Just curious what others prefer more when treating a hoof abscess - Epsom salt poultice or animalintex?
I love the Animalintex poultice pads…they work wonderfully well. Even if the wrapping over them comes off (I use vet wrap covered in elastikon around the whole hoof) the pad tends to stay stuck up in there (on a stalled horse with a run).
I always make sure I have some on hand, just in case! For a basic hoof abscess.
6 Likes
Another vote for animalintex!
4 Likes
I like the animalintex - a lot less messy than any of the mixes and you can see how much gunk you are getting out on the pad
1 Like
I’m torn on this, I’ve been a die-hard epsom salt paste user for decades and abscesses always came out super fast. I have recently switched to animalintex just for the simplicity but honestly the last few abscesses I’ve had that I have treated with them have taken forever to come out. Of course that could be totally coincidental, just a data point of three recent abscesses.
2 Likes
Animalintex helped my guy’s last abscess in a day. If he got 1 today, I’d use homeopathic draw mix. If draw mix didn’t work, I’d use homeopathic war mix.
2 Likes
I’m on Team Animalintex. Although a little spendy, there’s no mess and it’s easy to create a wrap to hold it in place. And there’s this, too:
3 Likes
Gets my vote. So much easier and less mess.
1 Like
Soak in Epsom salt then wrap with animalintex. This is gross, but I like that you can see the drainage on the pad.
4 Likes
I think the answer really is just what you prefer to use.
It is hard to beat the ease of use of the Animalintex poultice pads.
2 Likes
Animalintex gets my vote.
Animalintex until the infection is gone, then Epsom salt/iodine to harden it off.
I buy Greenhawk’s knock off as it’s cheaper.
It’s hard to beat the convenience of animalintex pads, but I can’t say for certain whether it expedites the abscess erupting. I suppose that depends on where the abscess travels. I’ve had some burst seemingly immediately and then I’ve had one or two even with animalintex pads that took weeks to resolve, coming up and out through the coronet band. Those tend to take a long time no matter what.
I also like that you can see the drainage, it shows you what else might be in there that might be worth a vet visit – or not.
I’m cheap and mutli-gen farmer. When I run out of those animalintex pads I pack an epsom salt-betadine slurry up in there, wrap with a diaper, vetwrap, etc. Does an ok job and you can see drainage on the diaper. I also sometimes pack with clay poultice first, to soften the hooves. If I’m really not seeing progress, I’ll wrap the entire hoof in corona ointment and saran wrap to get the hoof soft and exfoliating.
I don’t soak hooves anymore. I can’t guarantee clinical level sterilization with my set up, and I don’t like the idea of stray bacteria in that petri-dish of a soaking tub ending up in the hole. YMMV.
1 Like
Thank you so much for all your responses! This has been super helpful 
