In your experience, what are the best ways to get rid of horse thrush?
Monday, February 22nd, 2010 at
9:26 am
I’ve heard several things work.
sugerdine (sugar and iodine)
bleach
plain iodine
thrush buster
thrush remedy (absorbine)
kopertox
unpasteurized honey
lysol
lexol
betadine
Do any of these work for you? I know there is some controversy over bleach and the over the counter remedies, what is your opinion on those? And do you have any alternative suggestions?
Thanks!
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My favorite of the above mentioned is Thrush Buster. It works really well and is the easiest of all the remedies you mentioned to use. It comes in a little bottle which has a very fine applicator tip so there is no dripping or mess. Have also had success with sugerdine. If by plain iodine you mean strong iodine, I think that would be too drying to the hoof. But Betadine works ok, though not as well as sugerdine.
I don’t see how honey or lexol could help. Lysol is another one I’ve never heard of for thrush. It’s made to spray on surfaces, not skin, so I think I’d be afraid to try it. Kopertox is really messy. Most of these products will stain your skin, but the Kopertox bottle is poorly designed and the Kopertox gets everywhere! I hate that stuff.
But for really bad thrush, the best thing to use is a product called "Clean Trax." You can get it for $21.95 from Valley Vet online. It’s a powder that you mix with water and pour into a hoof soaking boot. You let the horse’s hoof soak in the product for about half an hour so that it has time to penetrate into every nook and cranny. If you don’t want to shell out the money for a hoof soaking boot, just use an old IV bag with the end cut off. Use duct tape to secure the bag around the horse’s pastern. It works better than anything I’ve ever used on severe thrush or white line disease. A true miracle product!
Let the farrier clean the feet then they will be fine. Thrush bacteria are always in the horses hooves but moistness allows it to grow. Air kills it. So thats why cleaning out your horses hooves can be a cure in and of itself.
Heres what I do. After the farrier cleans and trims, everyday after I bring my horse in clean the feet thoroughly then let my horse stand in a dry place for about an hour. I ride then come back clean the feet again, and let the horse eat while its feet dry. If it goes in a stall I leave it alone. If it is to go back outside in the wet I will put on Thrush buster or Betadine all over the frog etc. let dry then turn out.
If you’re just treating thrush and its not an overly occurring ordeal (like daily) The best thing that I have found for the quickest cure is about a cap full of bleach to a spray container of water. I’ve used thrush buster *which we all know is outrageous* and iodine before- and honestly what i do is alternate. You definitely don’t want to use something that is going to over dry the hoof and cause further soreness or anything else, and if you use too much bleach, or bleach too often, it can lead to flaky hooves. If you use it every now and then just to cleanse it out, you should be fine. Iodine I really don’t personally like because it tends to do the same thing.
So what I do is if its a really bad case of thrush, I’ll spray it down with the bleach first *because it will kill all the bacteria on contact* just make sure obviously your horse’s hooves are COMPLETELY clean! And then either see what that does for you, or dose it with a good covering of thrush buster. I let my thrush buster sit for around a minute so I make sure that it’s well covered prior to letting them put it down. I just use both because I know even that little bit of bleach in the water will disinfect, and the thrush buster will help treat.
I honestly don’t know much about the others… but hope it helps!
i use a product called jim ritchens and the only way i can get it is through my farrier. but this stuff works. it preety much kills the bacteria that causes thrush and thin layer of the hoof so it cant get reinfected kind of like when your farrier burns the shoe into the hoof. and make sure you wear cloves with this stuff. if you get it on your skin it stains it and then in a few days it will peel like a burn. but what every you use the kill it geting rid of it make sure the stall is very dry and you clean the hooves daily
Thrush Buster is the only one I’ve used. It always works for me, so I have no reason to use anything else.
Don’t ever use bleach. Sugardine is like trying to kill it and help it at the same time. The sugar is counterproductive. Iodine is good. Thrush Buster is great, it works the fastest. Absorbine takes too long. Kopertox… "tox"… enough said. Honey is a good idea, it is a natural bacteria killer. I wouldn’t recommendd Lysol or Lexol any more than I would bleach or Kopertox. Betadine is good.
I work with hooves and when I run acrosss sever thrush I usually clean the hoof with a betadine scrub, then treat with iodine for the nicer horses. If the horse is a pain, I use Thrush Buster. I have been told that apple cider vinegar and raw honey mixed in a spray bottle and used regularly will keep it away. Some people just use the vinegar. If you want the best combination of low toxicity, effectiveness and amount of time it takes effect and how long it continues to work before having to treat again, I recommend Thrush Buster. For my own horses, I soak their hooves in colloidal silver every 2 months and they are on a low sugar diet. I never have a thrush problem.
Yeah, have the farrier clean them out, then put betadine once or twice a day. Just squirt some into the hoof, and it will be gone pretty quickly.
I have a Clydesdale mare who is very tidy in her stall and keeps all her manure in one corner which is wonderful, however she also insists on standing with her back feet in the manure which causes her to have a constant thrush issue. I tried every single possible thrush remedy with mixed results. We could keep it under control but never really get her thrush-free. Someone suggested using Go-Dry which is a treatment for mastitis in cows (basically a drying agent and antibiotics). I was skeptical but there was nothing to lose so I tried it. It is a miracle. No more thrush at all. I now use it on all my horses with great results. My vet tells me that there are some thrushes that the Go-Dry will not work on depending on the bacteria/fungus that is causing the thrush but so far it has always worked for me and is inexpensive, easy to apply and no stained fingers.
bleach and i have also used lemon juiced, like from a freshly pressed lemon.
Keeping the foot clean and the central and collateral grooves open and clean with trimming is the first step and often will get rid of the thrush alone, as it is an anaerobic bacteria.
If I have a particularly difficult case, I use a 50/50 solution of common Triple Antibiotic Ointment and Athlete’s Foot Cream in a syringe to push into the grooves… it stays put and saves soaking.
I am also hesitant to use something that not only kills harmful bacteria, but also ay new developing tissue (bleach, etc).
Thrush buster I know worked for my friends horses when they had thrush. I used bleach and so does my instructor and it works really well.
thrush buster works so good and fast…if it dosn’t ask you farrier or vet!!
good luck!!!