MUD FEVER (need HELP please!!!!)

Hi guys,

I really really need help with this!! Jubilee has mud fever on her one white sock and it is getting worse! For a couple weeks I kept it under control somewhat by soaking it and trying to take off some scabbies whenever I was at the barn. But recently I wasn't at the barn for a week and when I checked her leg I saw that it got a lot worse. It's swollen and there are black scabs that are very noticeable from first glance. Some parts of her sock are just bare patches of skin, and its ouchy for her when I touch it.

(Note: scabs aren't much higher than her fetlock and definitely have not reached the hock area). But I'm so lost as what to do!! She's still sound, (thank goodness!) and it doesn't affect her riding whatsoever. She's only picky when I touch it with my hand, or brush.

History: I've had her for almost a year now (since last October) and she had mud fever when I first got her. It was worse back then and it was on all four legs (just around fetlocks). The white sock was the worst then too. I treated it as well as I could and in the winter it went completely away. The vet was out and he gave me some digestive medicine and topical ointment. I also put a lot of protective zinc on her legs to keep her from getting it in the spring, but its here nonetheless and I have no idea what to do!

Also, she had an injury with a wire fence a couple months ago and my barn manager gave her a shot of penicillin for that. I thought that the penicillin would also clear out teh mud fever but it hasn't. I'm so sick of having to deal with this and I don't know what I should do! I don't want to call the vet out because he hardly looked at her the last time and charged me an arm and a leg! Please, please, please help!! I need a MIRACLE SOLUTION here!!

Oh, and .... I have been keeping her legs clean and dry. She only has it on the one white sock, and the mud is clearing up at our barn.

Vida used to get scratches (mud fever) every year in the spring summer months. I started bringing her in every night to the dry lot and not letting her out till the dew was off the grass in the pasture. I always used Farnums tricare ointment but MTG worked the best.
She hasn't had a bout of it this year *knocking wood* My vet told me keeping her feet/legs dry was the best preventative. Until the mud drys up you your going to just have to keep doctoring it, or dress the legs to keep them dry.

I have been using MTG and bringing in Jubilee at night is not an option for me at my barn.

Sorry I edited in while you were posting can you dress the leg with gauze and vet wrap to keep it dry till the mud dries up?

Hmmm, I've thought about wrapping, but I'm afraid it will fall off, or that it will get wet and the moisture will be trapped inside??

Is she in a dry lot or pasture? If you can't bring her inside, once the mud dries don't let her out on wet grass. I'm not sure what your set up is but I don't bring her into a stall just into a lot with no grass. Then wait till the grass dries to let her back out. I know with all the moisture some areas are getting its tough to keep thier legs dry. Just do your best in keeping it clean. If she has any feathers on her legs I would cut them off. I'm not sure if something like vasaline would help keep the moisture out. I'm grasping at straws here I know its tough to use any type of boot because its usually in the heel area and above and most boots would be too high on the leg.
I called the vet about it too, not a whole lot of help from mine either.
One of those hmmm moments.

She's in a pasture. There isn't much grass there, mostly dirt, and a round bale of hay for the horses. She's on 24/hr turnout, so I really have no option of letting her into a separate paddock or whatever. :( And yes, I did cut the hair around her fetlocks. She doesn't really have feathers, just little tufts. Thanks for trying to help Vida, it just seems so hopeless. Like I'll be dealing with it each year ....

The only option I can see is talking the barn owner into putting in some pea gravel or limestone screenings in the lot to help keep it dryer and cut down on the mud. I scrape out the old bale every time I put a new one in to keep moisture from accumulating around the bale too. We put limestone screenings in our dry lot so there is little if any mud even in the wettest times.

We used novalsan cream at the big arab barn (pretty much everyone there had scratches at one time or another). It would work overnight...novalsan+cotton gauze+vetwrap for 24 hours :)

I found this recipe too
4oz of Desitin (40% zinc oxide), Diaper rash ointment
2oz of Neosporin
2oz of cortizone cream.
Generic of each will do fine. Mix them all together, and apply liberally a couple of times a day. Each time just wipe off the old stuff and put on the new.


Anything is worth a try