Is This Home-made Scratches Treatment a Good Idea or Not Good Idea

[ytr45]

hey guys,

my gelding has scratches on all 4 legs from the fetlock to the top of the cannon bone. Its not noticeable, but if feels rough under the skin.

To be honest, I usually don’t treat it, since it goes away (maybe with the change of seasons, who knows). I’m also very squeamish about scrubbing off the bumps.

Anyway this year I mixed vaseline (to soften up the bumps) with betadine scrub, and scrubbed the fetlocks & cannon. I did this regime for a few days. I felt very empowered.

The fetlocks still feel rough when you rub your hand under the hair. My farrier says i might have inflamed the skin with the betadine. Oops.

[Calamber]

This would work better and has the added benefit of creating a moisture barrier with an anti-fungal and it is mild.

http://www.colonialmedical.com/selan-af-antifungal-cream-P-3845.html

[Old_Mac_Donald]

I have a horse that would get scratches every year, once to the point of becoming something really nasty. I found that spraying the scabs with methylated spirits killed the nasties and allowed for healing much much quicker than the endless hours of betadine-scrubbing and white-ointmenting that I was doing. Spray 2 - 3 times a day - no it doesn’t hurt, spray your own ouchies first if you are like me. Saved me $1000s in compounded drugs my vet wanted me to use (when the first $1500 worth did nothing) to treat a case of “mud fever” that became really nasty.

Just my experience. I’m not a vet. Use advice as you see fit.

PS Metho makes a great zit cleanser. If I have a zit threatening to go yuk, I swab it with metho which dries it out.

[merrygoround]

I suspect that the combo of Vaseline and beta dine, while not my choice would work. I think scrubbing was unhelpful. Massaging in strongly with the finger tips seems to work better. and picking scabs is a no-no.

[chipper2128]

We treat scratches with diluted chlorohexidine. Just let it soak in the hair/skin…we don’t rub/scrub at all. After a week or so, the scabs are gone.

We got a horse last year from FL who had bad scratches on all four legs. After a couple weeks of treatment, it was all gone.

[asterix]

My homemade recipe, which also works, is a tube of desitin, a tube of anti fungal (jock itch cream, for example), and a tube of triple antibiotic. Every two days I wash with a mediated shampoo, dry and put goo on.

[McVillesMom]

My homemade recipe is similar to what asterix described, except I use hydrocortisone OTC cream instead of antifungal. I have a chestnut with 4 whites, so I’ve definitely had cause to use it and it’s worked pretty well for me!

[ytr45]

What product is methylated spirits? I have no idea what this is.

It the old days folks always picked off the scabs and scabby stuff, before treating with xyz treatment. My neighbors still do that. When did the guidelines change?

[Countrywood]

I would call the vet out. Being that horse gets them every year and the bacteria is all the way up. Treat it and then it can get under control for future years.

[morganpony86]

I only use betadine in a surgical setting.
For everything else, diluted chlorohexadine is the way to go. Way less aggravating.

I do what you’re doing, but with the chlorohex, and apply my own scratches remedy (nolvasan ointment, penicillin, & dexamethasone). If you ask 20 people for scratches remedies, you’ll get 20 different answers. I would just try a bunch and see what works.

[Calvincrowe]

All my vets have given me Asterix’s recipe for scratches. Works every time. The ket is to dry the skin, then create a barrier to more moisture, and treat underlying possible infection or fungal issues. The concoction does that. Cheap, too, if you do generics at a local pharmacy.

[PeteyPie]

Be sure to read the advice about worming medicine as a cure for scratches. There has been quite a bit of endorsement for that treatment.

Of course now I can’t find those references, but google “site: www.chronofhorse, scratches” and then at the bottom of the first reference in small print, click on “more results from www.chronofhorse.com”.

You will find a gazillion threads on this topic, and maybe even that advice about the worming medicine.

[Old_Mac_Donald]

Metho:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denatured_alcohol

[J-Lu]

Betadine can be irritating to the skin if not washed off, so I can see where it might be irritating if mixed with vaseline. I recommend a betadine or chlorhexadine scrub with a facecloth, followed by rinsing. Scrub to get the crud off the leg. Followed by drying (patting with clean facecloth and allowing to truly dry). Followed by a mix of triple-biotic ointment and desitin to keep backteria at bay and to keep excess water OUT (key to scratches). You can also mix Nitrofurazone with the desitin. This has worked wonders for me. Good luck!

[Marla_100]

Ground up SMZ pills, mixed w/ triple anti-biotic ointment was the MIRACLE
cure for an especially resistant case of scratches.

[EiRide]

My home brew has been a tube of diaper rash cream, a tube of vaginal cream (miconazol), and a squirt of betadine. Clean area well with an anti-fungal shampoo and dry well, then apply the Brew.

[Cindyg]

What are SMZ pills?

[monstrpony]

@ytr45;7738059

hey guys,

my gelding has scratches on all 4 legs from the fetlock to the top of the cannon bone. Its not noticeable, but if feels rough under the skin.

Are you sure this is scratches? Might it be cannon keratosis? Especially during shedding season, cannon bones tend to get yucky looking, but my take on it is that many of us are bad about shedding out on the lower leg, and this is the result. Vigorous grooming with a soft curry mitt or a jelly scrubber, and then brushing away the shedded hair and the accompanying dead skin does the trick for me.

[Jeito]

Scratches can be many different things - fungal, bacterial, even viral. So obviously different ointments are going to work on different horses, depending on what the problem is. At one barn my mare used to get what looked like scratches but was caused by chigger bites. I figured it out when the chiggers got me!

Cindyg - SMZ-TMP is an antibiotic used on horses. Usually given orally in pills, around 15 at a time. It will only work on bacteria. It’s used so commonly I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of horses have developed a resistance to it.

[msj]

A foxhunting friend uses Bag Balm up the entire hind leg from pastern region to hock for the scratches/mud fever her TB gets while out foxhunting. It prevents the mud from sticking and irritating. Looks like heck but if it helps…