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Member
Posts: 15
| Anybody know anything about horses with scratches? How to treat it? Anything would be helpful! |
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 Expert
Posts: 1286
 
Location: Mississippi | My Clydesdale has them and I have tried just about everything you can think of to get rid of them. Mineral Oil and Sulphur helped a little but it's still a battle. I think the main thing is to figure out the cause so that you can provide the best treatment. Some cases are caused by a parasite and others can be from rain/wet conditions. Here is a good link for the oil and sulphur method http://www.wolfmanorestate.com/PreventingScratches.html |
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 Undercover Amish Mafia Member
Posts: 9991
  
Location: Kansas | I've always used a betadine scrub, also MTG. My best friends mare had scratches pretty bad and she would hose them off for about 10 minutes then rub them down with Absorbine (sp?). She said it worked well on them, not sure if that's exactly what it's intended for. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 467
Location: California | Two things that I have had great success with (and I fought it on one horse for a long time before I found these two things out).
1. sauerkraut wraps
2. SynbioNT Ag WASH (fantastically easy) |
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 Owner of a ratting catting machine
Posts: 2258
| Yep. Scratches is started by a fungus, usually (but not always) brought in by wet, muddy conditions. Then once the fungus gets established, it opens the skin up to bacterial infection. So: you've got scratches, which is two infections rolled into one.
Doctor as follows:
1. Wash gently with soap and warm water.
2. Clip, trim hair from around the area.
3. Smear liberally with Extra Strength Desitin (baby aisle).
4. Wrap with breathable layer.
5. Then wrap with vet wrap.
6. If needed, wrap with polo wrap to protect from mud/wet conditions.
7. Dose with label recommended dose of Penecillan G. ( I get mine at Tractoe Supply).
8. Change wrap every day, cleaning with soap and warm water each time. Scabs will begin falling off after 24 hours, leaving raw skin. Slather with Desitin and Neosporin.
9. Continue Penecillan for 3 days.
10. Keep changing wraps and washing until completely healed with new hair. I usually get new hair starting to grow within a week.
Don't use bleach, or scrape at the scabs. Scratches is VERY painful. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1898
| We have treated it with MTG, Toad Juice, DMSO and Furison, Grape Fruit Juice, Betadine, Listerine, blah, blah! I have had the best luck with feeding straight beet pulp and linseed meal! One cup meal and one three pound coffee can of beat pulp. I found this suggestion on the internet about a year ago but haven't been able to find it since.
My sister had a paint horse who had it all over his body, she had tried several different treatments with no luck. She started feeding the beat pulp and linseed and it was almost completely cleared up in 2 weeks. My mom has a colt that was battling with it all summer. Poor guy's little nose was so cracked and angry and sore. She started feeding the beat pulp and it was gone and completely healed in about 3 weeks!
Edited by cyount2009 2013-11-13 11:49 AM
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 Tried and True
Posts: 21185
Location: Where I am happiest | Rescued a mare that had them really bad. Boy what a battle. This is the recipe from my vet and it did clear it up. We washed her leg with Aloedine shampoo and dried it good. Clipping the leg hair helps immensely. Dont scrub vigerously, it can push it into the bloodstream and infect the entire lymph system then you have a whole new battle to fight that isnt pretty. Just wash the leg with the shampoo and a wash cloth. Then treat daily with this mixture. Put latex gloves on and rub it in trying to work the scabs off. Again, very gently and carefully. You do have to get the scabs off, but DONT try to accomplish this in one day. They will come off with your gently rubbing as the days go on. Biggest thing is keep them out of the mud or you will be right back to square one in a single day.
1/2 jar Furicine
1 tube Panalog cream ( you get this from your vet)
2 tubes Neosporin
1 tube triple antibiotic ointment
2 tubes Desitine
10cc Dex. ( from your vet)
Mix it all together and slather it on daily. The Desitin ( diaper rash cream) Neosporin and Triple Antibiotic cream you can get from your local WalMart or pharmacy. The Dex and Panalog cream you will have to get from your vet. The Furicine you can get at any feed store/tack store.
Another thing that alot of people have had success with is the cow mastitis cream called "Today". They have both a Today, and a Tomarrow. You want the Today.
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 Tough Patooty
Posts: 2615
Location: Sperry, OK | FrenchTwister - 2013-11-13 11:44 AM Two things that I have had great success with (and I fought it on one horse for a long time before I found these two things out).
1. sauerkraut wraps
2. SynbioNT Ag WASH (fantastically easy)
Treat with Agriwash 50/50 dilution with water... clears them up quick!!!! That stuff is the shizzznizzle!!! Spray it on 2x daily til gone. |
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Member
Posts: 48
| Tea tree oil products work very well as well. Tear tree is an all natural anti-fungal, anti- bacterial substance. Kills the fungus but is not damaging to healthy tissue. |
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Member
Posts: 15
| Thanks for all your help! I have no idea how this horse came down with the scratches - he is never in a wet or muddy pasture nor does he stand in a dirty stall. I was told by someone who works at the track to use sauerkraut wraps which I have been doing for 3 days now. It looks like the scabs are all off which is a good thing, however I'm not sure what to do now. The horse is still very swelled up and sore. |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| Sauerkraut wrap it on change daily about a week it will be gone. You need to change the ph of the skin so the fungus can't grow |
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 Expert
Posts: 1432
Location: Never in one place long | I use either Desatin or athletes foot spray! Both have worked great for me!!! cheap and easy! |
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 I Don't Brag
Posts: 6960
| cheryl makofka - 2013-11-13 1:53 PM
Sauerkraut wrap it on change daily about a week it will be gone. You need to change the ph of the skin so the fungus can't grow
^^^This.^^^ |
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 Champ
Posts: 19623
Location: Peg-Leg Julia Grimm | Jdpb - 2013-11-13 10:22 AM Tea tree oil products work very well as well. Tear tree is an all natural anti-fungal, anti- bacterial substance. Kills the fungus but is not damaging to healthy tissue.
^^^ That is a good one. I mixed just a few drops of pure tea tree oil with vitamin E cream and rubbed it in well.
Also I used a product from SBS that is intended for whiteline disease. It's in a spray bottle. It got the better of the problem in a couple of days.  |
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 Expert
Posts: 2604
Location: Texas | Keratex Mud Shield Powder
Love this stuff! Easy, no mess, no picking scabs, not painful for horse, et. al.
http://www.keratex.net/mud_shield_powder.htm
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 816
| DLV - 2013-11-13 1:55 PM
I use either Desatin or athletes foot spray! Both have worked great for me!!! cheap and easy!
This is what I've used and it seems to work great. I also use Furazone and it will clear it up too. I know some say that you don't want the moisture but it has always worked great. It helps free the scab up so you can remove it easier and then it will kill the organism causing it. Once it look like it is starting to heel I will wash it with an antifungus shampoo and keep it dry. The Nitrofurazone works really well on rain rot too. Heels it in days and I usually only have to apply it once or twice. |
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Veteran
Posts: 152
| Desatin daily, clears it up usually.
Others, I've used the "tomorrow" I think it's called, which is in the cattle section & has penicillin in it. Just slather it on and I've had great luck with that.
Purashield spray works for some.
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 349
| Our vet made a specific mix of desitin/nitrofurazone that worked wonders on a horse at work. Shaved down his feathers(hes a percheron), smeared it on, left it wrapped two days at a time, rinsed and repeated. took a month to clear the majority of it. fought the last part for a lot longer though. |
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Veteran
Posts: 294
| I used the triple ointment that you can get at CVS along with desitin. Its important to keep the area dry and clean. |
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Tried and True
Posts: 21185
Location: Where I am happiest | OK, I was gone visiting my mother and when I came back my mare had her scratches back. So, I'm going to try the sauerkraut wrap to start with. Then follow up with the neosporin and desitin ** I think**. I'm wondering those of you that have done the wraps, how do you do it? Do you do a sweat type wrap or what? |
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