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  Discussion on Thrush
Author Message
Member:
Nadia

Posted on Sunday, May 14, 2006 - 9:22 am:

Hi, Dr O,

Have you ever heard of using cephapirin benzathine for thrush? My farrier suggested it. My horse's feet were a little sore this wet spring. I used it for two days, but didn't see any change. I switched to betadine and he seems much better now.

Thanks!
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, May 15, 2006 - 8:11 am:

Yes, though I have never tried it I have see the recommendation to use tubes of mastitis medicine for thrush. Maybe 2 days was not long enough? I do use the treatment/management regimen outlined in the articles because they have always worked for me.
DrO
Member:
Nadia

Posted on Monday, May 15, 2006 - 9:08 am:

At least I know it didn't do any harm. The betadine worked very quickly compared to this stuff.

Thanks!
Member:
Nadia

Posted on Wednesday, Aug 16, 2006 - 7:48 am:

I thought I would give an update on my horse's feet. I had stopped the dry cow (cephapirin benzathine) application as I thought it wasn't helping fast enough. My horse is in a dirt paddock all day and we had quite a bit of rain earlier this summer. All it took was a day of standing in a little mud (just enough to coat the bottom of his feet - not up to his ankles or anything) and his frog would fall apart and he was extremely sore. My farrier pointed out that his feet were pretty bad as they all had bad cracks and thrush was inside his hoof - not just in the crevice of the sulcus(sp?). I cleaned his hooves daily and I started applying it again - about every 3 days. I squeezed the stuff into his hoof cracks - until it oozed out. I then smeared it all around his hoof and all over the back of his hoof where cracks were starting up the skin area. It took about a month, bu this definitely has cleared up the thrush and soreness. I also started him on a biotin supplement as his frogs just didn't seem to be able to hold up in any wet condition. I can no longer get the application tip in any cracks in his hooves - they are all healed up! His frog/sole is growing like crazy and looks to holding up much better. Dr O's article states that you should not use a formaldehyde product on live tissue as it could cause damage and pain. I think you should use the dry cow application to get any internal infection under control inside the hoof. If you have a mild case of thrush where it is affecting the base of the sole only (no major cracks), the formaldehyde products are probably fine. I bought mine through Valley Vet - it's called Dry Cow. Another company makes it - Tommorrow? - but I don't think it lists the name as Dry Cow.
Member:
Nadia

Posted on Monday, Aug 28, 2006 - 8:24 am:

Curious note: I had bought a box of these syringes and had them stacked in my horse's tack bucket (no cover). There must be mice in the tack room. I was in the tack box yesterday and I noticed that all of the syringes were chewed through and they were all licked clean - no liquid was in the bottom. The plastic was chewed into tiny little pieces - I could pick up the pile like confetti. Is this good or bad for the mice (are they indestructible now or will it kill them?) This is the manuf. label on the contents:

CEFA-DRI (cephapirin benzathine) for INTRAMAMMARY INFUSION into the DRY COW is a product which provides a wide range of bactericidal activity against gram-positive and gram-negative organisms. It is derived biosynthetically from 7-aminocephalosporanic acid. Each 10 mL disposable syringe contains 300 mg of cephapirin activity in a stable peanut oil gel.

I'll definitely store them in my other tack trunk from now on!
Member:
Paul303

Posted on Wednesday, Aug 30, 2006 - 12:53 am:

OH S@#$!!!! SUPERMICE!!!
Member:
Nadia

Posted on Friday, Jan 5, 2007 - 9:02 am:

My horse's feet are still doing good, but I am still applying the dry cow occassionally. We have had a warm and wet winter in Wisconsin, so the pastures are mainly mud. I think my horse has a bit of scratches on one of his back hooves. There are some scabs I can't get off easily. I mentioned this to my farrier and he said dry cow should work for that, too (he said he was told to use dry cow for scratches first, then was told it can work for thrush, too). I did put some of the dry cow on the scabs and I could easily pull off the scabs the next day. My question is - could the scratches and thrush organisms become immune to the dry cow product?

Thanks!
Member:
Twhgait

Posted on Friday, Jan 5, 2007 - 10:47 am:

Nadia, I'm in WI too and suffering right along with you on the mud and thrush....all three of mine have some varying degree of thrush. I'm picking feet daily and keeping them on dry shavings at night (only one stall to keep one horse IN!) I'm using a product that I'm thinking isn't working well at all (can't remember the name of it, but it's NOT the typical thrush medicine that stains hands). Where are you getting this dry cow product? I'm reluctant to use anything too strong cause there's lots of cracks and crevices in the frog and I don't know how deep it goes. The farrier is coming out in a few weeks to clean things up but I'd love to try a different product to see if I have any better success in clearing this up.
Member:
Nadia

Posted on Friday, Jan 5, 2007 - 8:31 pm:

I order it thru Valley Vet, but I have seen it at Ace Hardware (this one sells feed, etc.) Fleet Farm should have it - it would be in the cow section. When it was really bad, I would use 1 1/2-2 tubes per horse, 2-3 times per week. Squirt the stuff in the cracks until it comes out - then wipe it all around the base of the hoof and on the skin above the coronet band. It is just white liquid, slightly creamy. It won't dry the hoof up, but seems to help the hoof heal from the inside out. After a few weeks, I noticed I couldn't put the nose of the tube in the cracks anymore. I didn't need to do it much this summer and fall, but I will have to start up again since this mud is making his hooves mushy again.
Member:
Scooter

Posted on Saturday, Jan 6, 2007 - 8:33 am:

Hi I use the dry cow stuff also and it has worked great so far. It is called "tomorrow" it is for treating mastitis in cows or preventing it. There is also one called "Today" the "tomorrow" stuff is what you want. If you have a really bad case of thrush it helps to soak a cotton ball, or something similar in the "tomorrow" and pack the crevices. I have seen this packing clear up the stubborn cases of thrush in 5 days.
Member:
Nadia

Posted on Saturday, Jan 6, 2007 - 12:11 pm:

At Ace - they sell it under the name Tomorrow - at Valley Vet - it is Cefa-Dry. Same stuff - different maker..
Member:
Twhgait

Posted on Saturday, Jan 6, 2007 - 6:38 pm:

Thanks Guys! We're heading out now and I'll make a stop at Fleet Farm!
Member:
Ilona

Posted on Sunday, Jan 7, 2007 - 7:04 pm:

I think I'm a day too late for you, however:
I use Coppertox for thrush...it works really, really well. I squirt it right from the bottle onto the hoof and into the frog. Its green so you can see exactly where the coverage is. It should be easily available.
Member:
Mrose

Posted on Sunday, Jan 7, 2007 - 9:40 pm:

A clear version of Coppertox is made now too, incase you don't want green hands.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Jan 8, 2007 - 5:26 am:

Sara I have not seen the clear Coppertox, what is the active ingredient?
DrO
Member:
Nadia

Posted on Monday, Jan 8, 2007 - 8:12 am:

Dr O, I am not sure if you missed my question in my original post - could the bugs (or whatever is the organism) that is thrush or scratches become resistant to the dry cow product?

Thanks!
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Jan 8, 2007 - 6:53 pm:

Yes, it certainly is possible Nadia.
DrO
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