I liked reading about the treatment with nitrofurazone,
thiabendazole and DMSO. Since you can't (and really wouldn't want to) treat
the animal with IV therapy, this sounds good. It mystifies me though
about all the lotions people are putting on their animals. I suppose
some of them may create a waterproof barrier, but I sure will not put organic
(fish oil) creams on the creatures I care for, prefering inorganic creams
such as Pure zinc oxide for instance.
Generally, when we do wound care, we like to keep wounds dry
and open to air and light. Which may be impossible in ankle deep mud.
(If I had that as a problem, I would search for a way to let the"patient"
achieve dryness. In desperation, I may even try bringing the animal into a
building, using a lamp or a hair dryer perhaps.) We have been very happy
with Dakins Solution, for suppurating wound infections. It is 10%
sodium Hypochlorite (Bleach) in sterile saline (salt water 9%) You could make
up an approximate of that solution, keep it in a jar, and carry it out to the
barnyard, paint it on with a paintbrush. Clean the paintprush in boiling
water afterward. Make a new fresh batch of Dakins daily, don't put the
dirty old brush in the same jar for a week.
Another question to ask yourself, when your
equinne friend got infected, did you throw away the old brushes in the horse
trailer that you used on him, or even clean them very well in a bleach
solution, or are the dirty old things still out there, being used on every
creature in the barn. It may be a good idea to use individual
grooming equipment for each animal, put their name on it, and keep them
disinfected. Then you won't spread or reinfect with disease.
Another interesting treatment is the
use of teatree oil. This can be found in Miracle coat, waterless horse
shampoo spray, or other grooming products. We got some in a soap base
from Trader Joes market. It supposedly has antifungal, and antibacterial
properties. It does work really well to get greasy crud out of tails,
and udders and such, but rinse it well because it can be irritating, also to
the groom!
Good luck to all, and thank you for the interesting and
informative chat! Beth