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  Discussion on White line treatment
Author Message
Member:
Greta

Posted on Thursday, Aug 18, 2005 - 9:15 am:

I have a 10 year old horse that has been diagnosed with white line. I have her in a stall that has a dirt floor. I treat the problem 2 times a day with an antifungal med that my vet gave me. My question is would it be beneficial if i wrapped the hoof to keep it clean or do I need to leave it open to get air?
Member:
Srobert

Posted on Thursday, Aug 18, 2005 - 4:05 pm:

Hi Greta: I'm sure Dr. O will answer your specific questions at some point, but wanted to provide a couple of suggestions from my experience with white line. I really liked using Woody Pet (or its equivalent) for bedding. It keeps the stall and feet extremely dry which is of course the most important thing. Strip out all of the old bedding and use several bags (you may need more with the dirt floor). It really soaks up dampness and is easy to clean. It really worked well for us. What are you using for the medication? Did they cut out all of the infected areas (you have to do this).I got very handy with a hoof knife.
Member:
Srobert

Posted on Thursday, Aug 18, 2005 - 4:06 pm:

I wouldn't wrap the hoof/hooves (warm and damp is the enemy; cool and dry is our friend).
Member:
Greta

Posted on Thursday, Aug 18, 2005 - 8:33 pm:

Hi Shari: Thanks for your suggestions. I'll try the Woody Pet. I had to have the vet back out today because Princess would not put any weight on his back hoof. It seems that she has developed an abscess which he tried to drain but had no luck. He put crystal betadine and gave me a liquid fungus med to put on it daily. I wonder if the abscess was caused by the white line or if that is another problem all together? I have 7 horses. 3 in one pasture (all of them have wld) and 4 in the other (none of them have wld). The only thing different in the 2 pastures is that there is a low spot that stays wet and my husband spread a mixture of left over hay and dirt in the low spot (which probably caused the fungus problem).
Another thing the vet told me was to not keep her stabled. That she needed to walk on the hoof. Do you know if this is right?
Member:
Srobert

Posted on Thursday, Aug 18, 2005 - 10:12 pm:

ALl I can tell you in my experience (plus what you read in this article on this site). Anyway, our young arab developed it - badly - in all four feet. He also developed nasty abcesses at the same time - several in each foot. Had never had one before and has not had one since so I really have to believe there was some correlation. He was EXTREMELY lame because of them (they really hurt!). There is good info on this site in terms of dealing with them. We used Bute to help him with the pain. I am not sure why your vet recommended walking on the hoof - If there is an abcess its going to hurt and I don't see how that would help the white line or in bringing the abcess to the surface. Perhaps Dr. O will have a comment on that, but it doesn't make sense from my perspective.

The key to successful management of WLD is keeping the hoof dry, dry, dry - whatever environment you have the does that.I was counseled to stable the horse unless I could guarantee he would not be in anything damp - we are talking dew, mud puddles, etc. It was a very wet summer and there was mud everywhere, so Raj spent most of his time indoors - not what we would have chosen for a yearling with lots of energy. We actually bought 4 Davis boots and he wore them if he had to go outside. Sometimes we even put tube sox on first - it looked like he was wearing Nikes! Baby diapers and duct tape can also accomplish this - but this is just for short term use.

I talked to many many people about how to treat this - it is actually not very common here in Pennsylvania - and put together my own treatment program that seemed to work well. I rotated treating with strong iodine, white lightning, and a product from Valley Vet Supply called Sav-A-Hoof that a family friend who is a vet recommended. It comes in a gel that you can squirt down into any cracks. Formeldahyde is also recommended, but I had a hard time getting that.

This regimen worked extremely well. ALl three of our horses ended up with it to varying degrees, but because I was alert to it after the first one I was able to catch it early and stop it.
I treated the hooves twice a day, always cutting out anything that smelled "bad." If the crevice is deep, you can soak your med in cotton and stuff it in. I used a syringe to apply the iodine or white lightening.

This youngster had a really bad case, but now has wonderful hooves - you would never know there had a been a problem. IN fact, out new farrier always mentions how healthy his feet are...

Interesting, the cases of white line disease have increased in our area over the past couple of years. I spent so much time researching this during that nasty summer - and it had been so uncommon prior to that - that my vet, who is absolutely a top notch equine specialist - has begun to refer people to me to chat about caring for horses with this condition! Mostly, I provide moral support and the mantra "warm and wet is the enemy, cool and dry is our friend..."

Hope this helps. Shari
Member:
Greta

Posted on Friday, Aug 19, 2005 - 4:42 am:

Thanks again Shari for the wonderful advice. You make more sense than my vet/farrier. I am from a small town in Alabama and our resources are limited.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Aug 19, 2005 - 7:41 am:

Sara's post is right on. I don't see a overwhelming need to exercise with this condition and just to reemphasize what is stated above: you will have a problem managing this on a dirt floor. Clean, dry bedding is important.
DrO
Member:
Srobert

Posted on Friday, Aug 19, 2005 - 8:27 am:

One more suggestion. Could you possibly fence off the area that is wet in your pasture? That might do the trick.
Member:
Vickiann

Posted on Friday, Aug 19, 2005 - 2:19 pm:

I battled white line disease for a couple of months with one of my horses. It WAS NECESSARY to fence off the wet part of my pasture (with much rain my lake/pond has risen past permanent fence and it is mucky in addition to being wet). I used those plastic push in posts and electric tape, plus marking tape to flap in the breeze attached between the posts so the horses will have better visibility of this light weight fence. They respect it entirely, but NOT recommended for containing cattle! I used Fungidyne, which worked. Since then I have heard of another product I would try in the future, and will probably buy just to have on hand. The product is called Clean Trax (also good for thrush, etc.) and can be found by going to the site: www.equinepodiatry.net Click on "enter our e Store." The product costs $22. This is the site for Farrier and Master Equine Podiatrist Keith "KC" La Pierre, PhD (animal science). KC seems to know more about the inner and outer workings of the foot/hoof than anyone I have ever listened to and is in demand nationally and internationally at the most prestigious colleges.
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