Hey all -
My horse has a summer sore/flystrike wound on his heel bulb at the lowest possible point.
I have been wrapping it and it has healed but as soon as I unwrap it, the flies go right back and open it back up as the wrapping has softened the skin and there is still no hair growing back yet.
I have tried: SWAT, Alu spray, blue kote,etc. NOTHING stays on it overnight it pasture ( I am sure from the dewy grass)
any ideas?
Use a bell boot?
Or a hoof boot?
I have two of those on one mare. She has scar tissue from a previous year ( she sleeps outside and somehow does this to herself getting up?) and every summer she gets a small sore there. It gets wet in the grass, she gnaws on it with her teeth, the flies get in it , repeat, and it gets bigger and bigger. Nothing topical stays on. Vetwrap and bitter spray did not help. Finally I wrap it with Elasticon and spray with Napalm ( Raplast). That has done the trick. The one on her right leg is fully healed and the one on her left leg is getting small. I will continue to do this until it gets cold and the flies die. Otherwise I will be back to where I was before. When winter comes she does not have this problem.
I feel your pain. Nothing else has worked for me.
Desitin stays on my horseās lower legs pretty well turned out in the wet grass.
If applied thickly it might be a barrier against flies.
Donāt let her out on wet grass until it heals.
How about using flyboots?
I had to do something similar last summer, had a nasty brown recluse bite that resulted in a whole bunch of skin sloughing off and a huge hole ā had to keep it clean but it was right on the inside of the fetlock and wraps would rub and/or pull down after a couple hours. Ended up dousing it with like six layers of Alushield and then keeping the horse in fly boots until it healed. It still has a big scar area but the wound is closed.
Yes, this. Glob some on, smear it in, leave it be. Itās not coming off unless rubbed off.
Or, something like Alushield might be enough of a physical barrier, Iām just not familiar enough with it to know how waterproof it would be against hours of nighttime dew.
Overnight exposure probably isnāt the problemāflies arenāt nocturnal, so whatever youāre using can be re-applied 1st thing in the AM and youāll stay ahead of the fliesā¦
IMO the more likely culprit is that the delicate scar is waterlogged & weakened by nightly soaks in wet grass. Iād try keeping stalled overnight, until the dew dries off each day. I bet if you could just give it 2-3 weeks of dry conditions youāll see sustained healing.
What makes you think flies are opening the wound? I think a more likely scenario is a softened, unprotected scab being in wet grass or rubbed being in taller grass.
I am sure that was what was happening with my mare. It rained everyday for months and I canāt get the pasture mower out here to get it cut down. Add in the tall grass making it itch and the flies flocking to the wound after the horse scratched it with her teeth. Elasticon has kept it covered and knock on wood it is about to heal. One side has healed. I am keeping both wrapped until winter and hopefully the guy will get out here to mow. Next year I will wrap both places with elasticon before they get opened up and avoid the wounds.
Dose the horse with Ive. wormer then mix some in ointment as well (I use krudstopper) along with dmso and dex- 10 cc of each and mix well- Slather it on the wound and keep it covered til it heals
Iāve had this problem for the first time this year. I think the flies have been way worse than in previous yearsāa result of the combination of very wet and very hot weather weāve had.
Anyway, whatās worked for me is to clean the area gently, with a cloth, so as not to disturb the scab while the skin is still healing, and just to keep it clean after the scab comes off.
Then I apply neosporin and a topical steroid cream in thin layers.
Then I have slathered the whole area with either Corona ointment or an udder balm. (Right now Iām liking the udder balm because it has Vit. E and aloe in it). By āslatherā I mean lots and lots of the goop over the scab/healing spot itself and a broad area around it.
And, for the piece de resistance, I spray lightly with fly spray.
This regimin seems to have worked.
my friendās go to for summer sores is to put some quest wormer on it with swat on top.
I like TriCare ointment. Has a bug repellent and really stays on, even if it gets wet.
If the wound is ready to dry out you can try some Gentian Violet. Kinda like Blu kote but I like it way better and stays on. (Has antiseptic and antifungal properties)
If you still want to keep it moist then agree with others who suggested making a mixture of diper ointment with wormer. I use something called āfanny creamā and that stuff stays on for 2 days.
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