Softening scabs from scratches/ mud fever.

[Sansena]

After nearly 2 months of this noise, I’m really tired of my horse accumulating 1/3" deep scabs on his pasterns. Yes, I wash with chlorhex Q3days, Apply SSD at least once daily, keep the stall dry, do my best to keep the paddock dry. And yet they persist. The good news is the leg no longer swells up. Tight as a drum, I"m confident the critical phase is behind us.

We all know not to pick these scabs. There’s obvious pink tissue around the margins of the scabbed area where healing is taking place. But I think he’ll fare better if I can get the things to be smaller/ less thick. So what would YOU use?

And old vet friend of mine has used glycerine in the past. I did that tonight, with plastic wrap, then some BBSatin star sheets over that tripled to hold it in place, then a low standing banding. I plan on removing it early a.m. tomorrow… think 7:15.

Sound good? What would you do? I’m aware it will irritate the leg a bit. But if you tell me it will blow up like a balloon I’ll head back over and do a sweat of what… SSD? Furacin? Just take the plastic wrap off and use the sheet cotton? Or perhaps just count on removing it after a few hours instead of overnight?

I wish my memory was better and I wish my vet was a little more forthcoming with information about “old school” treatments. She’s good with prescribing expensive things but seems to be unaware that I’m willing to do the therapies that came with horse ownership ‘back in the day’…

Thanks guys

[Simkie]

Gall salve. Smear on twice a day. Otherwise ignore.

And add copper and zinc to the diet. I wasn’t sure if it was needed here. After a bunch of crud this summer…yes, it sure is.

[Gainer]

I always used Desitin diaper rash creme. Slather it on, no need to wrap. Softens the scabs right up and protects the area when out in the wet grass. A little messy, but works like a charm. Severe cases I will add some Furacin to the Desitin.

[JB]

This…

@Simkie

And add copper and zinc to the diet. I wasn’t sure if it was needed here. After a bunch of crud this summer…yes, it sure is.

…and this

@Gainer

I always used Desitin diaper rash creme. Slather it on, no need to wrap. Softens the scabs right up and protects the area when out in the wet grass. A little messy, but works like a charm. Severe cases I will add some Furacin to the Desitin.

desitin/cortisone cream/neosporin ointment mixed together makes a great salve that is soothing, antibacterial, and steroidal. Keep applying, wipe off, don’t wash, don’t pick.

Then address the diet so you can be done with this.

If you don’t start seeing an improvement in the scab situation within a week, it’s time for a culture, and possibly systemic antibiotics to help.

[Sansena]

Horse was on SMZs for 2+ weeks.

I started off with the Desitin/ Furacin mix. Vet Rx’d the SSD ointment. Said it handled bacterial and fungal issues. Also seemed to have an improvement after giving an appropriate tx of ivermectin (orally) b/c of he potential for the presence of mites.

Copper/ zinc. Of course… Thanks for that.

But the glycerin. Harmful? Useful? Useless?

[RedHorses]

I have used petroleum jelly to get scratches scabs off easily, but I find the zinc ointment works better to soften scabs. It works from the edges in which means it can take a few days to work through a thick scab.

Never tried glycerin.

The persistent case of alternating fungal and bacterial scratches I chased up and down and around my horse’s leg one summer was finally resolved with supplemental vitamin E.

[Simkie]

I like gall salve because it keeps things “moist” for a long time. Similar to desitin but for longer. It’s really good for getting scabs pliable and then gone and stays in place well. The sulfur in it has a long history of being good for skin crap, too.

Going to the trouble of a glycerin sweat wrap just seems like a lot of work. This sort of stuff seems to be such a process–not just a one and done. So how many times do you really want to do the horse up in a sweat wrap? Smearing some gunk on is just so much easier. At least for me.

If you think ivermectin helped, you might want to add it to whatever gunk you put on his legs.

[Sansena]

*Once again, I’ve been putting SSD on it once, twice daily for 3 weeks, after starting with Desitin/ furacin for about a week with no improvement.

*Tonight, at 5:30 I used glycerine for the first time. Hopefully the only time necessary to soften the scabs.

------->Does anyone think this will be harmful if left on until morning?<------

I’d love to know what supplement you use to boost copper/ zinc.
Thanks.

[Texarkana]

A few years ago my one horse got a weird cellulitis/scratches combo. A vet recommended a lanolin product, like bag balm, to protect the area and soften the scratches. I didn’t have any, TSC was out, but they had this other lanolin udder balm, Dr. Naylor’s. Tell you what, that stuff has been awesome for me for scratches!

[Simkie]

@Sansena

I’d love to know what supplement you use to boost copper/ zinc.
Thanks.

Poly copper and poly zinc. Uckele or Horse Tech. Half dose of each. AZ Copper Complete if you want something with more stuff in it.

I never found Desitin to work very well. Shrug. SSD isn’t greasy enough.

Hope that glycerine sweat does what you want.

[Showbizz]

I can’t think what SSD is??

[cheektwocheek]

From someone that had tons of mud and scratches & now doesn’t sweat it.

25-30cc Predef (RX) 3/4 jar Furasin, fill remaining jar with DMSO.
Wash with Kinetic Equi Shield Shampoo, Spray with the same type of anti fungal Kinetic stuff & let dry. Apply the wonder balm. Also added Copper, Vitamin E & Omega 3’s.

[Simkie]

@Showbizz

I can’t think what SSD is??

Silver Sulfadiazine.

[December]

I have used a powdered product called No Thrush for an extremely resistant case that lasted many many months and responded to none of the above treatments.
Just dusted it on the giant scabs once a day. Seemed to be doing nothing for a week or two but gradually the scabs started to heal from the perimeter and just crumbled away.
Took quite a few weeks to vanish completely but it was a miracle that something finally worked. And no picking or washing at all.

[Martina]

I’ll chime in. My go-to is to wash with chlorohexidine, scrub lightly (not removing scabs, just working it in) and let it sit for 10 minutes and rinse. While rinsing I will try to remove soft scabs but only if they come away easily (versus picking and causing bleeding.) Once rinsed, dry completely with a towel. I would then clip the hair close, but not to the skin, and clip very carefully to not cause abrasion where the scratches are.

Check again that the skin is dry. Then I use my favorite product, Seashore Acres Scratches Medication. Apply generously, then leave it alone for a few days. It might require a couple/few treatments. I don’t think rewashing is needed, just scrape off what is there, remove any soft scabs and add more medication. This was the only method that worked for my horse.

My vet’s preference is to not clip (because light can be problematic in some cases, and if the blade cuts too close it can irritate). Then he would use a sweat of furacin, plastic and bandages for 3 days. I did try this but it didn’t work for us.

Seashore Acres Scratches Medication contains lanolin, zinc oxide, chlorhexidine, cloteimazole, aloe, vitamin E and coconut oil. Similar to desitin. I’ve never tried the desitin/neosporin concoction but am interested.

[Amy3996]

@Simkie

Poly copper and poly zinc. Uckele or Horse Tech. Half dose of each.

We had a month-long battle with scratches this past spring. I’m thinking of adding these two supplements to his diet to try to get ahead of it this year. If the recommended dose is 1 teaspoon, do you feed 1/2 a teaspoon then? Sorry if that’s a stupid question - just checking. Would you do a loading dose (feed full recommended dose for a week or so and then cut back?)

[scrbear11]

@Simkie

Poly copper and poly zinc. Uckele or Horse Tech. Half dose of each. AZ Copper Complete if you want something with more stuff in it.

Why copper and zinc? I’m battling rain rot/scratches myself in an older pony who has never had an issue before. Yes, he’s been tested for Cushings. He’s on a balancer pellet, so-so pasture, and second cutting orchard grass hay.

[NancyM]

MTG has worked well for me with a variety of skin infections. Basically elemental sulphur and mineral oil. Nothing can live with this stuff applied on it. Cheap and effective. No bandaging required.

[Simkie]

@scrbear11

Why copper and zinc? I’m battling rain rot/scratches myself in an older pony who has never had an issue before. Yes, he’s been tested for Cushings. He’s on a balancer pellet, so-so pasture, and second cutting orchard grass hay.

Because an imbalance in iron/copper/zinc is often to blame for persistent skin funk. Iron is high in the soil, water and/or forage in a whole lot of places, tossing off the ratio. Adding a little more copper and zinc brings it back to where it needs to be.

And @Amy3996 yes, half teaspoon of each. I just mix them together in equal quantity by VOLUME (not weight) and feed a full scoop. I don’t do a loading dose.

This is certainly location dependent, but if you’re seeing scratches that just won’t go away, you’re probably in the “right” location for it. I never had a problem in Colorado. Moved to the midwest, saw persistent scratches and some other issues. The water was pink it was so high in iron. Started cu/zn and saw huge improvement nearly immediately. Moved to CT, wasn’t sure if supplement was necessary (water isn’t pink here!) but have had plenty of crud this year that’s improving with copper and zinc.

​​​​​​​It’s cheap to try, very unlikely to cause any problems at this dose and really seems to work like magic. What’s not to love, yay!

[Sansena]

Appreciate the input of copper/zinc. Trying to find supplements whose containers are <12lbs…

Update on the glycerine tx: Worked like a charm with no irritation. It softened the thick scabs without irritating the newly healed skin. I washed it off this morning using a rubber nubbed mit and chlorhexadine to loosen any scabs that were ready to let go entirely. Dried thoroughly with a terrycloth towel. Applied SSD.

Horse was comfortable during the whole procedure, only cranky cuz he wanted out.

Lots of good input here on treating scratches/ mud fever overall. I wanted to circle back and let folks know if the scabs are thick and threatening to crack because of it, a glycerin sweat may help. Old cowboy remedy that didn’t cost $120…

$6 for 4oz @CVS.