Blacksmith recommended mixture of flagyl, SMZs, DMSO, water to make paste.
Apply to affected areas & keep wrapped. Change daily.
We’ve also used the typical thrush buster & Tomorrow mastitis treatment.
Any other great ideas? This is deep in the heels of both fronts. Was under pads.
That wouldn’t be my choice. I would use Kopertox or Chlorhexidine or one of the chlorine based thrush remedies. I have also used Epsom Salts Poultice with almost immediate improvement.
I don’t think you could pay me to use DMSO on a FOOT. <shudder> Gawd, just think of all of the CRAP (literally!) it will carry into the bloodstream. Ew.
If tomorrow won’t do it, white lightening perhaps would? I’d put a horse on systemic antibiotics before doing what the farrier suggests.
White lightning soak, the generic equivalent is Oxine AH. Amazing stuff.
Copper Sulfate and Chlorine dioxide are your friends. Aka Kopertox and White Lightening. I would suggest washing your horse’s feet in the white lightening/vinegar bath (letting them dry) and then putting the kopertox on.
I would also suggest running all this by your vet because you may want to treat with oral antibiotics if it’s deep enough. There is NOTHING like trying to chase after thrush that has already gotten beyond the scope of topical treatment.
I would also suggest keeping the feet DRY. Possibly restricting turnout to during the day when the grass is dry (after the morning dew dries and before the dew starts to gather in the evening).
If you are able to put this horse in boots with diapers on to keep the feet dry and clean, that would be ideal. I’m a big fan of the Cavallo Simple Boots and the Old Mac G2’s.
I agree, I’d be wary of using DMSO. I’d clean before you apply the treatment with chlorhexidine or dilute iodine, and dry. I like to use Tomorrow, and a great tip I’ve gotten is to pack the central sulcus of the frog with a bit of gauze soaked in whatever you’re treating with (although I would be careful about leaving it packed for long periods of time if you’re using thrusbuster).
Excellent point about the DMSO.
I understand the bactericidal and fungicidal effects of Copper Sulfate, but the toxic and irritant properties (to humans) has always made me more than a little nervous about using on horses.
I wouldn’t be a huge fan of putting DMSO on a hoof, but I have certainly heard of people using various crushed antibiotics and/or some antifungals in the mix to try and curb thrush.
However, as another poster stated, if it’s quite progressed, then it may be easier to use oral antibiotics than to be chasing various treatments long term.
thanks all for the suggestions. We’ve some Clean Trax which I love. We need to do the soaks & then start the other treatments I think.
Horse is at a super barn. Absolutely pristine white clean stalls with NO urine or manure. Turnout is super clean, no mud. Perfect footing. Horse Disneyland!!!
Sanitation not an issue. Pads that covered heels probably were. Who knows.
I know though that oral antibiotics don’t perfuse well to the hoof at least per the Vets I’ve used in the past including Univ. of FL vets.
I have had vets in the past use DMSO on the hooves to reduce pain but I also don’t like it due to contaminates.
I also agree with the problems with toxicity & harshness of some of these products.
Horses…it’s always the top ones isn’t it?
I would not use harsh substances like coppertox, as you will kill good tissue also
Far as the White Lightning, it is the gas that is generated when mixed with a weak acid, that is the active ingredient. Thus you don’t really soak the foot-just use enough (2oz w.L. to two oz vinegar ), to generate that gas and seal the foot in something like an IV bag. The gas stays active for about 90 min, i believe
Yes, using pads has the risk of allowing thrush to get established.
Something similar (DMSO + whatever) was used on feet at a cow barn I used to work at. Feet were quickly hosed (not scrubbed), given a minute to dry, and then the DMSO solution was applied with a garden sprayer. It worked well.
Daily Oxine soaks for a week or so, if you see improvement, decrease to soaking a few times a week. That stuff is great!
My favorite thrush treatment is this. Assemble cotton balls, koppertox, hoof pick, plastic grout brush and a water supply. Clean out the hoof with the hoof pick, get into the grooves with the grout brush rinse with water. Now this is the important part, take a cotton ball and put it on the hoof pick. Clean out the grooves with the cotton, the cotton will be dirty keep replacing the cotton and repeating until it comes up clean. Now saturate a cotton ball with Koppertox and pack it into the groove with the hoof pick nice and tight, repeat until fully packed with saturated cotton balls. Leave in till they fall out. It’s worked every time for me.
Here’s what tends to work for me: In a shower stall…
Good luck.
I’ve used a combination of athlete’s foot cream and triple antibiotic cream, mixed and squirted into the affected areas with one of those plastic syringes. It worked fast and was very effective for my horses. Cheap and easy too.
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