Cellulitis and exercise

[Dr_Doolittle]

My mare has developed cellulitis (noticed it midday yesterday, she had been fine in the AM), and cold hosed and did a standing wrap for a few hours - removed for turnout last night.

The weather in VA has been NUTS!, incessant heavy rains and no relief from the moisture, humidity, and mud; her hind pasterns with pink skin/white socks were angry and pink and inflamed yesterday (she has to wear bell boots behind because of her shoeing, normally a non-issue when she is not standing in mud during a monsoon but they clearly irritated her), so I suspect there was a small “opportunistic” skin lesion somewhere. sigh Obviously I cleaned and treated the skin.

She is starting antibiotics today and I’ll put a sweat wrap on her.

The BM suggested that she stay in and that she not be walked, but I have heard that walking is good for the circulation and the swelling (or at least this is what I’ve believed and have done in the past), and COTH searches have resulted in lots of mixed opinions.

Thoughts?

[PrincessPonies]

Every time my horse had cellulitis I kept her on normal turnout. The first time she was three legged lame and we did keep her in till she wasn’t and then she went back out. Multiple times I’ve had the vet out for it, more to get the antibiotics then to look at her, and they’ve all said go ahead with turnout. I would wrap when she came in at night and then unwrap when she went out in the morning. One time this happened to be while we were at college where the barn turned at very early and I had an 8am I needed to be ready for so I was doing it at 5am. If it’s still super wet I might not turnout but I see no reason not to walk around.

[Dr_Doolittle]

Thanks, PP - this is the protocol I’ve followed in the past but the BM ( a vet tech) wants her to stay in.

Maybe tomorrow if the leg has gone down a bit from the sweat and the antibiotics, but I’ve always thought the best bet was movement.

[IPEsq]

Unless it’s exceptionally painful, movement is good. Whether you want that to happen in the mud is a different issue.

[Dr_Doolittle]

Good point(s)!

[Simkie]

I’m turning out mine. Not today–it’s pissing rain today–but she goes out when it’s dry. My sacrifice area doesn’t really get muddy, thankfully. And because she’s at home and I can check on her a lot, she goes out in standing wraps.

This weather is insane!

[OneTwoMany]

@IPEsq

Unless it’s exceptionally painful, movement is good. Whether you want that to happen in the mud is a different issue.

Agree with this. Movement is better if you are trying to bring the swelling down. But I wouldn’t turnout in mud if the horse already has cellulitis. Hand walking, tack walking turnout in a dry paddock, even if it is small paddock would be my preferred options.

[Dr_Doolittle]

@OneTwoMany

Agree with this. Movement is better if you are trying to bring the swelling down. But I wouldn’t turnout in mud if the horse already has cellulitis. Hand walking, tack walking turnout in a dry paddock, even if it is small paddock would be my preferred options.

This is my feeling but the BM thinks exercise will spread the infection?, I tack walked her for 30 minutes yesterday, swelling came down just a little. Could hand walk her today after I ice/cold hose.

I think the leg sweat wrap and antibiotics will help and with luck, tomorrow or the next day things should look better. We are supposed to get a day or two in a row without rain, hallelujah!

[Dr_Doolittle]

@Simkie

I’m turning out mine. Not today–it’s pissing rain today–but she goes out when it’s dry. My sacrifice area doesn’t really get muddy, thankfully. And because she’s at home and I can check on her a lot, she goes out in standing wraps.

This weather is insane!

Indeed! It’s like the tropics, I guess all the way up the East Coast? Ugh.

Good that you have a drier sacrifice paddock to use! I’m thinking the round pen might be an option just so she can stretch her legs, though that’s a bit muddy as well.

[OneTwoMany]

@Dr. Doolittle

This is my feeling but the BM thinks exercise will spread the infection?, I tack walked her for 30 minutes yesterday, swelling came down just a little. Could hand walk her today after I ice/cold hose.

I think the leg sweat wrap and antibiotics will help and with luck, tomorrow or the next day things should look better. We are supposed to get a day or two in a row without rain, hallelujah!

Spread the infection? To other horses?

If you google “treatment of cellulitis equine” and you stick to the articles written by DVM’s, antibiotics, cold hosing and movement are recommended to help reduce the edema.

[Lusoluv]

After antibiotics, movement is the best medicine for cellulitis, per my vets!

[mlb722]

Turnout and movement unless super painful!

[Dr_Doolittle]

I was thinking exactly as above ^ ^ ^ , not sure what she was thinking…

Anyway, we got well over (another!) inch of rain last night, so the pasture is still very wet - luckily it’s big and most of it has great grass, but the HUMIDITY!, and deep mud up by the gate and water trough.

I cold hosed her, hand walked her, and put a sweat wrap on, she got antibiotics and a little Bute this AM and there already seems to be less heat in the leg. It’s really a fairly mild case, though she is still a bit stiff on the fetlock of that hind leg.

I cleaned and dressed the back of the pastern with the tender skin (and a few small abrasions), hopefully staying in a dry stall overnight will help heal that up. It’s already less ouchy than it was yesterday!

It doesn’t really seem to bother her, and with luck the sweat wrap will help bring the swelling down, along with another two doses of antibiotics. Maybe get on her for some tack walking tomorrow.

Apparently there is an epidemic of cellulitis in our area, not that this surprises anyone

[luvmyhackney]

I have always been told keep them moving in a no mud filled area. My previous vet had us lunge at w/t for at least 30 minutes to get more movement.

Gotta keep it clean. I’ve always wrapped with ice and used a bute sweat to reduce swelling and pain. Thankfully only had to deal with this once.

[drafting_dots]

I feel ya, seems like every horse in VA has cellulitis :lol:

I kept mine in for a day and a half when he was at his worst, mostly to keep the area clean and dry to get ahead a little on the treatment. Those days, I iced and handwalked to make up for no turnout. Once the swelling went down (the two days in did it), I turned out as normal. I probably would have turned him out after day 2 even with the swelling because I’ve also heard movement is always better.

[DressageLin]

Have you been monitoring the temperature? If a severe fever, then I would consider hand walking only. I went through this last year with what I thought was cellulitis (ended up being severe abscess/infection in the limb). Horse was on all of the big gun broad spectrum antibiotics, but I was struggling to get his fever down even with anti-inflamatories on board. Fever would spike after turnout. So watch the temperature to determine if turnout is appropriate.

[WNT]

@Dr. Doolittle

Apparently there is an epidemic of cellulitis in our area, not that this surprises anyone

I work in a tack and feed store in NoVA, and I honestly can’t recall moving so much stuff for cellulitis and hoof abscesses. It’s nuts!

That said, I’m in the antibiotics, cold hose and movement camp as well.

[CHT]

I was told NOT to wrap with cellulitis as you can cut off the circulation and do tissue damage. I would talk to your vet before wrapping. When I have dealt with it in the past, we turned the horse out in the indoor arena. He was too sore to move enough to be a danger to others.

[Lusoluv]

I had two vets look at my horse last time she had cellulitis. One said to wrap, the other said don’t. Once the major inflammation went down, I figured I’d try a sweat wrap - hoping to aid the leg into looking more “normal”. My horse was so unhappy and obviously very uncomfortable with the standing wraps, so I took them off. Even weeks after the event when I applied saratoga wraps, yes the leg went down, but as soon as the wraps came off, they stocked up again.

My lesson: nothing external is going to keep the leg smaller. Gotta rely on mother nature, turnout and a lotta luck. It’s been almost a year and the leg is slightly bigger than it’s mate, but the horse is sound, competing and otherwise unfazed by the thicker leg. So I try not to compare them and pray that she won’t have another bout.

[Dr_Doolittle]

Well, good progress as of today

Luckily she has had a pretty mild case; when I went out today she still had the wrap on (she had been in all night) and got her AM antibiotics - I pulled the wrap and the one leg was normal; the other still a little filled but NO heat, and the swelling was softer. (She has had a normal temperature the whole time.)

I figured it would be a good idea to cold hose AND give her some exercise; so since the barn was temporarily without power (it came back on while I was getting her ready), I figured ride first and see how it looked. I did a LOT of walking, some trotting, a little canter and a long walk cool out. The leg was almost completely normal by the time I got off! I hosed her and the leg, and by the time she was back in her stall it looked exactly as it always looks, Yay! The bit of abrasion on the back pasterns/heels had responded well to the antibiotic ointment and the skin looked normal, dry, soft. A night IN really helped it recover. Because it was hot and sunny the mud had dried up a good bit so she will go out tonight as usual.

Whew!

I know cellulitis can be a terrible condition (and have dealt with it a few times in the past) but usually the T/O conditions are not SO awful so as to make keeping the horse in the better option!

I think we will have one more day without T-Storms, and then they will be back. Yeesh. With luck it won’t be the same monsoon conditions we’ve been dealing with throughout the entire month of August!

Thanks to everyone who weighed in, much appreciated! And best of luck, @Simkie . This can’t last forever.

Right???