missyclare
Posted : 11/2/2010 7:52:35 AM
Yes, the sugardine does work. Its tried and true. Mix it so that its thicker than molasses and shove it down to the bottom of every crack, especially the central sulcis.
I've been through it all with thrush products. Soaking with Borax, Ramey Goo, vinegar soaks.
Thrushbuster works as well, but it not for me, I'm afraid....contains formaldehyde (also known as formalin) Its in Keratex as well and I"m not looking for perfectly pickled feet.
The best thing you can do is to
a) soak to get deeper than topicals do. 3tbns. of Borax or a shot of vinegar in 3" of water for 30 minutes, 2x/week.
b) clean the hoof. Clean it well...this is 3/4's of the battle. Scrape all mushed/softened sole with a hoofpick until you get a smooth/clear surface. This removes thrush food. Use a brush, a Q-Tip or a toothbrush to clean to the bottom of every crack and crevice. You can have a healthy looking frog, but it can still be loaded and eating in deeper at its leading edge at the bottom of a crack that missed treatment and you won't see it happening on the surface. Use Dawn dish detergent to clean.
c) drying out bare in a stall of shavings overnight would be good.
You have to be consistant with your treatments until its all gone, or it will come right back.
Make sure there is not a lot of sugar in the diet and ask the farrier to clean up the frog if it has overhangs or tatters that can hide thrush.
I just got a new product called No Thrush and its working great. Its a dry dust application that you "poof" into the cracks. I'm just about finished renovating the barn, so the horses have to stay outside right now. I put the No Thrush on my old girl and then the Easy Care RX's. I REALLY like them! They are loose at the top and breathe and her feet stay dry as a bone, even in mud.
The worst thrush can be deep in the central sulcis. You can go deep gently with a Q-Tip there and clean it out to the bottom. Sometimes the infection can be really bad there and is what sores. (very close to the frog's corium) You can put some iodine ( or you could use sugardine) on a cotton ball and stick it in the crack and leave it there to continue medicating. The central sulcis is not supposed to be a crack at all. The crack will heal and get shallower and then it won't hold the cotton ball anymore, then you know you're getting there.
When I'm not soaking, I'm picking out and spraying with straight vinegar.
You don't have to "kill" thrush. Products that kill, also burn the hoof. This leave necrotic material behind that invites more thrush, or worse...yeast. All you have to do is adjust the pH level. Thrush thrives in a negative pH. Vinegar and Borax raise the pH. Now the thrush's environment is gone and it simply goes away with it...without hurting the hoof. A horse on a sweet diet will metabolically produce a negative pH as well.
Hope this helps!