Gutted

[Prjsmk]

My cob has got mud fever! God knows how! Hes feather is near on immaculate and the skin is clean and the feather near the skin is pure white! Then two other cobs at ours are lathered in mud but beek checked and are fine, i think my cobs immunity is generally low, slightest thing gives him a reaction.

so as u can see i think (hope!) iv caught it in time! None on any other legs, vet advised washing with hibbi scrub every few days, dab drying with a towel and then leaving him stood untill the rest dries properly and then applying the muddy buddy powder ive got. The first day it was sprayed with the blue terramycin spray but he said dont do that every time because it kills all bacterias even the good.

We had two good weather days and the ground dried, yesterday it rained all flipping day and today is heading the same way even so i still brought him on to the hard standing to let it air a bit, ive cut the feather from the area, vet said no need to remove it all unless it spreads, just that one bit as its right in the groove so no airs getting there...

In the feed store i noticed something u add to feed, forgot the name but anyone used anything to add to feeds to prevent mud fever? Are they any good?

First time he has ever had it hes been in worse fields in the wet and mud too, his field is the best field we have and hes fenced in the best bit of it (less boggy part) anything else i can do? I cant stable him for a number of reasons. I have seen the neoprone mudfever turn out boots, can the be used now hes already got it? Or are they more of a preventive thing? And any other advice pleaseeeeee

il try get a pic of it today, it's looking less sore now, well it was yesterday anyway, god knows how it looks after a night of rain im gutted for him as we just hit spring and his allergies are already driving him mad! Sticky eyes and runny nose!

 

[Trewsers]

Poor cob. Hopefully caught before it sets in big time. Our cob has it to a degree all year round due to her Cushings. Once it's under control we use pig oil. I never let her feathers grow properly because the mf seems to be worse if I do. I've not fed anything to help prevent it, am guessing just making sure they are getting all the necessary vits and minerals is as good as anything? Maybe feed a balancer even if he doesn't get hard feed as such?

 

[Jessey]

I had a long battle with Jess's mf (it went on for months), ended up getting the vet when her whole leg swelled, his magic cream made it worse, then a friend gave me a bottle of shapely's MTG plus and it worked a treat, improved it in days and cleared it totally in a couple of weeks with her still living out etc. There's a thread showing the progress in the vet section.

Eta, since it cleared I've done nothing (she wore a sausage boot for a little while as kept taking the scabs off) and no signs of reoccurance

 

[Trewsers]

I had the mud fever stretchy boots for Chloe, think I used them when hers had all but gone if I remember rightly. I don't bother with them now it's under control - plus she hangs about on the yard plenty to give them a chance to dry out so it hardly seems worth putting them on for that. They were good tho, think mine were Equilibrium brand?

 

[Prjsmk]

Through winter i feed dengie healthy hoof and he has biotin in it (hooves are terrible in the wet even with topical treatments biotins changed them massively and they no longer go crappy) but i cant feed through summer, he has a 5 acre paddock to himself with very good grass, hes lost weight over the winter but hes a heavy cob so will never be slender. Just last year any professional that visited commented on how oever weight he was he was worked 6 out of seven days all summer hacking anywhere betwen 7-10 miles a day but he did have two breaks due to 1) bad beating off a shod horse 2) allergic reaction all over his muzzle, made it all sore and bloody.

So hoping not to feed any form of food this year... Is there any other way i can get balancer in him? Do they do balancer treats or something?

Today's pics below, not brilliant, i forgot i purple sprayed him yesterday lol, but its not gotten any worse and although u cant see in the pic the skins not so pink and sore looking.

@Jessey the vet mentioned some creams and i think magic cream or magic gel was mentioned as one that actually feeds it, he said dry treatments are best as moist just makes the bacteria breed

I will invest in some if the boots, even if i cant use them now i can use them any time we have prolonged periods of wet weather
Is there anything i can request the vet to give him as an temp immune system booster? His immunities are terrible, he was on equimins balancer for almost a year and never seen much difference so stopped it as didnt see the point in the hard feeds for the balancer if it was helping anything (excuse the ramble)

 

[Jessey]

My vets magic concoction is antibiotics and steroid cream for extreme cases but jess reacted badly to it.

 

[horseandgoatmom]

Wow it seemed it got bad REALLY quick.

The other photos looked BETTER.

 

[Prjsmk]

@horseandgoatmom its looking better than the first pics, the scabbed area is now smaller, (just took a closer pic) but vet said treat the whole area hence why its all sprayed evenwhere it was clear. If we have a nice day il wash it all properly and show a better pic, onky on a day when i know itl dry properly though. Rain here unfortunately. Im hoping now hes stopped snatching his foot away thats a sign its not as sore now? X

 

[horseandgoatmom]

You mentioned balancer I give mine a ration balancer and it's not a lot of volume at all.
I dont know what brands you might have but over here I uset NUTRINA
Empower balance topline

I give biotin crumbles year round.

I've never had one or seen a lot of horses over here with feathers.
Most of the ones you see here are the BUDWEISER Clydesdale etc at fairs I guess they travel so much and are in portable stalls etc they don't really get much pasture time to get into mud.

There is a Clydesdale hamlet at the BUDWEISER brewery in Merrimack N H.
I've been there a couple times but not for years.
They were out in paddocks but what stuck in my mind were the barns that looked like German buildings That I would have been comfortable living in.
The whole set up was lovely.
It seems no expense was spared.

I hope it clears up quickly.

 

[Bodshi]

My vets magic concoction is antibiotics and steroid cream for extreme cases but jess reacted badly to it.

Same - but Raf responds really well to it! A few days and it's gone. It isn't extreme though, just a few scabs. He gets it regularly, possibly because of his Cushings? but doesn't go out in mud really so it seems he's just susceptible to the bacteria that causes mud fever. Of course having zero feather and white legs I can spot it as soon as it starts, it must be really difficult to see and treat on a feathery beast. Hope PRJ continues to improve quickly.

 

[Prjsmk]

An update. Still no pics as still cant see properly from my purple spray session lol... But,, ive got him on (as of yesterday) naf mud guard supplement and global herbs immuplus, i know they will take a while to get in the system. Finally allowed a stable, just have to empty it myself. Its full of broken furniture and junk! Half emptied it yesterday, few bigger bits il get help with today and got get hus bedding today, dust extraced of course wouldnt want to upset his allergies (so bloody sensitive!) so hopefully stabling at night will help.

Anyone know is it best to leave the scabs on or off? I was googling and one post said remove all scabs ? There isnt any puss or anything under the scab it just bleeds (caught it a couple of times)

Also brought muddy buddy powder which is supposed to be water repellent powder, but the amount of rain we had over night, i doubt its stood up to that! Also brought some of the mud fever neoprone boots, eill be a fee days before they come though.

Oh and there is a slight small tiny area of new scab when i say tiny i mean half the side of little finger nail, but any new is bad in my eyes! Vets out again mon or tues, not sure which day hes visiting 2 for a horse and one for a dog there so he will let us know sun

 

[Bodshi]

My vet told me there was no need to remove the scabs because the cream he gives (well sells at great cost) me softens them and they fall off. However everyone else I know insists that you have to remove the scabs because the bacteria multiply underneath which also makes sense to me. I tend to use the cream (gently massage it in really well, Raf quite likes it now) for a day or two until the scab is soft and then give it a rub with cotton wool in a hibiscrub solution (new bit of cotton wool for every dunk) until the skin is nice and clean, dry with dry cotton wool and apply more cream. Job done in my case, but as I say Raf will only have a couple of small scabs.

 

[Trewsers]

There used to be a cream that you could buy online which you just pasted on and did not have to pull scabs off. It was cortrasna on here who recommended it - we used on Chloe when we first got her because she was so bad at having anything done with her legs and there was just no way of getting the legs shaved or de scabbed without vet intervention. It had a lovely smell - aromaheel or something?

 

[Jessey]

I've never been a believer in scrubbing leg to remove scabs, did it at Xmas as the vet insisted that if I did it would all be gone in a few days and his whole treatment regime just made everything worse when I quit that and looked for other solutions I just massaged what ever into the scabs, reasonably firmly, and they all came off in their own time and I didn't get new ones forming when they did and Jess wasn't left sore from it and stopped objecting to me fiddling with it, so win win in my eyes.

 

[Trewsers]

I find now with Chloe there's no need to try and pull scabs off. We just rub pig oil in and it seems to soften them. And much to her delight when she gets her special leg scratches, we sneakly scratch her heels and off they seem to peel. I think sometimes you have to go with what you think, and it's what works individually.

 

[Prjsmk]

In his case then i think leaving the scabs, as i said they just seem to bleed and i thought that would just let more bacteria in to the open wound. Not sure weather to use a cream to soften the scabs either though as the vet said cream witll just feed it. Will the scab eventually just drop off on its own without cream?

First night in his stable last night, did ok, if not a. Tad Mardie! The poo,... Clarely got bored the bedding and water was all over lol. When i turned up he had his nose in the water sloshing it all over. Been raining all day here, but he has to go out, he would go insanse being kept in a stable 24/7 hopefully 12 out of 24 hours stabled will help. We will see. Had a good dusting before he went out with the muddy buddy powder. It has good reviews says water resistant but i doubt anything is water resistant in this weather! Cant wait for his mudfever turn out boots to arrive!

 

[Trewsers]

In his case then i think leaving the scabs, as i said they just seem to bleed and i thought that would just let more bacteria in to the open wound. Not sure weather to use a cream to soften the scabs either though as the vet said cream witll just feed it. Will the scab eventually just drop off on its own without cream?

First night in his stable last night, did ok, if not a. Tad Mardie! The poo,... Clarely got bored the bedding and water was all over lol. When i turned up he had his nose in the water sloshing it all over. Been raining all day here, but he has to go out, he would go insanse being kept in a stable 24/7 hopefully 12 out of 24 hours stabled will help. We will see. Had a good dusting before he went out with the muddy buddy powder. It has good reviews says water resistant but i doubt anything is water resistant in this weather! Cant wait for his mudfever turn out boots to arrive!

It's good he's still getting some turnout. I think giving him a break from the wet will help overnight. Even our oldies go crazy if kept in 24/7. Fingers crossed it helps your boy stopping in a bit overnight and of course, lots of dry weather vibes coming!

 

[Bodshi]

I wouldn't have thought the scabs will drop off on their own unless you are treating it, but I expect you are following your Vet's advice re treatment.

The first time Raf got it I tried treating it with all kinds of different stuff that I saw recommended on the internet- can't remember what now but you could buy them from the chemist, I'm sure one was a cream that had some sort of silver in it and people on HHO swore by it. Anyway none of them did anything for Raf and it spread really quickly so I had to get the vet.

I can't believe everyone on HHO was lying so I reckon different horses respond to different things!

 

[MrC]

Milk thistle helps boost from the inside, also rose hips and echinacea as well.

 

[Trewsers]

Maybe try something like aromaheel???