, from 'experts' & otherwise. It means you have to do enough homework into it to learn the pros & cons & make up your own *informed* decision. I would start at hoofrehab.com for some great info.

Yes, biotin is just one of many nutrients important for hoof growth. Excess biotin doesn't really acheive anything, so they only need it if it's in short supply. Yes, generally a good overall balanced nutrition, with the help of a 'ration balancer' or such is usually best. They're all far from equal tho & I'd also do a feed analysis before forking out on supps, so you know what your horses need & what they don't. There are many supposedly balanced commercial feeds & supps out there that are way high in some ingredients & way low in others... & they all recommend higher daily amounts than most horses will need. I discovered a mob a while ago who have a new feed analaysis program online & their nutritionists are also happy to answer questions by email. They are feedXL.com

If your horse is suffering from recurring abscesses, it's likely that her feet are in a bad way, probably thin soled too. I would advise you find a *good* trimmer to attend to her feet ASAP. But given her age & behaviour, I would also be investing as much time as possible into desensitising her to handling & making hoofcare one of the good things in her life. While it sounds that she needs good hoofcare asap, it would be productive to get her good at being handled first, otherwise her behaviour may get steadily worse. Perhaps you'll get lucky tho & find a trimmer that's also willing to put in the time with a youngster.

As I said, I wouldn't open an abscess and I wouldn't generally give bute. But I also can't stand seeing animals in pain & don't think this is productive to healing anyway. I would be giving a non-anti inflammatory painkiller, perhaps a herbal one, when the horse was in serious pain. I would get them moving as much as possible, because this will help. I would use boots, perhaps with pads as well, if the horse were more comfortable in them. If they horse were thin soled, I'd be using boots to prevent further stone bruises & abscesses until her feet had become sound.

There is more to healthy feet than good, regular trimming. Obviously nutrition is one factor, as is diet(eg. what & how they're fed). Exercise is vitally important & 24/7 turn out with company should be the minimum exercise a horse gets.
 
Havent read through all the replies so apologies if someone else has said this, but done soak the hoof for more than 3 days as you will soften the area too much (vets advice).

Soak in warm water for three days then just wash each day at least once.

If you can get an area of hard standing for your horse to walk around on then you will find the gunk clears out a lot quicker!

Using a piece of the nappy instead of the animalintex is also cost effective!
 
wundahoss, how do you get the abcess to come out of the foot (without it erupting through the coronet band if poss) even 'blind' digging can be fruitful because the abcess finds a weak point to burst through.
they travel until they find a weak spot to erupt from, which is why you try and burst it asap so it doesnt move around the foot, so you dont get lots of little reoccuring ones in a few weeks/months time.

we bought a horse a few years ago, who's feet were full of abcesses, it took over 2 years to get his feet sound (no abcesses and good horn). used hot poultices (bran, salt, hot water) in silage wrapper and duct tape mainly occasionally animal lintex soaked in hot water.

it was a long process to get him sound again, and you would think you had, then he would go down with another.

when he was sorted he had fab feet :)
 
wundahoss said:
I disagree strongly with having a vet or farrier 'open up' an abscess. Firstly it's entirely possible for them to 'open' the wrong spot, even for an experienced equine vet. And as for less experienced... I've even heard one vet say & demonstrate that if you dig & don't find it, keep digging until you do!:eek: I would be removing the shoes if he has them, giving the horse as much light exercise as possible, in hoof boots for protection if necessary, and non anti inflammatory painkillers if absolutely necessary. I would be soaking the feet daily and after the abscess bursts, in diluted ACV or epsom salts.

I also disagree strongly with locking a horse up. The more exercise the better. If a vet has opened up the live corium to the outside world, infection is a very real problem tho, especially if it's muddy. If this has been done in wet weather, it may be necessary to lock up the horse for a few days until some new sole material has grown, but it's imperative that the horse still gets lots of exercise.
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Don't agree with the first part, but agree with the second. (fight to the death to defend turnout in 99% of problems) You want it to come out in the sole if you can not the coronet. If you make a trail in the sole it will take the path of least resistence.

If you get the abscess draining any of the poultce recipes, with lots of duct tape and padding will allow full turn out and IME this is what they need to walk about to clear the cavity.
 
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