# Hoof abscess?



## messybun (Jul 14, 2021)

I noticed my goat limping yesterday and didn’t think much of it, I assumed someone pushed her away from food or something, I couldn’t feel swelling or pain on her leg. Today she’s limping worse, I checked her hoof. She doesn’t want to put weight on it and is trying to keep it up in the air. I’m pretty sure this is an abscess, but I’ve never dealt with one of those before. 1 can y’all confirm if it’s an abcsess? 2 how do I treat it? P.s. she’s around ten years old and I haven’t trimmed her hooves in over a year if that makes any difference.


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## B&B Happy goats (Jul 14, 2021)

Sorry I haven't  dealt with that issue, but I would  make a strong solution  of Epsom salts in warm water and hold her hoof in it for 15 minutes  three times a day until you either see a vet or someone  comes up with better advice...

@rachels.haven  @ mininhorses. @ Farmerjan  ??? Anyone ???


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## misfitmorgan (Jul 14, 2021)

Looks to me like she has hoof rot.

Clean up her hooves cutting off anything that shouldnt be there. Cut off any dead tissue then treat her with strong antibotics and your hoof rot treatment of choice.


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## messybun (Jul 14, 2021)

misfitmorgan said:


> Looks to me like she has hoof rot.
> 
> Clean up her hooves cutting off anything that shouldnt be there. Cut off any dead tissue then treat her with strong antibotics and your hoof rot treatment of choice.



I tried reading up, but didn’t find that much. How can I tell for sure if it’s hoof rot? What can I do for her habitat wise? She’s lowest goat on the totem pole so whenever it rains she will inevitably get her feet wet. She usually sleeps in the chicken coop when it does too. Is it contagious?


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## Beekissed (Jul 14, 2021)

Very, from what I've read, very contagious.  I'd do some research on it and the best treatments for it.  You'll also want to get them all out of those kind of soil conditions, getting them on fresh, clean soils that are not holding excess water....something with good runoff.


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## messybun (Jul 14, 2021)

Beekissed said:


> Very, from what I've read, very contagious.  I'd do some research on it and the best treatments for it.  You'll also want to get them all out of those kind of soil conditions, getting them on fresh, clean soils that are not holding excess water....something with good runoff.


I’m afraid that’s not an option. I live on a bit under two acres, the goats have about 1 1/2 of it fenced in. It rains pretty much everyday and there is no place that’s unaffected. Their shelter is raised, but they’ll shove her out of it so she’ll go to an igloo or the chicken coop(which is 8x8 dirt floor with a small patch of cinder blocks for her to lay on). On really bad days there will be water over my ankles in some parts of the yard. There’s also an insane amount of dew every morning. They do have pallets laid down and random toys, tires and other wise to lay on so they can stand off the ground when they want.
Do you think I should give everyone medicated feed to be on the safe side?


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## Beekissed (Jul 14, 2021)

messybun said:


> I’m afraid that’s not an option. I live on a bit under two acres, the goats have about 1 1/2 of it fenced in. It rains pretty much everyday and there is no place that’s unaffected. Their shelter is raised, but they’ll shove her out of it so she’ll go to an igloo or the chicken coop(which is 8x8 dirt floor with a small patch of cinder blocks for her to lay on). On really bad days there will be water over my ankles in some parts of the yard. There’s also an insane amount of dew every morning. They do have pallets laid down and random toys, tires and other wise to lay on so they can stand off the ground when they want.
> Do you think I should give everyone medicated feed to be on the safe side?











						Tactics to win the battle against foot rot
					

This article discusses the difference between foot rot and foot scald and how to prevent and treat it.




					www.canr.msu.edu
				











						Five signs of foot rot and how you can stop it
					

Foot rot is responsible for 20% of the lameness in all cattle. Learn the signs and how the cattle industry has been treating this disease in hoofed animals.




					www.alltech.com
				






			https://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/As/As-596-footrot.pdf


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## messybun (Jul 14, 2021)

Beekissed said:


> Tactics to win the battle against foot rot
> 
> 
> This article discusses the difference between foot rot and foot scald and how to prevent and treat it.
> ...



Thank you!


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## misfitmorgan (Jul 15, 2021)

messybun said:


> I tried reading up, but didn’t find that much. How can I tell for sure if it’s hoof rot? What can I do for her habitat wise? She’s lowest goat on the totem pole so whenever it rains she will inevitably get her feet wet. She usually sleeps in the chicken coop when it does too. Is it contagious?



The jury is split on whether hoof rot is contagious or not. Some researchers say yes and some say no, I will say when we used to trim for people we often found only 1 or 2 goats with hoof rot and there was an obvious reason why, if it was contagious you would think several in a herd would have it. The cases we saw were not just slight hoof rot, we are talking almost full hoof wall separation on some, so its not like it just recently developed.

Medicated feed is for treating cocci, so no I dont think it would help the hoof rot issue.

The only way to tell for sure if it is hoof rot would be to get someone very experienced in it to come look at her or get a very experienced vet out to look at her. The treatment for hoof rot and hoof abscess is similar minus the zinc or copper sulphate bath or formalin. Basically she needs a course of strong antibiotics and her hooves trimmed as much as you can, take off everything you can until you clearly see pink hoof sole. You may need to separate her or put her into a pen/confinement to try to keep it clean and dry until it heals.

Things to help avoid this issue again. Keep her feet trimmed is the number one thing you can do. If her feet are trimmed then when she does get her feet out of the water they will dry quickly and have no water stuck to cause the rot or soften. Most issues of hoof rot are solved by keep the hooves well rimmed to make sure there are no crevices where water or manure can pack in.


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## Baymule (Jul 15, 2021)

I had a horse with an abscess hoof. It stunk and felt hot before the abscess blew out the top at the hair line.

Trim the hoof, soak as advised, treat with betadine or something for hoof rot. Maybe soak a gauze pad in the treatment and place on hoof, wrap with vet wrap for a few days, changing twice a day. You are gonna have to come up with a way to keep her dry. Maybe the calf hut and pallets with cow panels around it?


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## messybun (Jul 16, 2021)

Baymule said:


> I had a horse with an abscess hoof. It stunk and felt hot before the abscess blew out the top at the hair line.
> 
> Trim the hoof, soak as advised, treat with betadine or something for hoof rot. Maybe soak a gauze pad in the treatment and place on hoof, wrap with vet wrap for a few days, changing twice a day. You are gonna have to come up with a way to keep her dry. Maybe the calf hut and pallets with cow panels around it?



The good news is it’s an open hole, so it must have already broke. I’m betting she stepped on a nail. It’s also shaping up to be a dry week so that’s a good start. I like that idea too, her own healing jug.

I also checked and nobody else has  any symptoms thankfully.


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## Baymule (Jul 16, 2021)

Cow panels and carabiners make instant pens. I do love cow panels!


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## Alaskan (Jul 17, 2021)

misfitmorgan said:


> Things to help avoid this issue again. Keep her feet trimmed is the number one thing you can do. If her feet are trimmed then when she does get her feet out of the water they will dry quickly and have no water stuck to cause the rot or soften. Most issues of hoof rot are solved by keep the hooves well rimmed to make sure there are no crevices where water or manure can pack in.


X2

Up here it is usually ok... but at times conditions just get soggy....  and in times like that the horses and goats would get issues.

I found the key was keeping the hooves trimmed...the goats about every 6 weeks, 2 months max. The horses was every 3 to 4 months (they were barefoot).

And then frequent,  at times daily or even twice daily, hoof cleanout.

With pretty short hooves and a daily clean out they were much more likely to stay perfect,  even if in muck for most of the time.


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## Beekissed (Jul 18, 2021)

I figure lime would help those soggy areas also....kind of change the pH of it all to keep down some overgrowth of bacteria and fungi.


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## messybun (Jul 18, 2021)

Thank y’all for all the advice. I checked everybody else, and don’t see any problems with the others. 
Her hoof is getting better very quickly. The little bit of slime between the toes was gone on day two and the smell is almost gone now. She’s not limping either. I’ve been using iodine and a sulfite spray. I thought people mentioned sulfur, sulfur sulfite should be the same base element. Plus the alcohol couldn’t hurt on top of it. So now I’m picking the two holes to keep them clean and flushing. I’ll do antibiotics for two or three more days I believe and we’ll see.


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## misfitmorgan (Jul 20, 2021)

messybun said:


> Thank y’all for all the advice. I checked everybody else, and don’t see any problems with the others.
> Her hoof is getting better very quickly. The little bit of slime between the toes was gone on day two and the smell is almost gone now. She’s not limping either. I’ve been using iodine and a sulfite spray. I thought people mentioned sulfur, sulfur sulfite should be the same base element. Plus the alcohol couldn’t hurt on top of it. So now I’m picking the two holes to keep them clean and flushing. I’ll do antibiotics for two or three more days I believe and we’ll see.


Glad she is healing up quick!


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## Baymule (Jul 21, 2021)

misfitmorgan said:


> Glad she is healing up quick!


X2!!


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