MUD FEVER: It's very nasty....
Mud fever is a general term for a skin infection around the heels and pastern of a horse and is caused by an infectious agent called dermatophilus congolensis, which loves muddy wet conditions.
The infection can stay dormant in the skin, becoming active when the skin is compromised in some way, usually by prolonged wetting, but as it turns out also the abrasive nature of snow. Spores germinate to produce hyphae (threadlike tentacles) that penetrate into the living skin and spread in all directions from the original site. The result is an acute inflammatory reaction.
Often the disease is made worse by a secondary infection. Classically there will be serum oozing from the skin, causing the hairs to stick together. There are often crusty scabs on the skin surface that, if pulled off, will reveal a greeny-yellow pus with the protruding hair resembling paint brushes.
Mud fever can be extremely painful to touch, especially if secondary infection is present, but is rarely itchy. Frequently more than one limb is affected.
In severe cases, the whole limb may swell up and a secondary lymphangitis can develop. This is serious and requires intensive veterinary treatment usually including both antibiotics and anti-inflammatories and pain killers such as bute.
Luckily, when your horse gets it, there's lots of things you can do and lots of helpful advice: here I have tried to summarise all the key points for a one-stop treatment advice blog.
Lemmy & Edie.
leg properly. She's a tough audience.
.......but help is at-hand in the form of Louisa the vet, John the husband, Jenny, who looks after Tom & Henry whilst I'm away and several cats....here's how the story unfolded.....
Henry, he likes to eat the snow.
The snow might look light and fluffy, and the boys enjoy nothing better than frolicking about in it, BUT it's actually quite abrasive. And any little crack, cut or scab is quickly scratched away, so take care....hoof-boots at the ready. Of course it's all very well to say this in retrospect, but that's why this is an important new post: MUD FEVER.
Tom and Henry both have little scabs of mud fever on their back heels coming out of winter. It doesn't cause them any trouble, I just leave it alone. It disappears in the warmer weather and I give it no thought.
BUT:
...this strategy turned out to be a mistake, and it turned out the snow was to blame.
Henry's mud fever became infected, it was a Saturday morning, and in a single night his leg swelled up to a hard puffiness from the knee to the pastern. He could hardly put any weight on it at all...naturally I was very worried, and as I was due to fly to Delhi the next day...the chances were increasingly likely I wasn't going anywhere.
CALL THE VET IMMEDIATELY:
I hadn't encountered mud fever before so was at a loss to diagnose an infection, instead I assumed...because it was Henry...he'd twisted his fetlock running about (not uncommon), and sprained his ankle so to speak. But as the vet began to inspect Henry's leg it was clear this was not your usual type of infliction. She instead told me his mud fever had caused this swelling, I had no idea such a small scab could cause my beloved Henry so much pain. So, here's what I did:
Firstly the vet gave me bute and anti-biotics for 5 days. Because it was an infection and not a tendon injury I could cold hose the area every day to cool the swelling, with tendons as you know, only the first day of swelling is effected by hosing. BUT: we were 10cm's deep in snow that Saturday so any kind of hosing was impossible.
Lemmy showing the deep snow
The vet suggested it was the abrasion of the snow that likely caused the infection to begin in the first place, rubbing the surface of the skin as Henry moved about and allowing the nasty bacteria that causes mud fever to enter his system.
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Out came the cool-boots, they are so very handy, soak them for an hour in cold water, and keep them immersed in cold water for the duration of need. And they just wrap neatly around the whole area from above the knee to the coronet band. Stretchy Velcro straps make them very easy to use. And when every pipe and hose is frozen, and you don't want to add to the slippery conditions by using water in your yard - the cool-boots are brilliant.
Tom & Henry are very good at being fiddled about with. even the vet knows this so she just carries on prodding Henry as he stands still, head- collarless in the yard. They always stand still for me.
When the cool-boot came off, I half filled a shallow rubber feed bucket with warm water with table salt splashed in it. Henry stood with his foot in the water while I gently picked off the tiny area of mud fever scabs, leaving the red-raw skin underneath clean.
I then dried the whole leg thoroughly with a clean towel, dabbed a tiny glob of wound cream onto the area, layed a dressing over the back of his heel. wrapped his whole foot in vetwrap (black of course), and on top of that a hoof-boot.
A nice stretchy leg bandage then went on to keep any reduction of the swelling caused by the cool-bandage down. I wrapped it from under the knee to above the fetlock.
This enabled Henry to carry on his usual routine of wandering about, and as the bute kicked in he was able to move quite freely around his field with Tom. getting steadily better every day.
The next day I repeated the same drill. Dried his leg thoroughly - this is VERY important, keep the area dry, and when possible get the healing air to it quickly. This time I layed the dressing over his heel without any cream. I knew the dressing would keep the area clean and dry, and the vetwrap would keep it in place and also prevent the hoof-boot rubbing the sore heel. The hoof-boot went back on.
After 3 days of this the hoof was completely free of accessories. Cleaned and dried we simply smeared the heel in udder-cream twice a day for turn-out. By Friday night his legs were warm but clean and free of swelling, by Saturday morning his legs were back to being Henry's usual skinny, hardly any heat and Henry was moving completely normally again. The vet was right, in a week Henry was almost back to normal. But a lesson was learned, don't leave even small matters unattended, because small things can often turn into big ones.
I am keeping his foot dry, because the field is very wet, so the boot will be on for a week or so with the dry dressing layed over the heel at the back.as photo above.
At night, the boot and dressing come off to let the air to the area, and i shut them in the yard over night. So Henry can stay in dry clean conditions whilst he's heel heals.
I am keeping his foot dry, because the field is very wet, so the boot will be on for a week or so with the dry dressing layed over the heel at the back.as photo above.
At night, the boot and dressing come off to let the air to the area, and i shut them in the yard over night. So Henry can stay in dry clean conditions whilst he's heel heals.
Be vigilant always, the next time I see some mud fever scabs, I'll look after them. Do all the steps above, wash/dry/dressing/vetwrap/hoof-boot until the skin is pale and clean, smeared in pink udder cream and back to normal in no time, I wont take any chances.
Of course all this extra attention and the boys being good has meant their diets have gone by the wayside for a week, obvious thank-you for being good treats have been readily available and administered, but we're starting again this week.
Henry is fine now thank goodness and Tom just looks on in disapproval, he of course very rarely needs to have any first aid done to him, and he'll be damned if he'll let me anywhere near him with PINK cream!!!!!
Louisa the vet tells me that it could take as long as 3 weeks before Henry's leg is completely back to his usual super skinny (lucky Henry), already it's reducing every day, and the more he exercises it, the better.
Louisa the vet tells me that it could take as long as 3 weeks before Henry's leg is completely back to his usual super skinny (lucky Henry), already it's reducing every day, and the more he exercises it, the better.
Edie, she can't bear Henry's pink heels either but I suffer form terrible dermatitis this time of year, as do lots of us horsey types, and a few days of smearing Henry's heels with udder cream, has all but cleared it right up, I'll tell Vogue...best cream 2012!
