Seriously, all you need to do is clean the area. Slap furazone on the area. And maybe wrap it. Repeat for a few days.
That crap will be gone
OK, so now I have QUITE the shopping list. 
Yesterday and today I Hibiclens washed, dried with hair dryer, applied Biozide get and wrapped. Shaved the leg again today. I mean itās not awful but itās not gone eitherā¦ and I know if I stop for one day it will spring back.
Working from the top here is what Iāll try next, based on what I have on hand or can get easily, but also on what I think will work based on what Iāve already tried:
[LIST=1]
Groom, Iām in the same boat as you. I have a 23 year old OTTB approaching his 24th birthday with chronic scratches on his rear fetlocks. Iāve tried everything, except, apparently, Desitin. Poor horse is retired and elderly- and does not appreciate me treating that area. I debate whether itās worth it to even try after this long. Itās clearly not going to kill him, but something else probably will at some point!
My vet recently recommended the Desitin/Neosporin/Hydrocortisone combo under wraps after scrubbing with chlorahex. I figure Iāll try this one last thing but Iām going to soften up the scabs and scrub while heās sedated. I think. If I feel like the poor guy can handle it.
With that mix, thereās no need to wrap, or sedate and scrub. The mix will do the softening, and at some point relatively soon, the scabs will start to soften and come off when you wipe the old goop off before applying it again. That is, IF this is something thatās going to be helped. But though messy, itās easy, and shouldnāt bother the horse at all to try for a week-10 days.
1 Like
Panalog ointment. Not cream. Once a day, or every other day.
[QUOTE=Xanthoria;9019327]
OK, so now I have QUITE the shopping list.
Yesterday and today I Hibiclens washed, dried with hair dryer, applied Biozide get and wrapped. Shaved the leg again today. I mean itās not awful but itās not gone eitherā¦ and I know if I stop for one day it will spring back.
Working from the top here is what Iāll try next, based on what I have on hand or can get easily, but also on what I think will work based on what Iāve already tried:
[LIST=1]
-
DMSO can carry many things thru the skin and into the bloodstream. It is not a risk I would take if I did not know for sure what I was dealing with.
-
Copper Sulfate can cause severe irritation! Google the health hazards before using. Where eye protection if you decide to go ahead.
You seem disinclined to involve the vet, but as much $$$ as you are spending on ācuresā a Skin Biopsy may be a big help, and a time and money saver.
Lard and Sulphur.
Soften about 1 cup of lard, stir in feed grade sulphur until thick paste. (I purchase sulphur powder from a local feed mill that produces custom orders. $10 for about 4 cups of sulphur powder) Use scissors to trim hair. Generously apply ointment twice daily. Gently wipe off previous application with soft cloth, generously reapply. Wash gently about every third day with plain soap (think Castile or Ivory) and warm (not hot) water. Do not pick or rub. Crusts will eventually fall off. Continue to reapply for a couple of weeks after visual healing has occurred.
I agree chronic scratches can point to compromised immune system. We had one who never was in mud etc w chronic issue that had Cushings also.
The only caution is that panalog I think has a cortiocsteriod for those that !igjt be sensitive to it.
Nu-stock.
Itās a pine oil and sulfur paste. Itās been around for 40+ years. Works like a charm for skin crud.
Plus it is cheap. Find on Amazon, and I think Tractor Supply carries it.
https://www.amazon.com/Duvet-001-0530-Nu-Stock-Ointment-12-Ounce/dp/B000HHSIYQ
[QUOTE=Xanthoria;9017168]
OK, horsie has had scratches for over 2 months on one hind leg. At one point it got swollen when I was away for a week, but since then aggressive treatment means it is down to a quarter sized spot that is not sore, but that WILL NOT go away, and expands if I donāt treat daily.
Treatments tried:
- MTG - no help, and I smelled like hell-bacon.
- Corona ointment - no help, and impossible to remove
- $20 scratches spray containing copper sulphate - no help
- A week of SMZs BID - no help
- No Thrush Dry Formla powder - says on the bottle it cures scratches. It doesn't.
- Athlete's foot spray - nope
- Silver sulfadine ointment - no help, and was $$$
- Mixing neosporin and clotrimazole and applying to chlorhexadine washed, then DRIED, clipped leg - after a month this got us here.... but it's not cured.
- Called vet and she said "oh it's getting there! Try coconut oil - I swear it works!"
Next to try:
- Gold Bond Powder? It's only zinc oxide and menthol...
- Desitin? It's only zinc oxide...
- Steroid cream PLUS neosporin PLUS clotrimazole
- Wrap leg with Biozide gel under a diaper?
Come on people, this ick cannot be so hard to cure?!
Worth noting horse is in a muddy pasture and no access to a stall. I know. I KNOW!
:([/QUOTE]
i didnāt read the whole thread, but when i was in this boat i did:
Make a paste out of SMZs
Add Anitfungal cream moconidazole (same as in monostat, but ask your pharmacist to order you large generic tubes instead-cheaper and you will need it)
Paint this mixture on your horses scratches.
[QUOTE=omare;9019683]
I agree chronic scratches can point to compromised immune system. We had one who never was in mud etc w chronic issue that had Cushings also.[/QUOTE]
Agree. OP I did read your post, but may have missed it, did you add Pro/prebiotics to feed?
I also have used a Sauerkraut wrapā¦ you drain the can, place the pulp on the leg, wrap and leave on 24 hours and the scabs will peel off due to the acid in the sākraut.
Then you just keep the pink skin underneath clean/dry/moisturized so it can heal and regrow hair.
For the really bad case I had, that meant in the a.m. before she went out for the day [to the dew-y pasture and the stream the herd crossed] her dry legs got coated with corona to keep the moisture out.
.
Absorbine Fungasol Shampoo/Spray/Ointment worked really well for my horse that had perpetual cases of scratches all year long.
I also kept his ankle clipped all the way up to his ankles. Before I found out about Fungasol I scrubbed with warm water and Kirkās Castile soap, dried with towel/hair dryer then sprayed with diluted tea tree oil - if the area was really dry, I would wait for the tea tree oil to dry and covered with desitin.
I had this battle a few years ago. The only thing I use now for it is Equiderma. You have to order it online, either direct https://www.equiderma.com/ or from SmartPak. It also makes cannon crud vanish. It is truly incredible stuff. Good luck!
I use talc to get legs really dry. Rub with a towel, dust over talc and brush out. (Disclaimer- most of mine have white legs. Itād probably show up on a darker coat.) Cornstarch would work too.
Bonus is they all have gleaming white socks!
Scrub with iodine daily for a week
Besides adding copper and zinc, if itās more of an immune issue, Vitamin E may help (I do 5,000-8,000IU natural daily).
Have your vet culture each leg that has scratches. My vet cultured three legs of a single horse with scratches and each leg had different organisms.
Change your treatment every 10 days to 2 weeks unless significant improvement is noted.
Whatās consistently worked the best for my horse with chronic scratches is furacin + injectable dex mixed in. Slather on daily. Rub gently to remove scabs that are ready to come off but donāt pick at scabs.
I almost never clip - I will sometimes clean the margins if I have a spot that has spread but is stable. The micro-abrasions caused by regular clipping can often cause the spread of scratches, and if there is a photosensitivity component, youāve just exposed more skin to the sunlight.
With my horseās depressed immune system, he has twice gotten a secondary infection that seems to be fungal and responds to athleteās foot cream or spray. Itās almost like the scratches spreads, I get it under control, and then raw/new skin develops a secondary issue where no hair grows in and the margins donāt heal. A few days of anti-fungal treatment has helped clear it up.
Equiderma;
Ingredients:
Mineral oil, Aqueous solution, Surfactant, Chlorhexadine, N-Trichloromethylthio, 4-Cyclohexene-1, 2-Dicaboximide
I would be very hesitant to not only scrub daily for a week, but with betadine every day. Water is the enemy of scratches of any sort, so while it may be a necessity in the beginning of a treatment, regular use, at least until well healed, can easily be detrimental to progress. Betadine is very caustic and drying and irritating, killing healthy cells along with the unhealthy ones.
Even when treating wounds that need to be dealt with daily, the general recommendation is a very weak tea-looking dilution of betadine and water, to do as little damage to healthy cells as possible, while still helping keep infection at bay. And often thatās just a lavage, not scrubbing. Scrubbing is irritating and rarely necessary beyond an initial debridement/cleaning.
My mix is largely Furazone + Desitin. A friend here also adds a bit of ivermectin paste. Slather on once daily, wash off with mild shampoo or antibacterial/antifungal wash (anything from chlorhexidine wash, iodine wash, head & shoulders) in between treatments and dry well. This time of year once the scabs are pretty much gone, it helps with the washing/drying/ointment spreading to clip the hair shorter.
My two cents:
One of my barnmates has three horses and one (4 years old) is very prone to scratches. His vet thinks the problem lies in THIS horse with HIS immune system (note, the horse is healthy, was well-raised, and is well cared for). None of this horseās pasturemates suffer the same issue.
The vet had my barnmate keep the gelding inside at night/early morning (dew was instigating a severe episode) for about 1-2 weeks. He was instructed to clean the wound daily with DILUTE betadine or chlorhexidine daily. I always dilute in 0.9% sodium chloride to match tissue osmolarity. He was then instructed to dry the area well with a towel. I think the horse was on a course of antibiotics (his one hind leg was really crusty and cracked), but Iām not sure. This helped the initial lesions clear up. He then placed an antibiotic ointment (such as triple biotic ointment) on the area and smeared over it with zinc oxide (Desitin) before turning the horse out when the horse was ready to go out. The Zinc Oxide really helps seal out moisture. After about 4 solid weeks, the dermatitis was gone. But it really took that long. His vet thinks the horse is just prone to it (the vet sees no deficiencies in the diet and the horse is on good, well-maintained pasture most of the year), and theyāll take extra precautions in wet weather.
Iām just conveying this info second-hand, and I hope your horse heals soon, OP!
