Horse and Man

Hello all!  Yes, I am re-posting this post because it has been a popular request.  And, since it was the very first HORSE AND MAN blog post, it will be new to many of you.

I must add, happily, that several more folks have tried the Purple Mush since this post originally was published and they have all had great success!  So, please pass this on to any draft horse person you know (canker is a bit more common in those breeds) and keep this information in your mind because canker can strike anyone.  I know, it almost sent my mare to greener pastures which would have been awful.

Here you go and enjoy:

If you are frantic like I was, hoping to find a workable treatment for equine canker — let me impart to you my year of Canker-Horrors and the final cure!  First off, to save you from reading the entire post if you don’t want to, here is the information for the remedy from Well-Horse which they call “Purple Mush”.  You have to call or email since the Purple Mush is not available on the website:

Coco Fernandez
Master Farrier
(805) 801-8365
www.CocoCaballo.com
www.Well-Horse.com

This salve, made from plant resin, is a Miracle.  Hallelujah!  It works almost immediately, is easy to apply and affordable.  I did everything known for equine canker.  Some products and treatments worked on the mild areas but nothing worked for my mare’s profound case – except this.

*Please note that I am not affiliated with this product.  I just am spreading the word because if you are in the trenches with this insidious infection, you know how bad it is… and now that I know what works, I want to climb the highest mountain and yell for all to hear.  THERE IS A CURE!  Wahoo! (sniff, tear in eye…)  YOU DON’T HAVE TO WRAP HOOVES FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!

OK, now for my story.  Meet my “Tess”.

Tess is my National Champion Park Harness Morgan mare who was pampered and healthy her whole life.  Near the end of her last pregnancy, canker   appeared in three of her hooves.  No one knows what causes it.  Some say that wet conditions seem to help it fester, but veterinarians really don’t know what causes canker. In fact, it is widely thought of as an external infection but it could be systemic. (I will say why this might be true for my mare later.)  And, it isn’t breed specific either although it happens more frequently in Drafts.

If you haven’t yet read about canker, take a look at this article which was written by the most learned veterinarians on the topic.  You will see pictures as well as a description and the most popular treatment.  http://www.equipodiatry.com/canker1.htm

I’ll try to state is simply here.  Canker is an infection of the equine frog, sole, bars, hoof wall and/or  heel.  It first presents like thrush but upon investigation, you will see that it is more like a mushroom  overgrowth that looks somewhat similar to cottage cheese and smells really bad.  Here is a picture of an advanced case — very much how my mare’s foot looked after we could not get the canker under control.

How did I first come across this disease? Well canker is fairly rare, especially in Morgans.  So, I had never seen it and my farrier had never seen it.  We kept thinking that her fetid smelling hooves were a bad case of thrush.  I diligently applied every kind of thrush buster from peroxide to megawatt and nothing was killing it.  I figured I would just have to keep at it. After all, it was winter and the ground was wet…

Lo and behold, our next appointment came around and the farrier told me that he now thinks this thrush is actually canker.  Wha?  We called our vet and sent him a photo via our cell phone.  The vet said that it sure looked like canker but it would have to be biopsied.

Between the time of the farrier visit and the initial biopsy, Tess developed this nasty condition in two other hooves.  The front right was far worse and started to eat away her frog and heel.

The Initial Treatment that almost worked…
We tried the best known treatment designed by the specialists in equine podiatry which is described in the linked article above.  Basically here is what you are supposed to do: have your vet or a surgeon abrade the area (usually the horse is under sedation) to remove all the infected tissue.  Then you treat the hoof once or twice daily by first wiping the area with a compounded mixture of acetone and benzoyl peroxide, then apply crushed up metronidazole tablets, pack that with cotton gauze and then secure the hospital plate (that your farrier has fitted), vet wrap the foot and then affix a duct tape or some other waterproof boot — all with the hoof in the air.  Ugh.  Twice a day.  Double ugh.  You are miserable, the horse is miserable and it is really a pain to do this.  But, it did halt the minor cases of canker in her hind feet.  Unfortunately, the severe canker was resistant.  It would not abate, no matter what we did.

And, we did it all…   After 10 months of the above therapy, new treatments http://www.ericnystrom.com/aep.html, several debridements, constant wrapping, many vet calls and one deep debridement surgery at Loomis Basin Equine Hospital, the canker continued to grow back.  Without another option, the foot specialist was considering removing her frog.  I was beside myself with fatigue and worry.

Here is a picture of Tess’ hoof after 10 months of treatment.   Obviously nothing was stopping this infection.  As they say, no hoof, no horse.  I was terrified that we would have to put down my wonderful mare who had worked so hard for us.  I was very resistant to putting Tess through this invasive surgery to remove her frog.

A Miracle…  Out of the blue, a friend of mine told me that she had heard of a master farrier from Santa Ynez that had a canker cure.  Really?  I had nothing to lose…  So I contacted CoCo Fernandez.  He was quite personable.  He put me at ease and said that he had much success but wasn’t quite ready to put the product on the market.  I begged him to send a sample.  He said if I was willing to test it for him and be a case study, then he would send it.  I jumped at the chance.  He called it the “Purple Mush”.

I applied the Purple Mush (a textured goo pictured below) to her hoof, added some cotton padding and then wrapped it — very easy.  I waited pensively for three days.  I knew how much damage the canker could do in three days if left to its piranha ways.  Alas, when I unwrapped the hoof, I noticed the canker had not grown and was actually dry.  I was amazed.  I heard violins! I couldn’t believe it.  Something was actually halting the growth of this insidious, nasty packman-like bacteria!  I held my breath and re-applied the mush.  Three days later, I swear, the canker was gone.  Absolutely GONE.  I kept applying the Mush for two weeks as I watched healthy foot grow.  I could not believe it!  I called everyone I knew and then asked for a meeting with my vet.
My vet thought he was coming out to discuss my mare’s upcoming canker surgery.
I asked him to look at her foot once again before we made the decision.  I stood back as he lifted her foot.  OMG!  He repeated his disbelief about 100 times in succession.  OMG!OMG!OMG!OMG!
He could not believe what he was seeing either.  After almost a year of struggle, the beast was gone after just two weeks of Mush Magic!

(The last of the miracle mush pictured here!)

I admitted to my vet what I had done without his sanction…  Now my vet carries Purple Mush on his truck.

I promise you.  Use it.  Your days will become yours again and the nightmare of pastes, wraps and the insidious infection will be gone.  Gone.

Please let me know if you try this and it works for you, too.  Also, please ask any questions!

Tess is happy, healthy and retired into motherhood thanks to Well-Horse Purple Mush!

HORSE AND MAN is a blog in growth… if you like this, please pass it around!

Tags: equine canker, hoof disease, thrush

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 21st, 2010 at 6:00 am and is filed under Medical. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.