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Post by IH Health on Jan 21, 2009 12:08:03 GMT 1
Mud FeverAlso known asDermatophilosis, cracked heels, mud rash, scratches and dew poisioning What is it? Mud Fever is the term used for bacterial infection that occurs in the lower legs of horses (often beginning at the pastern). Related conditions include rain scald (normally affecting the back, sides and flanks) and saddle rash (affecting the saddle area) TypesMud Fever can be caused by different bacteria and is normally classed by that. Bacteria includes Dermatophilus congolensis, and Staphylococcus sppCausesContinual wetting of the skin around the hoof, pastern and lower leg. The wet weather breaks down the epidermis’ (skin) protective layer, allowing bacteria in to set up an infection. If the wetting takes place in relatively mild conditions then the bacteria can grow even faster. Any damage to the epidermis can also destroy the protective layer – boots that chaff, trauma or injury, excessive washing of feet, photosensitivity or excessive sweating can also cause this damage. Autoimmune issues can also predispose equines to this condition. There is also research to suggest that the type of mud where you keep/ride your equine can also be an important factor. Symptoms- Stamping of feet
- Lameness
- Furious attempts to itch feet
- Inflamed skin around the pastern
- Scabs on feet
- A discharge that is cream to green in colour
- Heat and swelling
DiagnosisMud fever is diagnosed by its clinical symptoms. Skin scrapings can be taken to find the cause in serious cases. TreatmentMud Fever is relatively easy to treat but if left can cause serious problems as the bacteria breeds and spreads. Keeping the area dry and clean is first and foremost – if your horse is stabled try to reduce the amount of time they stand on wet bedding. If your horse it kept in a field tape off any muddy areas if possible or reduce the time spent in muddy conditions. Once clean and dry there are many ointments on the market that claim to help - Caster Oil, Pig Oil and Zinc Creams are suggested to be good at treating and protecting, or products such as Aromaheal or Sudocream. There is conflicting evidence about the removal of scabs, some say that they should be removed and cleaned with hibiscrub – some say this interferes with healing. Differing advice is also given as to whether long feathers should be removed or kept on. If in doubt, please speak to you vet. Several herbal companies sell products for the prevention and treatment of Mud Fever. Research into the effectiveness of Camrosa is continuing. Websites (click on title for link) Horse and Hound ArticlesPrevious discussions (click on title for link) Flower of SulphurKeratex Mud Shield Powder – any good?Mud Fever – A New Thread! Pig Oil?Mud Fever Mud FeverDoes anybody know what this stuff is? (good info from Rifleman further in thread) Mud Fever in hairy cobsPig Oil and SulphurMud Fever Creams+ plenty more on the search facility! Please post below any information you have on this subject or of your experiences in diagnosis/treatment/aftercare. All information given is for reference only and does not constitute or should replace qualified veterinarian advice.
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Post by marianne on Feb 9, 2009 15:13:10 GMT 1
I just wanted to add that having a horse develop mud fever in October - before we'd even had any rain! - and having a blood test showing high white blood cell count indicating immune system was in trouble - I introduced echinacea to the diet after all washes/shampoos/oils/creams had failed .... and stopped touching the scabs. Mud fever cleared up within a month.
My routine when it's muddy is: daily turnout, but shampoo legs/towel dry/apply protective cream when bring in overnight. ongoing echinacea.
Touch wood, problem solved ... for now!
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Persianhorse
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Post by Persianhorse on Feb 19, 2009 5:24:09 GMT 1
HI, With honor these are my own experiences not absolutely facts that I would accept any one to be agreed with me , only my views, Just trying to communicate our differences to find common ways to help our beloved horses, bless them all anywhere in this world.
Mud Fever is one the most hurtful diseases a horse could get and make them so lame and hurting so is best to prevent before they actually get the mud fever, we could with hard work and as you intelligent people know well nothing in life comes easy.
For us over here with hot weather we wash the legs with just pure cold water (we use drinking water) and walk the horse until it drys therefore drying the legs so important as said above, the important matter to prevent mud fever we never stable any horse before washing the legs with cold water and we make sure dry them by walking before stabling them. In here most and nearly all horses with white socks (white color hair and pink skin) get the mud fever most and normally we don't have it in black colored legs. I believe black hoof horses have much stronger hoofs and skin therefore it is hard to get mud fever or cracked hoofs, when we time a farrier to shoe a horse black hoof takes double the time of white hoof to be trimmed and finished so the farrier could put the shoes on and much easier for going bare foot and without shoes but we have to start at young age if we want a horse to go bare foot we cannot put a horse to bare foot just when ever we want for example at the ages of 2,3,4,5,7 or ... we have to start early for building up those conditions. The best judge for asking if there is any difference between white or black hoof is the farrier, when they trimming the hoofs to see how long it takes them for a white hoof and for a black hoof to be cut and leveled, this is the same in skin because black skin legs are always with black color hoofs and white skin legs have white hoofs, What do you think? please give me your experience if possible, thank you. It takes us double the time to wash and clean white legs and dry them clean them and oil them and generally they need more time to look after and in long rides we never use white leg horses because they are too soft and they will go lame because they are too softy.
Never rule out the kind of water you use for example salty waters and the waters which they are not normal and good for human drinking are not good for washing horses legs. We also don't rule out the Genetics of different breeds in hard and soft skin or hoofs.
For horses which they get MUD FEVER I make a special OIL which if you want I would be glad to explain this oil, this oil kills the bacteria and small white warms in old cuts, I use this hand made oil for even those cuts which they get old and find white warms in them and so effective.
Wish you the best, PH.
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Post by LuckyRed on Feb 19, 2009 10:31:45 GMT 1
Hi PH - what sort of oil do you use?
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Post by ladynowak on Feb 19, 2009 21:39:26 GMT 1
The best thing that I found was to feed NAF Mudguard, when all else had failed it was our one saving grace. Excellent preventative too.
Not washing legs daily worked for us too, it was better to allow the mud to dry off overnight, to brush it off in the morning and then I used to apply the keratex mud shield powder.
Also, taking the horses to walk in the sea often was excellent for clearing it up, same with abscesses.
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Post by julz on Feb 19, 2009 22:10:52 GMT 1
Mud Fever isnt a disease.... it's a skin condition brought on (triggered) by continuous contact with dampness.. or so vets would have us believe.. so how is it that some cases of MF are rife during the drier summer months??
I was once told by a vet that to clear MF up, you should not wash/scrub the scabs off everyday... constant washing only succeeds in hacking off the horse. so, wash maybe once a week, dry thoroughly and apply a good healing cream. alternatively applying a solution of salt water to the area will also help to dry it up. Fair goes if you are in distance of a beach, so long as the beach is a clean one, otherwise you could pick up a further infection.
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Persianhorse
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Post by Persianhorse on Feb 20, 2009 0:50:10 GMT 1
Hi luckyred, I will explain the oil in another forum in "Complementary" section so I would not hijack this thread and will PM you, because I have to find the English Words for the two things I use one is herbal and the other pure sheep oil mixed together ,I hope you forgive me my friend.
One question remains here isn't the sea water "SALTY" and salt is bad for the skin and damages the horse skin specially when remains for long under the hair and over the skin and that would make the skin to get damaged and also the amount of salt is too high , we always wash the legs if we go over lands which the sand has salt or the waters we go through have salt in them? CHEMISTRY crystalline chemical compound: a crystalline chemical compound formed as a result of the neutralization of an acid by a base containing a metal or group acting like a metal, by that definition leaving salt on skin is like leaving acid on skin and up to my knowledge it would damage the skin if remains for long under the hair and on the horses skin, just my own point of view.
Forgive me for my poor English if I am wrong by using the word disease I only mean what happens to the horses skin by mud fever and the bacteria and cuts on the skin.
After all English is my second language please forgive me, I try to do my best in future and make less mistakes. Wish you all the best, PH.
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Post by ladynowak on Feb 20, 2009 1:02:23 GMT 1
Sea/salt water does not damage the horses skin, unless like Julz rightly pointed out the beach is not a clean on (ie, polluted). The opposite is true, salted water is an age old staple in any first aid kit, only now you can get it in handy tubs with "saline" across it
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Post by julz on Feb 20, 2009 14:08:06 GMT 1
PH, just to clarify.. Salt if eaten in large quantities (eg, marmite) is damaging to the skin and can cause the skin to become very dry... (not to mention it gives you an excessive thirst). However, paddling in the (clean) sea, and or bathing the skin in a salt water solution has healing properties to it. How many times has a dr told you to bathe in a salt water bath, to aid healing to the wound? It really depends on the concentrate of the salt and water ratio... not enough salt and there's no point in doing it.. too much salt will sting a wound... get it right, and it's beneficial...
Ofcourse anyone who has been riding on the beach, or paddling the horse in the sea for whatever reason, will also hose the legs off to get rid of any lingering sand caught in the hair of the legs.
HTH's
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gillmcg
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Post by gillmcg on Feb 20, 2009 15:54:34 GMT 1
Interesting thread which shows how complicated this common problem is. I suppose it depends on the kind of bacteria or fungus that are in residence as to the best treatment.
I have found that if you leave the scabs it spreads. I believe the criminal fungus/bacteria live under the scabs - don't know if this is evidenced though? The regime that works for me is to apply loads of Sudocrem (an antiseptic thick white cream that is used for nappy rash and eczema - explanation for Persianhorse as I don't suppose you get Sudocrem where you live!) night and morning. The first two days I just add more, on the third day I clean off the cream with cotton wool and the scabs generally come with it. If they don't I reapply the Sudocrem for another couple of days until they do. I then apply a layer of Flammazine twice daily which contains sulfadiozine silver and was formulated to treat burns against opportunistic bacterial and fungal infections. This clears it up within a week. At no time do I wash the area with salt water/Hibiscrub/etc as I've found from experience that this can weaken the skin and spread the problem.
Agree about boosting the immune system too and in the past I've given Echinacea for a week if the 'outbreak' was particularly bad.
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Post by julz on Feb 20, 2009 18:43:09 GMT 1
>sigh< just done a lengthy reply and it's gone...
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Post by bryony83 on Oct 7, 2009 16:16:15 GMT 1
Salt is a very good wound cleaner. I speak from a human point of view here but when I had a nasty abcess I was given instruction to clean daily in a salt bath. It is mildly abrasive so cleans away dead skin. It does dry skin out though so using sudocream after is important
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dptc
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Post by dptc on Oct 14, 2009 8:59:55 GMT 1
A friend told me of a friend whose horses are walked in the sea at least once a week, not one of them has ever had thrush!! Has any one tried Ruggle-It? It's had some amazing results and can also be used for many other things. I plan to use it this year - though they say you should never remove the scabs so you allow the good skin underneath to grow back properly www.karenruggles.co.uk/stocks.htm#Testimonials-SiA
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