Mud fever:(

cinammontoast said:
Mine had such bad 'mudfever' that I got the vet to look at it when he did vaccs. White legs are obviously more prone but not just white ones. I spoke to a farrier and he said it might be 'greasy leg'. His thinking is that there's no point in adding grease to grease so I stopped the pig oil and sulphur which didn't have any effect over several weeks and in fact prevent sth escabs from healing as it forms a barrier (i.e. great for prevention but not cure). I was advised to almost debride the affected patches (used a plastic washing up scrubber and went crazy!) and to get my nails in and make it bleed so the patches would be clean. I then applied rainscald powder with a damp cotton bud and in 3 days, the scabs all came off. Now it's healing (a week later all the red patches and swelling had gone) and it's just a bit scarred, no mudfever or whatever it was. I was amazed at this as I'd been nursing it for weeks and had no improvement. I hear Keratex is great as a barrier once it's gone and if you have any handy relatives with pets outside of the EU, Dermobian is also fab-prescription only. Also had rave reviews about Mudguard feed supplement.
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Thanx will be writing everyones surgestions down and will be nagging the vet about it all tomorrow hope he has a spare hour or 4:eek:
 
I've got a MF horse now too!!:rolleyes:

When I got him 15 years ago, he had horrific MF to the extent that he nearly failed the vetting.

I cured it with time, antibiotics, udder cream.....you name it.

Now, 15 years and a different country later, he has it again. None of the other horses have it, and there's NO MUD or wet conditions here at all! The fields are not long grass, so he's not getting wet legs from the dew.

I assume it's mud fever anyway...he's a Welsh D, with a little feather, and there's gritty bloody crumbly bits in his feather and little sore patches under his fetlocks which he bites at.

It's really odd. We don't have MF in Hungary! The farrier had never seen MF at all. There are no feathered breeds here...maybe that's why.

I've PM'd coyote for more advice on the PO&S!

In the meantime, should I clip my boy's feather off to get to the skin? He's not got lots of feather, just silky hair on his fetlocks, but it has prevented me seeing the problem until now!

Any ideas why he's got it again?? He didn't have it last year!!

Most odd.

Great reading this thread. Thanks.
 
Can I just say that half of the problems with legs are put down to Mud Fever. When in fact it is not and 9/10 its an allergic reaction to something in your grazing. Which is probablu why Kis Vihar, your horses legs have flared up again.

My vet has told me not to waste any money on tests as I will never cure it just prevent it. So I battle my through with all sorts trying to prevent it.

When I clip the feathers the legs can breathe and the area dries out again, but when i grow the feathers the problem comes back again. :rolleyes:

If its greasy heel then yes adding the Oil is just adding to the grease. Try mixing the sulphur in with some baby talc instead. The sulphur is the active ingrediant. You just need to find a way of getting it onto the legs and staying there. ;)
 
Mrs P gets scabby if I feed her sugar beet. It might be worth having a think & seeing if you can identify any dietary changes that could have had a bearing.
 
Mine's had the same diet in Hungary for the past 3 years, only this year he has MF (or something is wrong anyway - allergy?!). The farrier said maybe he was allergic to something in the last batch of straw we got in?!

I'm going to sedate my lad and clip his fetlocks today to see what's going on. He's a nighmare with clippers around his lower legs as he's a bit sore! :mad: Can't believe he's got MF again!
 
Thankfully (touches wood) mine hasnt had it for a few years now but used to get it really bad. I found hosing or wetting mad matters a lot worse so I used to stable him on a nice dry bed and most of the mud would come off overnight. I wont bore you with how I got rid of it - I think you have had far better suggestions already.
All I can suggest is supplementing with copper and sulphur. Most good multi vit/min supplements and balancers contain this. I was given this tip and realised that although I had been using Keratex powder for a couple of years as a preventative (and no mudfever), my horse hadnt had mud fever since I started giving him either a balancer or broad spectrum supplement. I also wonder if that is why the sulphur works so well externally.

Hope your horse is soon well again.
 
thanks nookster for your reply - glad pig oil is nothing to do with pigs!!

Kis Vihar - could be feather mites?

I think all the problems are sort of linked like you get mites or an allergy and then the skin gets damaged and you get mudfever. I have tried just about everything to cure mites and then slapped on stuff to cure the resulting mf but I think you have to treat the whole lot. Like some of you have said about moisturising the legs and feeding stuff to improve skin condition- I'm gonna try sticking mine on linseed/soya oil now as well.

I think when we scrub at their legs and keep getting them wet weakens the skin and encourages infections. I am gonna make sure i clean his legs with an emolliant wash (think perhaps in past when I have been applying frontline and alsorts I have been forgetting that he obviously has sensitive skin) and let them really dry out before applying the po & sulphur which I'm hoping will stop water, moisturise, stop infections and prevent mites - no much then!!
 
I did wonder about feather mites....But if they are mites, they are concentrated in a very small place - like 50p sized areas - his patches of MF are very small, but nasty - only on the backs of the fetlocks. We had a horse on the yard with feather mites and hers were all the way up her legs and in all her feathers. She just stomped and sratched and bit her legs to bits before she was treated.

When the vet is next here, I'll ask him to take a scraping from my lad and test for mites.

Just a question....If one horse has mites, would the others have them in their feathers too? :confused: My big feathery cob hasn't got any MF or anything, just this grey greasey stuff behind her knees! Definetely no itching or 'visitors' in her feathers - she's really sensitive and goes crazy at flies, etc, so anything in her feathers...I'd know about it!

I'm now going to attempt to clip my lad's hairy heels.....Wish me luck!! He HATES the clippers! :rolleyes:
 
Kis Vihar said:
I've got a MF horse now too!!:rolleyes:

When I got him 15 years ago, he had horrific MF to the extent that he nearly failed the vetting.

I cured it with time, antibiotics, udder cream.....you name it.

Now, 15 years and a different country later, he has it again. None of the other horses have it, and there's NO MUD or wet conditions here at all! The fields are not long grass, so he's not getting wet legs from the dew.

I assume it's mud fever anyway...he's a Welsh D, with a little feather, and there's gritty bloody crumbly bits in his feather and little sore patches under his fetlocks which he bites at.

It's really odd. We don't have MF in Hungary! The farrier had never seen MF at all. There are no feathered breeds here...maybe that's why.

I've PM'd coyote for more advice on the PO&S!

In the meantime, should I clip my boy's feather off to get to the skin? He's not got lots of feather, just silky hair on his fetlocks, but it has prevented me seeing the problem until now!

Any ideas why he's got it again?? He didn't have it last year!!

Most odd.

Great reading this thread. Thanks.
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Just take off the hair to as close to the skin as you can and debride as much as poss with the plastic scrubby thing! Then you can at least get to it to treat it with whatever you're going to use. Mine has nothing on his legs except behind the knees so I've left his feathers on and do lots of checks to make sure it hasn't spread.
 
Well.....! I got the clippers out....and put them away again! :rolleyes: Poor Fella is just so terrified of them near his legs, it wasn't worth stressing him, so good old Paul got the scissors out!:)

Fella now has bald fetlocks and heels! He didn't mind at all having the hair trimmed, and even didn't mind the picking off of the bits and some of the scabs. (...is that 'debride' CT??)

Then I washed the icky places with a warm Betadine and water mix, again, he didn't mind. I dried everywhere with kitchen towel, then I put Betadine on the 'wounds' and turned him out. He looks a bit odd now, but at least I can imediately see where the 'problem areas' are and I can keep my eye on them! :)
 
Kis Vihar said:
Well.....! I got the clippers out....and put them away again! :rolleyes: Poor Fella is just so terrified of them near his legs, it wasn't worth stressing him, so good old Paul got the scissors out!:)

Fella now has bald fetlocks and heels! He didn't mind at all having the hair trimmed, and even didn't mind the picking off of the bits and some of the scabs. (...is that 'debride' CT??)

Then I washed the icky places with a warm Betadine and water mix, again, he didn't mind. I dried everywhere with kitchen towel, then I put Betadine on the 'wounds' and turned him out. He looks a bit odd now, but at least I can imediately see where the 'problem areas' are and I can keep my eye on them! :)
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Debriding is when you literally slice off the scar tissue on wounds-vet did it on Sadie, my loan, with what looked like a craft knife, when she stuck her leg through barbed wire, think it was supposed to stop scar tissue leaving a big lump on her fetlock where she nearly went down to her tendon!:eek: I used my fingernails (yuk!) and the plastic thing just really helped to get off the scabs without having to use my nails. It was quicker than picking off the scabs. I used v sharp scissors as it wasn't worth using clippers on such thin hair. Beau looks weird, too, just got bald patches behind his knees, bless!
 
Pig oil is the treatment used for mites and to keep them away really. What it does is added moisture to the legs and feathers. Mites live on dry skin so pig oil keeps the skin in a decent condition thats why so many people mix up mites with mud fever unless its been tested by the vet as it can look the same but the treatment is totally different. Pig oil wont get rid of mites btw.

Ok next hibiscrub is very very strong and should be used with caution. The best way to treat mud fever that I have found is to keep the legs as dry as possible. Not do wash legs thing but keep them dry as they are usually very sore.
 
I can't express enough how i don't agree with scrubbing the legs raw and making them bleed and how i do feel this can be damaging

Have you ever had a cut yourself? and it scabs?

A scabs job is to protect the cut by keeping germs etc out and giving the skin cells underneath a chance to heal even in my eyes with mud fever its best to leave them on and use a lotion to help combat the bacteria and aid the healing! A scab will by itself fall off and reveals new skin underneath say after a week or two.

If you pick scabs off before they naturally should come away you can undo the repair and rip your skin again, which means it'll probably take longer to heal and even worse give more open areas for infection to take place especially if you are still turning out. This is also when you can create scars!! I know I have done so to myself by doing this have a scar on my arm from picking a scab

I know each thing works for different horses but surely its agonising making them bleed? I know for a fact my lad would never have excepted me doing something like that.

I agree PO&S might not be suitable for other instances such as greasy heel, but in the instance of Mud fever think its does an amazing job without any inflicted pain. Obviously a case needs assessed and PO&S might need to be used in conjunction with anti biotitic’s depending on its severity and hold.
 
I know Nookster, I feel 'queezy' about picking scabs, but what came off Fella's legs was this gritty stuff, and only some of the scabs came away with wiping/minor picking! There was nothing bleeding afterwards, just what I call 'wounds' where there was pink skin and no hair. Believe me, if I'd hurt my lad, he would have DEFINTELY let me know! He never moved.

It's so hard to know what to do for the best when there's so much different advice and many opnions. Like Sudocreme - some people say yes, others say no!:)

I'll see what my lad's heels are like treating this way, then I'll try something else!:rolleyes:

Are the turnout chaps any use?? Anyone have them?
 
Kis Vihar said:
Are the turnout chaps any use?? Anyone have them?
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I personally found the chaps a lot of work – can only be worn for 12 hours a day, have to wash and dry them daily when they come off. Do find they create a lovely warm environment for bacteria to go rife - voltan got his worst mud fever wearing them
 
Nookster said:
I can't express enough how i don't agree with scrubbing the legs raw and making them bleed and how i do feel this can be damaging

Have you ever had a cut yourself? and it scabs?

A scabs job is to protect the cut by keeping germs etc out and giving the skin cells underneath a chance to heal even in my eyes with mud fever its best to leave them on and use a lotion to help combat the bacteria and aid the healing! A scab will by itself fall off and reveals new skin underneath say after a week or two.

If you pick scabs off before they naturally should come away you can undo the repair and rip your skin again, which means it'll probably take longer to heal and even worse give more open areas for infection to take place especially if you are still turning out. This is also when you can create scars!! I know I have done so to myself by doing this have a scar on my arm from picking a scab

I know each thing works for different horses but surely its agonising making them bleed? I know for a fact my lad would never have excepted me doing something like that.

I agree PO&S might not be suitable for other instances such as greasy heel, but in the instance of Mud fever think its does an amazing job without any inflicted pain. Obviously a case needs assessed and PO&S might need to be used in conjunction with anti biotitic’s depending on its severity and hold.
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I totally agree with this...have never understood how picking off the scabs is supposed to work & always made Gord's mudfever much worse.

What worked for us was cleaning the legs up - no scrubbing involved - let them dry,then apply a thick layer of sudocrem. I left this for about 5 days topping up the cream but never cleaning it off. i left the scabs alone. After about 5 days I rinsed the legs off, all the scabs were soft & fell off & the skin underneath was pink & healing well - there were no longer any open sores thus no room for more infection to get it. This worked an absolute treat & has worked on all the others on our yard in the past too. He then wore sudocrem every day & could be turned out as normal & mf never came back. You have to be pretty religious about it but it def worked for us.

I think the important bit was the legs were kept clean & dry, the were never scrubbed, picked or hibiscrubbed, they were left to heal underneath the cream. It was full on mud fever too with swollen sore legs.

ETA - also found the chaps useless! Gord too ended up with worse mudfever. Lots of mud just soaked in which meant the legs never got to dry off & sat soggy & gritty all day.
 
Hi
I am going to post a link of Jack's legs with photos taken over three to four weeks. ( I'm sure you will have all seen it before :p but it is a great example of how effective piggy stuff can be!)
I had the vet regularly to Jack and he was also treated with two lots of antibiotics in conjuction with piggy stuff daily as his legs were very swollen and oozing liquid. The scabs came away naturally and he was left with pink healthy skin. I now use it as a preventative.

http://www.newrider.com/forum/showthread.php?t=133141
 
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