My Queen Tilly has developed a limp and after examining her I discovered she has split her little front hoof on the outside from the bottom up. The split goes pretty much to the top of her hoof. Does not seem to be swelling or infected. Any advice on what to do would be appreciated.
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I gave my goat horse guard hoof/coat and her hoof is completed mended.
I recommend that to anyone with hoof problems. The vet did say I should only give her 1/8 c. for the day.
The dose for a horse is 6 oz. - so I did over do it a little - maybe that's why the hoof healed so fast. ^^
I just had a problem with a hoof. Vet told me to keep it cleaned once a day - dont bandage because it needs air - but my problem wasnt a split - it was from the mid heels on the inside rubbing each other and mud caked in there. I used a little bleach in water to wash good and then sprayed iodine every day on it. Vet said iodine cartarizes it. I also had some Horse Guard for Hoof/Coat - I have been giving her 1/4 c. for the last 5 days. it is potent stuff - so no more than that - I give her 1/8 c. in her grain ration in the a.m. and other 1/8 c. at night.
It is all better now. yay!
Thanks for your response Deborah, I value your opinion greatly. I have never had this problem either. Your right about it not really being a wound. So far as we can tell at this point it doesn't really seem to involve flesh and still does not show any sign of swelling or infection after 2 days. So I think she is safe on that score it is, I believe more an issue of keeping her safe from further damage so that does not become an issue and keeping her as comfortable as possible til her hoof grows out. I think that is why the vetwrap was recommended. No draining to worry about. More to cushion it, like maybe as a shock absorber so it doesn't bust further up, you know. Does that make any since or seem like a practical possibility? Anyway I believe that was sort of the goal when it was suggested. Actually one of the people that suggested the vetwrap and also the blue coat was a young lady who has about 20 goats and says she has done this so I figured if it worked for
her it was worth a shot. Poor thing looks like she is wearing a little pink cast but she doesn't care. Especially with her daddy, whose wore out from planting all day holding her. She is so spoiled.
I have never had a split hoof on a goat, but I have had a very bad cut on a pig's leg just above his hoof, and I learned the hard way that wrapping it was a bad idea. It seems that when it comes to livestock, vets are always saying that wounds should be left open to drain so they don't get infected, although I'm not clear on whether or not this is a wound exactly. I would think that either Blue Kote or iodine would be good applied daily to keep her from getting an infection. I'm a pretty big fan of iodine, but Blue Kote might be a perfectly good option in this case because you already have it, and it is an antifungal, which might be an issue with a hoof. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.