Seedy Toe???

[Universal]

Advice, Information, Experience on Seedy Toe.

About to buy a lush showjumping mare my dream horse she really is perfect in everyway BUT she has had a seedy toe!! She will be vetted this week but would like to hear from anyone that has or knows about it.

[Peter026]

Seedy toe is the separation of the hoof wall and the laminae. Depending on the severity of the seedy toe, your Farrier will debride the hoof wall, exposing the infected tissue to air. This will kill off any anaerobic bacteria. There is a very good product on the market at the moment called hoof puncture plus, spray this on once the foot has been debrided and cleaned.

[Donkeymad]

Donkeys are very prone to Seedy Toe, so I have much experience.
The hooves should not be allowed to get too wet, and the hoof wall is best removed from the affected area. Do NOT plug any ST holes! Iodine or tea tree are excellent for containing ST while the affected area grows out.

[LeneHorse]

My farrier recommends Backtokil (sp) for this. You spray it on once the infected hoof has been cut away by the farrier.

[Ani]

i bought a mare who had seedy toe, when i bought her she had filler in the foot, she passed the vet without a problem but when my farrier came he had to cut a semi circle of hoof out the size of half a grapefruit, at it;s worst the cut out area came as high as an inch from the coronet band. i tried everything to get rid of it: iodine, tea tree, euclyptus, lavender, purple spray, we tried leaving it open and plugging it. in the end an old irish farmer told me to use turpintine...yes turpintine and it worked and worked straight away. i plugged the area with cotton wool soaked in turps for three days then just sprayed it with turps and left it open for three days alternately. i was lucky though it took more than two years to totally get it to grow out the mare never went lame and never lost a shoe. I will warn you i tried farriers formular to get the hoof to grow but because of the seperation the hoof grew too quickly for the strength and began to split, better just to let it grow in it's own time.

[Donkeymad]

You should never plug seedy toe as it is an anaerobic organism which breeds in airless conditions.

[amandap]

I have plugged the cavity with cotton wool soaked in a weak milton solution changed daily in the past. The ST grew out nicely... whether the plugging worked or not it is impossible to say. It did stop stones and mud getting in though. That horse wasn't shod btw.
Other things ime to be aware of are over all diet and condition of the foot ie. anything that contributes to weakening the lamina (high sugar diet, flare,poor trim, thrush etc.) provides a ready meal for all sorts of bugs and fungus.
I believe soaks can be helpful.... apple cider vinegar solution for 20 mins twice weekly may help. There's also a soaking product called cleantrax that BFters use that isn't damaging to healthy tissue.
You may need to remove the shoes for it to clear properly, and it's a case of stopping it spreading till the damaged lamina grow out which takes as long as the depth of the infection to grow down which could be months.
It is a sign that something isn't right in diet and or management from what I understand.... bacteria and fungus don't tend to be able to get hold in a healthy foot.
Wet muddy conditions do contribute and don't help ime.