I’ve been worried about my horses feet for a few weeks now. The bulbs of his heels have been enlarged, mushy, and tender. He also had a few crevices leading down to the frog. The frog itself was a little too soft and flakey looking. I called my farrier and he thought I was just dealing with a bad case of thrush. Our weather here in Alabama has been a little extreme this summer. It was SUPER dry and then we got a bunch of rain so the farrier was thinking his poor feet were suffering from the sudden changes in ground conditions. He recommended a medication to squirt down in the crevices and suggested painting some Venice turpentine on his frog and soles. However, he was out this afternoon to shoe my horse and he got his first look at my horse’s feet. He thinks my horse might have canker. I had never even heard of it until today. He’s getting me the name and phone number of a vet he knows who is experienced in diseases of the foot, but until then I’m hoping that someone here might be able to shed some light on this condition. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!!
Thanks!!
I’ve never dealt with it personally, but know someone who cleared it up with lots and lots of White Lightning (and vet/hoof care pro help, obviously). I’ve also read good things about Well Horse’s Purple Mush, although it is quite pricey.
I had a horse with it and it was quite prolific by the time I got him. It wasn’t just a few lesions - this extended deep into the tissues of his hoof and up the back of his heel. He required 3 separate surgeries on all 4 feet. We tried the Benzoyl Peroxide packing with little success and then went to white lightning on the advice of the farriers from Cornell. The white lightning made a HUGE difference. It was costly and time consuming. And surgery was not for the faint of heart. Lots of blood, lots of ick and a very, very sore horse. 
This is a little easier to use as it is in gel form.
http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=4947a297-3362-4e2d-8d0d-ae13f75fe3a7
But yes, the vet is who you need to call ASAP if you think canker. Do not mess around cuz you can lose your horse. You need the vet and the farrier both working together with you on this.
Thanks everyone for all the great info!! It seems as though we’ve caught whatever this is fairly early. It’s isolated to one section of the heel bulb on his left front foot right now. The farrier says he didn’t see signs of it in the other feet. The vet is coming out to have a look so hopefully we can get to the bottom of it.
I had a nice young horse w/ a serious case…and I cleared it up 100% …the vet was more than impressed since he had to do 2 surgieries on horses w/ less severe cases.
Clorahexadine…sure I spelled it wrong…Nolvasane?? scrub…Blue stuff…Scrub w/ the surgical scrug 1st and I mean really clean it w/ a brush then go thru all the cracks and crevices…rinse dry then completely soak in just plain Chlorohexadine/Nolvasan solution (nor scrub version) soak cotton and put in all the crevices affected on horses foot then in an easy boot then fill easy boot w/ the same solution. Keep the foot soaked in this. It Will Kill the Canker Organism. I did keep the horse in a clean dry stall through out. And once all cleaned up same horse went off for a PPE.
I didn’t wing nut this up by the way and it worked. 2 Vets have since called and asked for the treatment.
It came to me by way of a track trainer who used it successfully and she got it from an old time farrier long retired.
Canker is very distinct in odor, and appearence, the clear nasty rotton odor fluid, the way it under runs the heels and the raw canker looking ulcery sore I will never ever forget…
my 19 year old appendix gelding just had the surgery on his front two hooves and had the back one cyrofreezed. He is three weeks post surgery and has already grown back a lot of the canker in the front hooves (which were the worse ones) He wasn’t too sore after the surgery and we put wedge like shoes on his hooves afterwards. the vet is coming out this week to check him again so i am sure we will be doing surgery again soon! it was disgiagnoised by several vets and farriers as thrush, but I finally got a vet to agree it was canker. I did a lot of research. He said canker can manifest itself in many different ways and most people think its only seen in drafty type horses. Goodluck!
What/which, precisely, might that organism be?
" No treatment to date has been consistently effective in treating this disease and the prognosis has always been guarded…"
" A mixed population of bacterial organisms are observed in the stratum germinativum layer of the epidermis of the frog.2 Cultures per se are unrewarding as they typically produce an assortment of environmental organisms, Bacteroides sp.and Fusobacterium necrophorum." (http://www.equipodiatry.com/canker1.htm)
September 21 I will have been dealing with canker on my mare for 3 years. She has had numerous surgeries at the farm and at the vet hospitals. There was a time that it cleared up for 10 months. I was devastated when it returned in all four feet. Currently she is at a vet hospital. Week 4 and she is looking fantastic!!!:yes: She has no bandages on and her feet appear canker free and are hardening up like normal hooves should.
I am very hopeful that this will be the end of this horrific disease! It has been a rough road for this mare but she has been a trooper through everything. She is bright eyed and very happy. Her pain level is minimal at this time. With canker you go through alot of ups and downs…like a roller coaster.
Out of all of the concoctions that I’ve researched and tried the following is what has worked:
Antimicrobial drug metronidazole and 10% benzyl peroxide solution. Metronidazole is usually ground into a powder and spread over the affected area. Benzyl peroxide is a potent astringent commonly found in acne medicine. (It’s the compounded form that I get from Frank’s Pharmacy in Florida). It is soaked into gauze sponges and applied as a wound dressing. Systemically, no medicine will cure canker if superficial debridement is not performed.
Maddie’s current treatment includes debridement and Oxytetracycline.
We’ve packed the hooves with gauze that is soaked in the meds, then wrapped foot with vet wrap and made hoof boots out of duct tape. (The heavy duty duct tape works best.)
I wish you luck with your horse. If you would like to contact me to discuss further feel free to pm and I will contact you!
Best Wishes to you and your horse!!!
~Pamela
Here’s a good link:
Equine Canker - AAEP
you may want to also look into Cold Laser as an non invasive alternative treatment. We have had great sucess as a treatment protocol for canker.
Mid Atlantic Equine Rehab Center
More great info!! Thanks guys!!
did you dilute the chlorhexidine?
[QUOTE=judybigredpony;6547973]
I had a nice young horse w/ a serious case…and I cleared it up 100% …the vet was more than impressed since he had to do 2 surgieries on horses w/ less severe cases.
Clorahexadine…sure I spelled it wrong…Nolvasane?? scrub…Blue stuff…Scrub w/ the surgical scrug 1st and I mean really clean it w/ a brush then go thru all the cracks and crevices…rinse dry then completely soak in just plain Chlorohexadine/Nolvasan solution (nor scrub version) soak cotton and put in all the crevices affected on horses foot then in an easy boot then fill easy boot w/ the same solution. Keep the foot soaked in this. It Will Kill the Canker Organism. I did keep the horse in a clean dry stall through out. And once all cleaned up same horse went off for a PPE.
I didn’t wing nut this up by the way and it worked. 2 Vets have since called and asked for the treatment.
It came to me by way of a track trainer who used it successfully and she got it from an old time farrier long retired.
Canker is very distinct in odor, and appearence, the clear nasty rotton odor fluid, the way it under runs the heels and the raw canker looking ulcery sore I will never ever forget…[/QUOTE] did you dilute the chlorhexidine??
FYI - I went through about 15 months of canker - we thought we had it licked and then it reared its ugly head. I ended up using Maggot Debridement therapy. Yes Maggots, and that seemed to do the trick so far knock on wood and if it comes back I’ll have the vet do another treatment. The maggots are not inexpensive but if you factor in the cost of the canker medicine (whatever that concoction is) and surgical debridement by vets, the maggots end up being a little cheaper and since they do their own debriding then no risk of the vet digging too far down. For anyone having to cope w/ this devil I would get your vet to try the maggots. A vet has to order them.
what did you try previously? and how large of an area did you treat and where located?
Waiting for the diagnosis from my new equine podiatry specialist, but it appears my 9 year old OTTB may have canker in all four feet. He was clinically diagnosed 2 years ago with a rare, incurable auto immune disease that affects hoof and frog production. Not sure how this may encourage canker, but everything that is bad that could happen in a hoof seems to be happening to him.
I’ve used prescription powder with some success for the past year when ‘something’ was happening that no vet or farrier could label, but it comes raging back and now is the worst it has ever been and looks much more like canker than it ever did. I’m interested in whether anyone can estimate surgical costs for laser or other treatments.
Also would like advice … he is a terrible patient, cannot handle stall rest (even on reserpine), hasn’t been ridden in 2-3 years, is difficult on a good day, cribs, and has either an impaction or gas colic that nearly kills him every few months. Right now he’s marginally comfortable and seems to be doing ok, although not pain free.
