abscess in foot

[Anonymous]

Hey all New to this site just looking for some friendly help on my poor pathetic 13yr old sorrel Sorry so long

He has had a abscess in his left rear foot to the point the vet said it was the worst he ever saw (the horse never showed signs until it affected the entire sole) My vet had drained the foot and put the hose on antibiotic in his feed and bute for a week. No improvement so back to the vet we went this time for x-rays. Well it seems the infection has made it to the bone (just starting) so now he is on two injected antibiotics (Gentamax & Naxcel 10ml each a day more bute and soak the foot in Epsom salts) this has gone on for three weeks now and he seems to have improved some the look in his eyes personality seem to be back to normal but he is still not walking normal on the foot he walks on the tip of the toe but will put it down almost flat at rest (no weight on it)

the problem now seems to be just above the frog on the back of the foot like mud fever the foot is hot the hair is gone and swelling is up over the first joint.

Could i have caused mud fever from soaking the foot daily for 3-4 weeks in hot water for 10-15 min each day?????

Would the antibiotics have stopped mud fever????

I will be calling the vet 2/5/03 and hope to be able tolet you all know but your advise is greatly appreciated

thanks Keith



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[Anonymous]

We had a horse with a similar problem. Old Bill (27) suddenly came up extremely lame and we too took him to the vet and he pared the sole and drained an ugly absess. We also soaked, and then fully dressed the foot on a every third day basis. There was immediate improvement after the vet treated him then he slowly went downhill despite daily antibiotic treament until I was concerned enough that I thought he was going to die. The infection in his foot went systemic and he became one very ill horse. We had been giving him penicillin and the vet swithched medication to Excenel which proved to be a correct choice. Within two days he was a totally different horse and by 10 days he was feeling more than 100%. He became very hard to give injections to. Eventually (2-3 weeks) he was able to walk normally on the affected foot despite the gapping hole. We then had a farrier pack the sole with a steril mud pack and apply a shoe with a full sole leather pad to keep it clean underneath. We were able to ride him in only a few months....He died a couple years ago of old age ..... well over 30. Anyway, the point of this whole story is to suggest that perhaps your horse needs a new or further antibiotic treament. I have no idea what "mud fever" is so I can't help you with that. But swelling and heat indicate infection to me.

Anyway..... what happened with him ?after?