Posted by Bill Adams on October 05, 2003 at 13:23:14:
In Reply to: Re: Bad thrush? posted by Patty Stiller on October 05, 2003 at 11:25:47:
: : : I trim a Horse that has very bad thrush. We've tried many differant product's but nothing seem's to work. I'v tried bleach, Thrush buster,koppertox ect. Now i'm thinking of useing sole pack with a pad to treat it. Is this a good product to use for it. Any suggestions? I'm out of idea's. Thank's!
: : How bad and how deep is the thrush? Can you provide pictures of the feet? The sole pack idea works well with leather pads (leather breaths, plastic is not good). If it is real bad you may want to reshoe/repack the feet every 3 to 4 weeks until things get better and then have the horse owner clean the feet and apply peroxide daily to prevent a reacurrence. If it is real bad and deep you may want to reccomend that a vet takes a look at it. Bad infections may require antibiotics and treating the thrush as I mentioned. Hope this helps.
: : Phil
: I have had the best successs with packing the central completely full of strips of 'foot felt' and having the owner soak the felt every couple of days with the meds.
: I have them pull the old packing out every week or so and carfully repack it,using something safe like the SIDE of the hoofpick to lay the strips all the way down into the crevice. Footfelt is polyester based and will not absorb anything water based, such as urine or water, but it absorbs the meds real well.I have found that cotton, oakum and the like simply do not work because they absorb moisture.
: If the owner does their part (they have to actually DO this with some dedication) then the central sulcis dries up sooner and usually fills back in in a couple of shoeings. Of course the entire balance and trim of the foot also needs to be addressed, to help insure a heel first landing and frog support for optimal function of the heels.
: I feel that packing the central sulcis with something firm like this also helps stimulate the frog and mechanically spreads it to gain more function.
: Patty
What Phil and Patty said, with the key being owner maintinece. I've never seen a case on the north coast of California, that couldn't be cured by the owner doing right. I know that other areas of the country/world have weather more condusive to thrush.
Thrush is something we can help with, but I think it's an owner/vet area of responsability.
Anyway, in California, we're gitting a new Govenor who will probaly cure all hoof problems, as they will cure all our other problems.
Patty, I'll bet you're sad you moved and don't get to be in the middle of this mess out here. Oh well, there's always AFA politics.
My $0.02,
Bill