Scratches

[One_Two_Three]

I’ve never dealt with it before.

I thought my mare just had a cut on the back of her pastern. I cleaned it up, put some furazone on it, and put her away for the day. Come out the next day, and it’s got what looks like mud on it.

BO says aha! Mud Fever. AKA Scratches AKA why does my mare always get stuff that I’ve never dealt with before, no matter how serious or not?

Anyways, I have this foamy stuff that I like quite a bit that’s a great wound cleaning aid. So I scrub up with that and remove the “mud” scabs. I rinse and follow up by spraying Banixx on it. I let it sit and dry, and then slather some furazone on it before putting her away.

Is this wrong? Is the furazone keeping it moist and thereby inhibiting the healing?

It’s been two weeks, and though it’s not gotten worse, it hasn’t gotten better.

What do I use on it? Research online has me confused. Scrape the scab, don’t scrape it. Wrap it with vet wrap, don’t wrap it…
Furazone is okay, don’t use it…

What SHOULD my routine be to clear this up? It doesn’t seem to cause her any pain, aside from a little bit of a flinch when I’m cleaning it up at first.

[Catticus_Maximus]

touch wood I haven’t had to deal with scratches in a long time.

What I did do was wash and dry the scabs - I didn’t pick them off. I slathered diaper rash cream on them to keep moisture out. The infection dried up from the inside and the scabs fell off as it healed.

[One_Two_Three]

This just blows my mind. It’s always rainy and muddy during the evenings over summer here in Florida, and she was out all night. Never had an issue. Now comes the DRY season here, and suddenly she’s presenting with scratches. What gives! Her turn out schedule has just changed from overnight turn out to daytime turnout, so perhaps she’ll do better now, with no dew on the grass. But still! seriously!

[SPF10]

So many answers, so little time. What your doing is OK if it works for your horse. I have a feathered horse, the only thing this past spring that worked was a concoction from the vet that included DSMO to “carry” the anti-bacterial agent under the skin.

I was using a homemade brew, thanks COTH, of an anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and diaper rash cream to keep the moisture at bay. Vet said it was actually a good mix but just wasn’t working for my horse.

Just remember when you scrub you have to dry really good, use a hair dryer if horse will be OK with it, then apply your potion of choice. I know people swear by MTG, chlorahexidine scrubs and lots of other solutions. I tried many but in the end had to go with the vet. Now I use Mud shield powder when it is wet out to try to keep the moisture from her legs, we’ll see…

Good Luck!

[gypsymare]

I have a black TB with one dastardly white hind sock that gets scratches every year. I’ve tried just about everything with varying amounts of success.

Diaper rash cream - limited effectiveness and messy - dirt caked it
MTG - This is usually my skin funk go-to but it just wasn’t cutting it
DMSO/furazone/athlete’s foot cream concoction - slightly more effective but still not 100%
Chlorhexidine scrub - HALLELUJAH! This stuff is the bomb. Bought it from CVS. It’s clear, it washes away crud, it doesn’t stink or get sticky. I just scrub the area clean with warm water and the scrub, dry thoroughly with a towel then spread a thin layer back of the affected area.

Don’t pick dry scabs but you can soften them with a soak or application of furazone or some type of cream and they should scrub off easily. I think it heals quicker when the meds can get down to the skin.

[findeight]

Some have better luck if they clip the hair short on the lower leg, allows it to dry and gives your potion of choice better access to the actual crud instead of just hair.

I had good luck with panalog cream ( if it’s a small area), MTG and sometimes SMZs in stubborn cases. It’s various combinations of bacteria and fungus, that’s why so many things may or may not work on an individual horse.

[merrygoround]

Get yourself a 1lb. jar of Equishield CK. Massage in thoroughly. Do not wash off. Tomorrow again massage in. As you do, the scabs will soften, allow them to come off that way. Again do not wash off. It seems like a terrible idea not to wash and scrub clean, but seems to do more harm than good.

Continue the same routine until gone. Stubborn cases can take over a week,

Fresh cases usually heal in 3 or 4 days.

As an alternative RX, mix 1/2 and 1/2 desitin, and chlorhexidene cream (Nolvasan), with 1/4 tube of OTC dexamethazone or cortisone. Rub in the same way.

Either way has worked well for me! And I do not clip.

[One_Two_Three]

[QUOTE=merrygoround;7841854]
There are four or five threads at the bottom of the page here. They will probably save a lot of retyping.[/QUOTE]

thank you. Not sure if I’m COTH forum search illiterate or what, but none of these came up previously.

Another frustrating thing? Her pastern is black. She has black points on all legs. no white.

So, clean it up, and look into some kind of anti fungal/diaper rash type thing since the furazone doesn’t seem to be doing much?

[SuckerForHorses]

You’re going to get 1000 different answers here.

What I have found:

Don’t keep exposing it to water for washing.

Mix up:
diaper rash cream,
athlete’s foot cream,
DMSO,
and some dexamethasone.

Stir together thoroughly.

Apply this concoction to the scabs daily USING GLOVES, until they fall off on their own. Reapply as needed.

[merrygoround]

Furazone won’t do a thing. I redid my answer above.

[theresak]

I am unfortunately a semi-expert on scratches treatment and concoctions.

I’m in WI so I don’t know much about summer sores, but being in Florida you might want to look closer at those types of sores as well.

My vet and I have discussed scratches and treatments many times. The issue with it is each infection can be caused by a different organism, respond differently to the same treatment, and the horse could potentially have different types of infection on different legs. The only way to know for sure what to treat for is skin scraping.

According to my vet, the key in treatment is to use something for 7-10 days and then switch if it is not clearing up.

So my recommendations:
-Do not wash and scrub every day, but maybe once or twice the first week of treatment.
-Don’t go gun-ho clipping as sometimes scratches can be photosensitive.
-Ask your vet if he or she has a scratches ointment pre-mixed.
-Have 1-2 other scratches treatment options waiting in the wings in case the original is not working.

What I’ve used and has success with:
-Eqyss Micro-Tek (only if you catch it early)
-Desitin/Dex/Nolvasen ointment
-Silver sulfadiazine cream
-Furacin/Dex (only thing that has been working well lately)

[Simkie]

My lazy man method:

Mix up some chlorhexidine solution in a spray bottle.

Spray pastern daily to saturation.

Profit.

Well, okay, not the last part. But this worked SO well to clear up a stubborn case of scratches in my mare, when other things had failed.

[gypsymare]

^^^ Chlorhexidine is my go-to now as well. I couldn’t believe how quickly it worked when I was trying everything else!

[jcraig10]

google “That Blue Stuff” - it should be the 1st website that pops up…works everytime.

[One_Two_Three]

[QUOTE=jcraig10;7842206]
google “That Blue Stuff” - it should be the 1st website that pops up…works everytime.[/QUOTE]

searched it, found it, and cracked up when I read “purchase Winky Wash now”
:lol::lol:

So furazone is doing me no good then, yes?

chlorhexidine as in the wash you can get at walgreens?? Or is there a more concentrated formula I find elsewhere?

Making a list and going shopping this evening to kick the scratches in the butt before they get any worse.

So far on my list to look for/try I have
chlorhexidine
anti fungal cream
diaper rash cream
triple antibiotic ointment cream

and leave it uncovered, correct??

This should be a bit easier to treat now that she’s in at night and I can slather her up and let it soak in while she’s stalled.

Should I have the BO put the concoction on her before she’s turned out in the morning as well? Or just diaper rash cream to protect the owie?

[Simkie]

Do you have a vet supply place nearby?

You want a gallon of the concentrate

It will last your forever and is cheap as dirt.

Were I in your shoes, I would soak her scratches with the spray bottle of the chlorhex when you’re there and have the barn owner do the same in the morning before she turns the horse out.

But then again, I’m lazy and dislike dealing with goo

[One_Two_Three]

[QUOTE=Simkie;7842322]
Do you have a vet supply place nearby?

You want a gallon of the concentrate

It will last your forever and is cheap as dirt.

Were I in your shoes, I would soak her scratches with the spray bottle of the chlorhex when you’re there and have the barn owner do the same in the morning before she turns the horse out.

But then again, I’m lazy and dislike dealing with goo ;)[/QUOTE]

no vet supply place, that I’m familiar with. Just feed store & tractor supply.

Willing to order online, though. How diluted should it be for use?

I like spraying/soaking things, and also dislike goo!! Specially because it always ends up everywhere BUT where it belongs, IE: stall walls, in a clump of shavings, etc.

[Marla_100]

What finally cleared up a stubborn case for me was…grind up SMZ pills and mix in with whatever ointment you’re using. Gone in a couple of days.

Also there’s a lot of info showing a deficiency of Copper and Zinc allows scratches to develop. this is one of the reasons I like to use hoof supplements that have a lot of both in them.

[Simkie]

@One Two Three;7842333

Willing to order online, though. How diluted should it be for use?

Uh, light blue? There are instructions on the bottle…one ounce to a gallon of water, I think? Go by the instructions once or twice to get a feel for the right color, then just eyeball it from there.

[One_Two_Three]

[QUOTE=Simkie;7842343]
Uh, light blue? There are instructions on the bottle…one ounce to a gallon of water, I think? Go by the instructions once or twice to get a feel for the right color, then just eyeball it from there.[/QUOTE]

:lol:
you sound like me!
Sounds good, not too concerned about killing the mare, since it’s not like she’s drinking it or anything :nonchalance:

hoping something works. It seems like it’s always SOMETHING!

I didn’t think I had to really worry. the hair is all black around that area. I honestly thought she just had dried mud on her when I went to pick her feet out one morning. I picked it off and didn’t really look at it until after our ride when it looked more like a raw sore.

ick ick ick.