Monday...

I was trying to take a state exam... (I failed) what's new?  I'll get it done though... I am not one to give up BUT I am personally mentally challenged when it comes to test.  I'll take a verbal exam any day but I hate computers and test!   Enough about me...

I am going to the barn in a moment and I have had to make a decision about Navarre and his feet.  Why?   Because Rain is due in two day for the next THREE days and everything I have done will go to waste if I don't get this feeling better for him in the next 48 hours... SO...

While I have been keeping it dry... My next step is OFF LABEL! NOT something many vets ... will suggest you do... BUT I've got to get this going... I called several people for help and found one that will help me in a moment. 

I can say as soon as Bill and I drove up Navarre was jumping off all four and having a good time in the crisp air.  He would not have done this as of last week! So we are doing some good even if it still looks really bad. 

My plan..
Pick out the feet as normal...

DONE... REAR... ON...

As you can see it is beautifully dry IN the frog and on the bulb.  BUT it is seriously deep too... so I am going to put an antibiotic in all the HOLES! and pack it again.  What am I using?   A basic penicillin in sesame oil as good and as basic as it gets. 

Where does someone get something like this over the counter? EASY it is a basic mastitis tube... Used for cattle and their teats. Use the DRY label... GO DRY or TOMORROW are normally how they are marked... It will also say the milk but not be used for 72 hours ... etc...
The tip of the tube is small and soft enough to go into the teat of a cow, so it is the perfect form to go into the small areas and soft tissues being damaged by thrush.

Once I got the feet picked... brushed... I started putting the antibiotics in ANY CREVICE I could find.  In doing so I found a hole ONE INCH DEEP...

You can barely see the syringe at the top middle... but what you don't realize is it is ONE INCH into the hoof!  This is exactly what I keep talking about and why you can't see from the photo above this one that this whole is even there or that it could possibly be bad.  I am sure having found this one hole in such bad shape there are likely many more any every direction off all the wholes we can see.  So I am using an excessive amount of the contents as I want it FORCED throughout the hoof as much as possible without moving my syringe around and again not pressuring soft dissue so not to cause any damage.  Allow the liquid to do it's job.

I had not once packed this hole, it goes straight down and when I did pack it lightly tonight I had to use ONE side of the hemostats so I didn't make it any larger.  There are two schools of thought on holes and a hoof.  Used to be Vets dug out things and left it exposed.  I tend to use a TINY drill / dremmell ... and break the surface (of an abscess etc) and leave it as covered as possible so it does not get infected.  Either way... keep it as clean as possible.  So I did not pack the whole to its depths I only covered the opening so debre doesn't get in easily.

This is going to take months to grow out.. and our wet season is upon us... So ... Using the antibiotic now is likely my best choice ... Like anything else though once you start antibiotics you have to use up 7 days of it unless otherwise stated... as you have to clean it out and make sure you kill of anything after that would develop resistance. 

I have had to do this with Navarre two other times in his life, but my choice to do so was all the more clear after finding such DEEP crevices in this foot my first day with the antibiotics...

I packed it with clean cotton

I will unpack it in the morning... and repack it with thrush buster...
then tomorrow night I will do the antibiotics again... for the next week rain snow sleet or shine...
Our plan is still to unpack and clean twice a day... using antibiotics only at night, when he is less likely to be running around or digging in the mud.

Doing all I can!
Hope your horse does good if you have any of these issues.

My love to the world
AegF