Dry Cow ?? -

[lekhorse]

I have been battling with thrush for 16 months in this horse. He had thrush in all 4 hooves when I got him and only one (NSR) has responded to the treatments. Treatments included over time Clean Trax, twice the first month, Plus, Thrustbuster - daily packed with gauze, went through 5 bottles, Sore No More, Coppertox mixed with DSMO, packed in with gauze. This was per my farrier. Since I was not getting results after 8 months of this I started researching online and came up with Borax mixed in water, Calendula oil and vitamin E oil I would soak his feet once every other week and made a squirt bottle of the same solution for daily use. I also started Echinacea tablets (alfalfa based) in his feed, two weeks on two weeks off for three cycles. Lo and behold there was response in the one hoof and no more stink in the other three and that’s as far as it went. To make matters worse( my opinion only) when I had coggins done last spring ‘04 I asked the vet about medication other than topical for this problem, like what a human would take for a toenail fungus, the vet checked his feet and proceeded to cut all of the infected frog tissue out and some, so now, since there has been no response to treatment therefore no frog growth in the heel area the heels are more contracted then when I got him. My horses are on pasture except for extreme weather conditions , grass hay and 12% extruded pellets. They are all barefoot and on a 4 week trim schedule Sorry this is so long, just trying to give you all some background information. Anyway, found this site a short time ago and I find it fascinating to read so many knowledgeable and different approaches in one forum - it’s great! Here and there it is mentioned to use a product called “Dry Cow” so I bought this product from a local feed store thinking I had the right stuff and today I read that the product some of you recommend is ToDAY (cephapirin sodium) when I purchased ToMORROW (cephapirin benzathine) is this still usable or should I get the sodium compound? My farrier said to use it daily, right? Also what can we (the farrier and I) do about the contracted heels?
Thanks for any help in advance and I can see that I’ll be “lurking” here regularly.
Lynn

[Peggy Dolan]

I've used both compunds, dry cow and wet cow. Both work well. I also make my own solution out of tetracycline powder and water, cause I'm cheap. As for the contracted heels, trim the heels to the widest part of the frog. The more the horse uses all it's foot, the healthier the whole foot will be. There are excellent threads in this forum that cover it in great detail.
How about posting some pictures of your horse's feet? That always gets a lively discussion cooking.

[Roy Amaral CJF]

Click Here (http://www.horseshoes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1028)

Forget about the caustic chemicals and weird home remedies.

[Phil Armitage]

The problem is your also keeping an ideal enviroment for thrush to exist in the first place. Many of the products that you have listed like coppertox, thrush buster, borax are too harsh, these are very effective products that will kill bacteria, but be carefull not to over use them and make sure you let air get to the foot. Most thrush products will kill the bacteria however they also burn the frog tissue and the dead tissue make layers and flaps for bacteria to start up again, that is why you need to follow instructions and be carefull not to over do it. The other problem is the wrapping and packing the hoofs, this also creats an ideal enviroment for thrush to start up again. Thrush is an anirobic bacteria, it cannot live in air. It can only survive and spread when there is the lack of oxygen. The dry cow treatment is a good one to kill thrush, because the ingrediants are not harsh to tissue, however to be effective you need to clean the foot apply it and then leave it open to air. Another great treatment is White Lightning, it is not harsh on live tissue, it kills bacteria and fungus and also gets oxygen to the affected area. It also penetrates the hoof and frog very deep getting to bacteria and fungus that is deep into the frog and white line. White Lightning is mixed 50/50 with white vinager, the mix creates a gas that penetrates the hoof and a small amount is all that is needed. I also like to use Hydrogen peroxide, clean the foot and leave it open to air. The key is understanding what anirobic bacteria is and what fungus is and what they need to survive. We think we are helping the situation by wrapping the foot and useing meds, however we may be creating an ideal enviroment for bacteria and fungus to become even worse and/or really get out of control and get into the horses blood stream makeing the horse sick.

Hope this helps.

[lekhorse]

I don't know how to convert the picts I have to a smaller file size, if I figure it out in the within a reasonable time, wiil do so. I can say that the thrush is as deep if not deeper than that of the hoof pictured in the link above by Roy Amaral. I haven't wrapped the hooves, just packing the crevice with gauze or cotton as in the same link above, which I haven't done since last fall. I haven't even soaked his feet in almost three months, just cleaning the crack out well and putting a topical solution in. I will ask the farrier if she has any "fresh" White Lightning on hand or can get some next month.
Thanks everyone
Lynn

[lekhorse]

Hope this link works. Copy and paste to view.

http://www.dotphoto.com/MemViewAlbum.asp?AID=2597713

Lynn