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  Discussion on Graveling or problem with frog?
Author Message
Member:
Foggyval

Posted on Friday, Feb 24, 2006 - 7:55 pm:

Wondering what to do with this problem in my mule. She came up lame and we thought she was graveling. She had a sore spot at the top of the hoof line. We soaked it, gave her Bute, still she was lame. We had a chiropracter come and he gave us some herbs, still lame. I called our vet and after a week's worth of antibiotics, she seemed well on the road to recovery. Now two weeks later she's back to the same old lameness. It's hard to get a vet to come here, we are in a rural area and can hardly get our vet here unless it's a real emergency. Based on what we read and this site, my husband pared down the bottom of the hoof, and using his hoof tester was not able to find a sore spot, however, when he started cleaning around the frog area....yowch!!! He did some cleaning around the frog area and got a small seepage and it smelled bad, but he was afraid he would damage the frog if he kept messing with it. Is that a possibility? She's back on the antibiotics, we soaked it with epsom and water and packed it with black salve. Question is, can just the frog get infected? Can a mule be damaged permanently by messing with the frog? We could not actually find ONE particular spot that was draining from, rather a little on either side of the frog......

Thanks!}}}
New Member:
Cletus

Posted on Saturday, Feb 25, 2006 - 12:07 am:

Sarah: In all probabilities your mule has a disease called thrush. Yes, this infection can affect only the frog. and it can be very debilitating. Paring away the diseased tissue, and then treating the foot with certain remedies (eg:soaking with formalin), wrapping the foot, and keeping the foot dry all will help in diminishing the problem. Thrush can be difficult to treat, be patient, persistent, and positive. Many times I soak cotton with procaine penicillin and wrap this over the frog. There are many remedies for this condition, this one happens to work well for me.

John
Member:
Foggyval

Posted on Saturday, Feb 25, 2006 - 7:00 am:

Thanks Dr. John! I can get penicillin at the farm store, can I get formalin also or is it a prescription med? Never heard of that. Would a mixture of betadine be better than the epsom? I was so worried cause after we pared away her hoof the frog was all black and icky and she could hardly put any weight on it. She was lying down at 1:00 a.m. when I checked her....on my way to see now.
Member:
Cpacer

Posted on Saturday, Feb 25, 2006 - 9:04 am:

Anyone correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I understand the antibiotics won't do anything for the thrush since it's dead tissue. Topicals work which is what I think the formalin is. I've had good luck with Kopertox--you should be able to find it at the horse store, or Thrush Buster, and keeping the feet as dry as possible. There's also an entire section on thrush and how to treat it on this site (one level back).
Member:
Eoeo

Posted on Saturday, Feb 25, 2006 - 9:10 am:

We clean the area up and then set the foot in some clorox bleach, just enough bleach to rest the bottom of the foot in. A small rubber pan works great. We do this once a day for 2 or three days and that kills the thrush, usually. I have used thrushbuster but it is very messy, though it does work. EO
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Feb 25, 2006 - 10:00 am:

Sara if you have soreness you should not use the formaldehyde as it will burn sensitive tissue. I concur with DrH that in this area thrush is the likely culprit and it has worked itself down to the sensitive tissue setting up a sore or abscess. Removing all the thrush undermined frog an important first step. Management is as important as treatment. The pen idea is interesting I have not tried that but for more on all this see Equine Diseases » Lameness » Diseases of the Hoof » Thrush.
DrO
Member:
Foggyval

Posted on Sunday, Feb 26, 2006 - 8:36 am:

Just one other question....how much of the frog can we safely pare away? She seems improved today with the thrush med we got at the farm store, the antibiotics from our vet and the black salve he gave us. But my husband is leery of paring too much off the frog. She is not "ouchy" on it today.....but it is black and smelly.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Feb 26, 2006 - 10:21 am:

If it is undermined, it can be removed. I would prefer you be treating this as in our article or try the good Dr's recommendation above.
DrO
New Member:
Cletus

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 28, 2006 - 11:08 pm:

Sara-I agree with Dr. O. I f you don't know how much to pare away, perhaps it is time to get some professional help. I will go back to my original hyposethis-clean up the infected material (pare away until the mare says that is enough), then use a solution to stop the spread of the infection (formalin, bleach, povodine, any thrush treatment), and follow the rules for keeping the foot dry. There was a comment about Penicillin not affecting dead tissue-correct-but it sure works with the underlying tissue and the bacteria causing the problem. Again-be persistent, patient, and persevere-you will get this mare's foot back to a healthy condition.
good luck, and let me know what your results are-John
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