Preventing cellulitis?

[Texarkana]

@mvp

I’ll add my data point to this:

My kinda Skin Sissy, but not too bad gelding got his $600 case of cellulitis at the Cornell U. Equestrian center. Rumor had it that they cleaned their paddocks but really never scraped them down. That person (I forget who, but they had been around for a long time) was the one that told me scratches just lived in the soil.

I recall plenty of discussions around Cornell about everyone’s favorite way to treat those. Not quite the same as cellulitis, but that problem often was a sequel to scratches of not caught early.

I used to be part of the biosecurity management team for another major east coast veterinary hospital. While we didn’t have any issues with paddocks and scratches to my knowledge, we had our fair share of “super bugs” that were established in the environment. It’s almost impossible not to when you have so much turnover of sick/stressed horses in a confined space.

So it certainly seems plausible that bacteria species that cause cellulitis could get established in an area, then subsequently spread with movement of horses. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s actually happening.

[Simkie]

That’s weird, PNW. I wasn’t really surprised with cellulitis popping after a week of rain and super humid, hot, weather. But when it’s dry? Totally wouldn’t expect it! Maybe the scabbies get dry and crack? Yeah, totally agree it’s a pain in the ass.

Her perma scabbies do look the best they’ve been in a long time, with the hosing. The scabs have softened and pealed off and the skin looks good underneath. Nice to see, although sure it’s temporary. Nothing makes those suckers go away for good (as I’m sure you know!!) :-/

Something entertaining–this mare loooooves to be hosed. I aim for her groin area and let the water run down her leg, and she moves back and forth and lifts her leg to find the best spot. Neck stretched out and lips wiggling :lol: :lol:

[Montanas_Girl]

It seems like, from my experience, that once horses have had a bad case of scratches or other skin infection that turns into cellulitis, they become hyper sensitive to EVERY. LITTLE. nick/cut/scrape that comes after. The #1 preventative measure I’ve found is to keep the legs clipped (#10 blade; no need to “bald” the area) year-round. That allows you to keep the legs as dry as humanly possible and to catch any problems early, before antibiotics are needed. I also wash legs after every ride/work session (using Nolvasan solution on particularly sensitive horses) and thoroughly towel dry afterwards.

My super sensitive gelding could never be turned out in mud again after the lovely episode pictured below (and this picture was taken AFTER a week of IV oxytetracycline, Bute, and sweat wraps - it was BAD - his legs went from 100% clean to swollen up to the knees and non-weight bearing in less than 12 hours). I also wrapped him any time he was stalled for more than a few hours at a time. Same horse also once got cellulitis, secondary to rain rot, on his poll. That was (NOT) fun to deal with.

Good luck! Cellulitis is a royal pain, and I am now obsessively vigilant about doing everything I can to prevent it.
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[theresak]

I’d be really leery of clipping legs as that can cause micro-abrasions and allow even easier access for the nasty bacteria.

From my little bit of online reading, most of the bacteria that cause cellulitis are always present on the skin of horses and never cause a problem. But at some point, in certain conditions they can get out of control when allowed access under the skin.

For PNW’s horse and the case from Cornell - there’s maybe an overabundance of the bacteria in those environments and the horses affected are under a bit of stress and/or have a compromised immune system, and the bacteria take advantage.

My horse has what I call “systemic” scratches as we can get the scratches 99% resolved but there’s always one tiny spot here or there brewing - indicating to me a depressed immune system. I feed 8,000 IU natural Vitamin E per day and find that has helped a ton with the funky skin issues.

[IndysMom]

A topic that has become of interest to me since the lymphangitis episode this past May. My vet did very aggresive treatment with IV and IM antibiotics. She declined the SMZ followup because of my boy’s known digestive issues (periodic diarhea). Of particular interest was the comment about cellulitis/lymphangitis as a follow up to scratches. My boy had a very very mild case of scratches that I thought I had cleared up, but it now appears to me that it may have been a contributing factor. Sigh…
For now, it’s no turnout if it’s muddy and legs washed/dried if I ride in wet/muddy conditions. I am now an OCD leg washer! I am using a combination of ivory liquid and chlorhexidine. His white socks are cleaner than they’ve been in years!

[mvp]

On the Cornell thing— this was not at the university’s vet hospital. Rather, Cornell also has an equestrian center that houses its polo- and ISHA teams, a lesson string and boarders. This went down in the paddocks used by boarded horses. The whole place was not fancy, nor run with biosecurity in mind. Rather, it houses lots of horses very efficient. Heck, the polo ponies and lesson horses lived in tie stalls!

[CanteringCarrot]

I am so paranoid about cellulitis. I take scratches quite seriously. Meanwhile, everyone else at the stable is rather lax about it and there horse will never get cellunitis, of course. :rolleyes:

My bay guy just developed scratches for the first time. It is so rediculously dry here, so I’ve been treating topically and added zinc + copper to his diet.

I hope that your mare heals well.

[Montanas_Girl]

@theresak

I’d be really leery of clipping legs as that can cause micro-abrasions and allow even easier access for the nasty bacteria.

YMMV, but, since most of the microorganisms that cause scratches (which is often the initial cause of cellulitis) are anaerobic, I’ve found that clipping is critical to preventing, catching, and treating minor infections before they become major. Similarly, I always body clip horses that are prone to rain rot in the winter; much easier to keep the skin dry and clean that way. I managed to keep the above infection-prone horse free from skin infections for nearly a decade AS LONG AS he was clipped. In the three instances after the initial infection that I left any part of him unclipped, he had a raging case of cellulitis within days of the first heavy rain.

[CPL713]

@theresak

So for those who’s standard treatment is SMZs, my vet is very aggressive (maybe because my horse gets cellulitis in the front legs) and we have always done IV gentamicin once daily for 3-4 days and IM penicillin twice daily for 5 days and then we switch to SMZs. I’ve also seen other vets do injections of Exceed for cellulitis and then switch to oral antibiotics. When we start a treatment course, my vet says that we should look for improvement within 2 days (reduction in fever, halting the spread of the infection, less lame and painful…) and significant improvements within 3 days. If not, you need to switch antibiotics because you don’t have the right class for the bacteria present in the infection.

We did the same with my horse last year, PLUS naxcel IV for 3 days concurrently with the gent.
Every time my guy gets a bump on his leg I am pretty wary, though we’ve since moved to a barn with a lot less dirt & mud for him to get into which I’m hoping has decreased his odds (and now I’m knocking on wood so furiously that my knuckles are bleeding…lol).

[zakkandtoto]

We have a mare at the barn that’s prone to it. She’s fine until she gets an abrasion.

I watch her like a hawk and treat even her minor scrapes as if they were major injuries: they’re cleaned with Hibiclens twice a day and I put Ascend and Swat on top. I keep Uniprim on hand and get her started on it at the first sign of swelling. First and second doses 12 hours apart and then every 24 hours for 10 days.

fwiw, I got cellulitis in my arm last month: I scratched poison ivy. That’s all it took. It didn’t hurt, it just felt swollen. My skin was black for a week until the antibiotics knocked it back.

[Simkie]

So the hind leg cleared up pretty much on schedule and looks fine now

But both fronts blew up yesterday :sigh: I don’t really know why…she popped some bedsores the last few days, but I’d been treating those. I guess she just likes the attention? :-/

Are there any systemic conditions that make cellulitis more likely?

[Ruth0552]

My TB ALSO has those weird little scabby things above the hoof on his hind legs. He had his first bout of cellulitis last fall. He’s also in his mid-20’s, and has EOTRH and Pedal osteitis, and had a weird fungal infection in his right eye two years ago.

I’ve just concluded that his immune system is NOT normal. I’ve tried EVERYTHING to get those scabby things to go away and nothing has worked. Ironically, the first time he had cellulitis last fall his leg was so swollen and seepy that the thingies fell off. They have come back somewhat, but not as bad, but his leg has never gone back to a normal size either, and he constantly has a scrum on his leg and any nick forms a ton of scar tissue.

He’s had a couple more mild bouts of cellulitis but not as bad as the first one. He doesn’t seem to respond to SMZ’s particularly well, so twice it has been bad enough to require injectibles. I think next time he’s that bad we are going to think about his QOL.