Horse susceptible to cellulitis - tips?

[theresak]

@cnd8

Your post caught my attention though bc I kept reading how it was usually lower leg and not centering around the hock. It made me worry about injury.

My horse’s first case of cellulitis was in the forearm of the right front. Very localized swelling at first and extreme lameness. We actually thought he had a fracture because the swelling was strange compared to my vet’s experience with cellulitis. We figured out we caught it early and my horse had dramatic reaction to the pain. Now, if he presents with strange swelling and/or lameness, I always take a temperature. If there’s a fever, it’s cellulitis.

My horse does get a generic inflammatory reaction sometimes (post joint injections once, that was fun). Extreme swelling like cellulitis but no fever and the leg itself doesn’t usually palpate painful. We end up treating the same with antibiotics, banamine, and leg sweats anyway just to be sure, but fever, lameness, and extreme sensitivity of the leg are the key symptoms for my horse for cellulitis.

[endlessclimb]

She has been on gutwerks in the past, with no real difference. It’s been the E/Cu/Zn that has extended the time between bouts.

I do not clip legs. Sometimes I’ll trim off the extra super fuzzies, but never to the skin. I think it’s unfair with all the flies, but to each their own.

For this one, I’m sure the 90+F heat combined with the 80%+ humidity for two weeks caused extra sweaty skin, which then was more prone to rubs with her shoofly boots. Last year, she couldn’t wear the shoofly boots on her hinds at all without a blow up, this year this was our first problem. Definite improvement!

She seems back to normal now, tonight will be her last antibiotic dose, and tomorrow her last Dex. Legs look tight and clean.

She was never lame through any of this, FWIW. I was still riding her. To get the swelling down in a hurry, I was putting polos on a little tighter than I normally would, then riding. Immediately post ride remove the polos - the swelling was always WAY down after a ride with compression - and do a short cold hose on both legs.

[sportyspicepony]

@theresak

Also just want to check that you aren’t clipping the legs? I stopped clipping legs, even around flare ups of scratches, since clipping can create micro-abrasions.

This is interesting! I feel like I’ve always heard of people keeping like at least the fetlock area clipped to keep it as clean as possible. Did you notice a significant change of clipping legs vs. not or is it just more of a precaution?

[SMK]

I’ve got some thoughts as a human sufferer of cellulitis. There is a whole lot less hand waving and pseudoscience in human medicine than in equine medicine, so maybe reporting what the science says might help some. Oh, and I’m a microbiologist so I know a thing or two about infections.

I get cellulitis secondary to lymphedema. It’s the biggest concern for folks with this disease. It is very serious, and often caused by exactly what is being described here. Small abrasions, sometimes not even visible, greatly exasperated by heat and humidity. We tend to hit it with large doses of antibiotics as early as possible.

Compression is key to recovery from lymph buildup. But it shouldn’t be done over active wounds. But after that, light exercise with compression, which extends fully distally, is the way to go. Sweating and diuretics do not improve the buildup of proteinaceous fluid.

For humans, prevention is absolutely key. Every flareup you end up with more “scar tissue”, and it makes the appendage more prone to cellulitis in the future. This is what we’re instructed to do: 1. Avoid even small cuts at all costs, so no walking without shoes. For horses, physical protection sounds good, but the humid microenvironment it can create is quite bad. Bacteria love humidity and feed off of sweat. 2. Wash frequently with regular soap (not antibacterial; I can give a myriad of reasons for that). 3. If the skin is at all prone to cracking, keep it moisturized.

I wish there was a supplement out there that would help, but there absolutely is not. I know horse people often hate to hear that, but quite a bit of research has been done on this in humans, and absolutely nothing has been found to help that isn’t dangerous to the host.

From person experience, I have found that cool, wet compression helps. As in, I’ve accidentally gotten my compression stuff wet and kept going, and it’s amazing uncomfortable, but I’m always shocked that my leg will look a bit more “leg shaped” after. But heat and real cold are both supposed to be avoided.

Sorry for the weird perspective, but cellulitis sticks. No two ways about it. I feel for any horse or human dealing with a bout. But maybe some of my person experience with could help?

[XXS]

I had this with one horse - at 2 barns we struggled with this issue. At the barn now: no problems at all, even though she has cuts now and then, but no swelling or whatsoever at all. My only explaination is, she is happy now.