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Discussion on Multiple Hoof Abcesses
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Member:
martina
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Posted on Friday, Oct 9, 2009 - 5:29 pm:
Where to start? About 3 months ago my horse had a hoof wall section of his 2 front hooves due to advanced white line disease, which allowed gas and infection to penetrate up into the hooves. Two weeks later he got front glue-on shoes. Two weeks after that he developed an abscess in a hind hoof. Between then and now, he's became sound and I was preparing to start working him again. But then last week, a new abscess developed in the front hoof and, lo and behold, he's now lame in the rear again too (most likely an abscess). I'm at my wits end with the soaking and bandaging.
We pick our pastures and clean our stalls daily. He's on Farrier's Formula. We've also been doing Cleantrax soaking every other week.
We live in the Northeast so our weather has been wetter than normal this year. We've owned this horse for 3 years and this is the first year we have had ANY problems like this with him.
I've read Dr. O's article on Diseases of the Hoof-Lameness-Abcesses and, interestingly enough, have discovered that he has not had a tetanus shot in a few years. Why is it that "hoof abscesses are frequently associated with tetanus?" Does this mean that he could have tetanus, or what is the booster/antitoxin effect on hoof abscesses?
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Member:
pattyb
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Posted on Friday, Oct 9, 2009 - 7:22 pm:
Hi Tina.
First off, I live in Virginia and we have had a LOT OF RAIN this year. So far, mine are doing ok however, I have had a horse in the past that when we had extended rains/soft ground, her hooves became more susceptible to stone bruises which always turned into abscesses. Any normal or dry year she was ok but softer ground/lots of grass did tend to make her more vulnerable.
Good luck, I'm curious what others have to say on this as well. BTW, how old is your horse?
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Friday, Oct 9, 2009 - 9:15 pm:
Abscesses are kind of like a puncture wounds in the way they can go deep into the tissues. If there was one vaccination I was going to give that would be it. Horses are more susceptible to tetanus then most animals.
Usually if you are having a lot of abscess problems you want to critically look at your horses hoof form. Flares, WL separations, long toes ect, all make the hoof more vulnerable to abscesses.
Good Luck they are miserable things to deal with for sure
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Saturday, Oct 10, 2009 - 8:57 am:
Hello Tina,
A hoof abscess, which almost always is an anaerobic infection, is the perfect breeding ground for the tetanus organism, for more on why this is see the life cycle and recommended preventive program see Diseases of Horses » Nervous System » Incoordination, Weakness, Spasticity, Tremors » Tetanus.
Concerning your abscesses, once the horn has been badly undermined recurrent problems with infection, usually small pockets that have not healed well, are common. Take heart however with each proper treatment of the abscess you have one more "bad spot" that will grow out without further trouble over time problems will diminish and then disappear. This assumes that your current practices are not promoting new abscesses. For more on abscess treatment and prevention see the article on Abscesses.
DrO
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Member:
martina
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Posted on Saturday, Oct 10, 2009 - 11:18 am:
Thanks everyone. Dr. O, I'll look at that article right now. PattyB, he is 14 years old. We've had him 3 full years now. His feet have never been "great" (4 white hooves), but he has never been lame or had multiple abscesses like he's had this year. DianE, his white line is most definitely compromised, in at least 3 feet. We started to notice it last year (very minor) and immediately began White Lightning soak treatments, but he remained completely sound. This year, there is "pitting" all around the white lines, where I'm sure bacteria is entering. We are keeping 3 hooves treated, bandaged, and booted to try to get the white line healthy, but in the meantime these abscesses keep setting us back. I'm also worried that as he becomes sound and starts running around, he'll break off a wall section since there's some separation, and he isn't wearing shoes (can't with the Cleantrax soaking), which is why I've got him in boots.
If anyone has any ideas about how to keep dirt and bacteria out of a hoof with compromised white line, I'm interested in any/all suggestions. By the way, he has his own personal hoof pick which we sterilize, we are fastidious with cleaning his feet, and I've tried every white line topical treatment there is on the market!
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Saturday, Oct 10, 2009 - 11:40 am:
Hi Tina, my horse has had a copromised WL also from his founder, bad trimming ect. Fortunately we haven't had much problems with abscesses.
What I have done to treat his WL is dig out everything I can out of the WL with the hoof pick until I hit something that looks normal. I alternate weekly with thrush buster and Tommorow, since starting this practice his WL is much better, it actually is hard now rather than mushy and diseased looking, of course fixing his "patholigies" helped too.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Sunday, Oct 11, 2009 - 10:22 am:
Tina, we discuss ways of keeping horses hooves clean and dry in Horse Care » Hoof Care, Hoof Trimming, Shoeing Horses » Care of the Hoof: an Overview. Then have further recommendations specific to each problem in the article on Foot Abscesses and article on White Line Disease.
DrO
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