Special Edition: Mud Fever: Part Five

MUD FEVER - RECOVERY:
...and how my little Henry has been a complete star, SUNDAY:

 

It's now been a week since Jess the vet came to treat Henry for his mud fever.  And Henry is back to being his old self. He has had a five day course of anti-biotics and bute for 2 days.  A tube of cream containing steroids was also to be applied to the area once a day.

 

This is what Henry's mud fever area looked like after Jess had been.  You can see it's less angry pink, and scab-free but his pastern is clearly a little swollen...this is where the bute comes in, it's job is to reduce the swelling and it worked too.

 

 

 

 

He has endured the powders in his dinner like any horse with a peculiar taste in his feed....with not just a little distaste, but unlike Tom, Henry will at least be persuaded to eat it...with Tom..there's no chance!

 

 So, I cut up carrots very small and an apple very small and with a small hand full of herbal treats, just enough so when I hand-feed Henry his dinner, each bite will have something nice in it. 

 

 

Sounds like a lot of work, but it does the trick for Henry.

 

 

This is what it looked like a few days later, healthier looking skin with some scabs returning and no puffiness in the area at all, and by now Henry was completely sound too.

 

 

Jess explained to us I may have to repeat the process of descabbing as she had done and I did this Saturday morning, a week after she had been.  Repeating the process exactly as she had done (but without the sedative),

 

Later when I have had to re-bathe the area to remove the last of the scabs, I have soaked some non-woven swabs in a mixture of water and hibiscrub as prescribed by Jess, and rubbed and picked whilst John administered treats.

 

 Then the whole area was completely dried using disposable blue roll...and lots of it....

 

 

 

 

...then I put on the protective gloves and applied cream over the whole area.  Today I have given him half a sachet of bute just to keep him happy and pain free and he is responding very well to this strategy.  Above is today, and you can see Henry's hair is growing back nicely and the area isn't painful so I can administer the cream without help, I will repeat until the mud fever is completely gone.


MONDAY: This morning, it's better yet again, already the area looks much paler and the hair is white and flat.  I have gently rubbed-in a little glob of cream into the area and Henry is fine with this now which suggests to me it now doesn't hurt him at all. 


The pastern is back to it's normal shape and size and Henry now has no drugs left in his system. 



Remember, equipalazone stays in a horse's system for about 24 hours, and I'm not sure about the anti-biotics, but like us, they do affect the internal workings of the horse.  Henry's poo has been loose, and is only now going back to normal..we would eat a pro biotic, and you can get similar things for your horse too.

 

 

I am happy we have beaten it this time, just a couple more weeks and you won't notice the area at all I'm hoping.