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  Discussion on Lame with thrush
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New Member:
bitt

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 9, 2008 - 2:10 pm:

I have been battling this for well over two years now. Left front foot tender in the sulcus, no blood or obvious deeper exposure. Sometimes looks and smells thrushy sometimes not. Healthy excellent hooves in every other aspect. Heels are not contracted. I have used sole paint weekly (formaldehyde Iodine phenol mixture). First I boil foot out with peroxide let the hoof dry completely then apply the sole paint. Days that I do not use sole paint will clean out with peroxide then squirt in Novalson cleanser and leave it. I will do this intensively for several months and also do the best I can to keep her stalled with shavings if there is a hint of rain. If she does get wet I put her up and dry her out asap. Even high humidity can trigger it. Since Georgia has had alot of DrOught I will give myself a break and slack off during these periods and just pretreat her before a rain comes in and that would seem to stave it off. Also I wanted a trial off the treatment to see if she will limp when its wet and if I have made any progress. So far it recurs faithfully no matter how dry I manage to keep her. I don't even bathe her regularly anymore.
When this initially happened I had two sets of xrays and two different nerve blocks which were ineffective(just as lame after the block) and no diagnosis. Finally found an older farrier who knew what it was over the phone (I love him). My mare would usually improve dramatically within 24 to 48 hours after the sole paint was applied. So here I am again after several months of intensive treatment I stopped the sole paint just picked her feet and kept her dry as much as possible and it is back with a vengance. I hate it but I am about to move her to an expensive boarding facility where she can be stalled much more than I can do on my own. Not sure how long I can afford this. Will I ever have a horse I can just pick her feet and not have to worry about rain on or before a trail ride? Would appreciate any and all advice.
Member:
scooter

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 9, 2008 - 7:25 pm:

Hi Cindy, It would seem you have tried about everything that the article suggests. What does the farrier say? I will say with a couple cases of thrush I treated (other peoples horses) the Dry cow stuff packed in there for a week (change daily) has ALWAYS cleared up even the most stubborn cases. It seems to have waterproofing capabilities also. Easy to apply also comes in plastic syringes

Peroxide probably isn't helping anything if there is sensitive tissue

Are you sure your horse is trimmed properly?
Member:
paul303

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 9, 2008 - 9:26 pm:

"Thrushbuster" is kind of strong, but it sounds as though you might be approaching the "strong" point. When you move her, will the stall be kept clean and dry? Have you ever tried putting your treatment on a ball of cotton and packing into the affected area of the sulcus?
Member:
eoeo

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 9, 2008 - 9:30 pm:

Have you cleaned her feet thoroughly and then stood each foot in a flat rubber pan with bleach in it? It doesn't have to be very deep, just enough to go up the hoof a half inch or so. Soak for about 4 or 5 minutes if you can. We have never had this treatment fail if we follow up a couple more times. EO
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 9, 2008 - 9:50 pm:

Welcome Cindy,
Since the block did not block out the lameness (and assuming the blocks were done properly) thrush is not the cause of your lameness. The decrease lameness following treatment was incidental. What should have happen at the time the first blocks failed is to continue the blocks up the leg so the source of the lameness can be localize. For more on diagnosing lameness see Diseases of Horses » Lameness » Localizing Lameness in the Horse.

It is unusual for a thrush case to be so persistent, are you sure it is simple thrush? Are there any predisposing causes in your environment?
DrO
Member:
cspanhel

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 9, 2008 - 10:54 pm:

One of my horses had deep thrush last year and was lame for months. The vet who diagnosed it as deep thrush recommended I use White Lightning, then Rickens hoof hardener (in addition to keeping his feet clean and dry). He appears to have made a full recovery, finally.

During the diagnosis phase, the vet used nerve blocks in the lower limb, and that localized the problem to the hoof, tho he did say that the blocks aren't 100% so it's possible to see a little residual lameness under the block, but not as much as you describe.
New Member:
bitt

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 9, 2008 - 11:47 pm:

The two blocks were performed by two different DVM's each one blocked at fetlock then the knee. and xrayed up to the shoulder. One Doc drilled for a abscess but no dice. The mare was in moderate to severe pain when they did the blocks, nearly three legged. I did not think she was immediately relieved and left her overnight with them. She did seem more at ease in the morning. Both Docs did alot of joint manipulations when she was in pain but did not elicit a consistent or significant response. They both later examined her here at home during subsequent episodes and did not elicit significant or consistent responses with joint manipulations. Pressure testing on the hoof was also inconclusive. I don't recall if they pressed on her frog
After the first year of going through these spells before any treatment I noticed it was occurring in wet weather and slacked off in the summer. She stayed stalled for more than two weeks at a time during some episodes. The only manipulation that she ever responded to consistently is during picking the sulci out. she will lean back and try and take her foot from you. She never did that before and does not do it with the other feet. When she is sound she is absolutely sound and does not pull foot away. Lameness varies from slightly touchy to scarcely weight bearing. She has been sound for many months now until I stopped treating her about a month ago. The two previous winters she had many spells and they only occurred when I had slacked off with the sole paint. The only relief I had was during the very dry summer time.

I will go read the Lameness section for other possibilities but don't dismiss this yet as time after time I have seen the sole paint snap her out of it making me a believer.
Three farriers have seen her and all said she has good hoof structure and saw no other reason for problems.
She is six years old no known trauma. She is on a 3 acre pasture with a pony. There are only a few spots that hold any water after a rain and the barn yard is not a mud pit by any means and her stall is CLEAN. She also has a run in shed that is another dry place she hangs out in.
The worst signs I have seen are some odor and dark icky stuff in the sulci. Frog looks fine. I think her sulci are deeper than most horses. Maybe its entrenched in the soil here or maybe she caught some resistant strain when she was off at school. Could having 5 hens running around the barn yard contaminate her?
Thanks to everyone for the suggestions I will consider them all after more study.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Apr 10, 2008 - 6:31 am:

Cindy
This is something that you need to get clear in your head before you will ever understand your lameness: if the foot is completely blocked the horse will not show lameness from the sole of the foot. The lowest level of perineural anesthesia the PDN does not completely block the foot but the next two levels up: the abaxial sesamoid and the four point low volar (fetlock block) do block the foot. But it is not just the lack of response to the blocks that make me suspicious. As explained in the article thrush is a infection of the dead horn and not a painful disease until it ulcerates down to sensitive tissue as explained in the article. You indicate that you don't see such a situation.

I presume the lameness is your biggest concern but seem to have become waylaid by this possible thrush lameness diagnosis. I strongly recommend you refer the horse to someone who specializes in lameness exams. In the meantime if you would take some well-lit in-focus pictures of the thrushy areas of your horses foot we would be glad to comment. It can be hard to get good solar pictures but thoroughly cleaning the foot, backing up a bit, use the zoom, and using a flash can help.
DrO
New Member:
bitt

Posted on Friday, Apr 11, 2008 - 12:17 pm:

Dr O

I called a big training barn nearby and explained what has been going on. They are an exceptional boarding/competition facility with European trainers and that whole ball of wax. I will take the mare in a week or so for boarding/training. I am sure will be able to help me in making diagnostic testing decisions. Will update the post when there is news. Thank you for everything so far. Your site has been most informative.
The photo will not upload because it is lager than 64 KB I will try it again if I can figure out how to shrink it. Cindy
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Apr 13, 2008 - 8:43 am:

Do let us know what they find Cindy. We have links to free software that resizes the image and/or file size of image files at Help & Information on Using This Site » Uploading Images and Files Into a Posting.
DrO
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