seedy toe

[chestnuttymare]

had farrier out this morning and brooke has a wee bit of seedy toe. he advised to get formalin from a sheep farmer and skoosh it into the affected area. which i went and got this morning.
he reckons she has got it because the fields are so wet. she has her feet done as regular as clockwork. the only thing is, because of my back, her feet haven't been getting picked out like i normally would. she is funny with others so i wouldn't ask anyone else to do it. i am feeling guilty, but the main thing is to get it cleared up. grateful for any other suggestions.

[lisah]

Hi honey

Brian had really bad seedy toe when I first got him and he had about 1/3rd of his front hoof dug away and it was horrible.

It isn't caused by not picking out feet so don't blame yourself, It is caused by anearobic bacteria in the soil and it thrives in wet/warm conditions and mud because the air can not get to the hoof. It is the same strain as thrush so damp, warm with no air is the envirmonment it thrives in.

You need to keep the hoof exposed to air as that is what kills the bacteria. If I tell you how I managed Brian's seedy toe I hope that will help.

I would scrub the hoof twice a day with a strong antiseptic solution and leave it for 20 mins to dry off. Then I woud spray the purple sheep spray for foot rot into it (can't remember what it is called but it comes in a big spray can) and I would also brush Farriers Formula hoof disinfectant over the rest of the hoof and let it drain into the cracks and nail holes.

Seedy toe takes ages to clear up and don't be surprised if it spreads a wee bit and he has to dig away more before it finally comes under control.

There's not a lot you can do to prevent it in these wet, warm and muddy conditions honey so it really is not your fault.

I hope she is better soon, provided she is scrubbed and sprayed at least once a day you will get on top of it.

Lisa xxxxxxxx

[ldf]

agree with Lisa re seedy toe, the other thing to try is hydrogen peroxide, it kills anoerobic bacteria, hope she is better soon

[mellj]

Ellie had a this in a crack in her front hoof when I got her last year. The crack is still there, but the seedy toe has gone! He had to dig out the crack.

She now has a bit in her back feet! it has almost grown out now, well she got shod on Saturday and most of it has gone with the trimming and filing! Hopefully next shoeing and it will have gone.

[chestnuttymare]

thanks for that, the formalin is what the farmers use for the sheep and will kill the bacteria, it is really strong so he says just to do it a couple of times a week. so that should have the same effect as the antiseptic solution lisa and i will get the spray stuff at the feed store when i am there on friday and they should have the farriers formula stuff when i am there too. hopefully that will do the trick. the good thing is that she is in at night so it will give it a chance to dry off.
right, that's the plan of action sorted lol
thanks again all

[misstickle]

seedy toe is the bane of my life. Tickles had it in all four feet on and off for two years. This weather isn't helping
I seem to have to under control by using Osmond's Baktikill and purple spray thats used on sheep feet. It's called septiclens and it's made by nettex. Millers sell it in the agricultural section. (Osmond's said they don't sell baktikill for use on hooves and advised putting it on with a cloth, rather than spraying) There's also another purple spray that is specifically for sheep feet and Millers sell it too. Apparently a local race horse trainer uses that


The farrier also has cut a lot of her hoof away to get rid of the black cheesy stuff. its anaerobic so being exposed to the air helps.
Things I've tried...........
Hydrogen peroxide 5% does work, but also not to good for healthy tissue
tea tree and eucalyptus seemed to work
washing in hibiscrub worked but dried hooves out
washing in Milton, T didn't like the smell
Barefoot people use cleantrax, but I've never used it as I couldn't work out how to get her to stand each foot in it for 45 minutes.

There's probably loads more but I've forgotten. If you google white line disease, there's loads of info on the internet.
I had to get Ts diet right to help the WLD as according to some, it's connected to low grade laminitis. Me and the farrier have agreed to disagree about that one! ;D

[michellec]

Prophs feet have broke down in the past because of the bacteria and I regularly skoosh all of the boys with the foot rot stuff to keep on top of it.

Thankfully we haven't had seedy toe ....... Yet!

[chestnuttymare]

well the farrier said it's foot rot, the said it is the start of seedy toe. i have the formalin stuff that they use for the sheep and will get the rest of the stuff from the feed store.
i appreciate all the advice

[lisah]

Sept 4, 2008 11:11:48 GMT 1 misstickle said:

There's also another purple spray that is specifically for sheep feet and Millers sell it too. Apparently a local race horse trainer uses that

Now, I wonder who that could be

[chestnuttymare]

well if it is good enough for his horses....
my feed place has it, i am picking it up tomorrow.

i put the formalin in today, well when i say in, more sort of on. she has a shoe on so you can't really get the stuff in to the gap.
there is a bit just above the shoe that is cracked so i squirted it in there. it is strong stuff apparently so i hope it does the job.

[jaynedge]

Something else on a more natural remedy you may want to try is Tea Tree oil. If you can mix it into water with one tiny drop washing up liquid to help disperse it and give a good shake before you spray over the sole of the foot, it is fantastic for killing all infection as its a very powerful antiseptic.

I used this years ago on a TB cross that I had,who took bad seedy toe and had half the hoof cut away! I was mortified at the state of it. The farrier had filled in the worst of the hole with Keratex hoof filler, but it seemed to take months to grow out properly.

[bingbong]

so does anyone do anything to try keep seedy toe at bay or is it just sods law if you get it or not?

[michellec]

A hoof disinfectant is handy for treating the anerobic bacteria which is the cause but i find the foot rot stuff works well as a preventative and you get lovely puple feet too! I squirt mine regularly esp after the farriers been into the old nails holes too!

It's worse on clay soils.

[bingbong]

awh right that will be why my old horse and many others used to get loads of it cumbernauld is full of clay !!!
im happy im moving to a nice dry sandy soil farm now

so its purple foot rot spray you get for sheep at the farm shop??? ok ill get some just incase

[toto]

I have had brilliant results with a product called "hoof stuff" from redhorse products, you pack it into the hole, little pieces at a time and build it up until the hole is filled, (only takes a couple of mins) then just turn em out as normal. No mud penentrates into it and i just found if i plucked it out and repacked it every 3/4 days the holes decreased quite significanly over a few weeks. Good luck with it, mine had it in 3 feet!!