Help with possible foot rot

Squeaky McMurdo · #1 09/19/13, 12:51 PM

For those of you that don't know the story of Toast, her breeder has MS and has gone downhill leaving her husband to care for her animals. She was limping on her left front leg, so the breeder gave her to me. Right off the bat I suspected it was just that her hooves were overgrown and that she was limping due to hyperextending that foot. My husband trimmed her feet and that helped a lot, she still doesn't like to stand on that foot but she walks, runs, and stomps at dogs normally.

After reading the thread on foot trimming and finding out that trimming the sole a little doesn't hurt them, and then reading the other trimming threads yesterday, I worked up the courage to go out there and do another trim of her feet yesterday. I found what I think might have been foot rot underneath some of the sole that I trimmed off, but not on the sore foot. The thing is the surrounding tissue looks healthy, not rotting away, so I'm thinking perhaps the previous trim and maybe the fact that I took her off COB and put her on minerals helped it heal? I have had her for a month I think.

I went out to take pictures today and couldn't get it cleaned out as well as I did yesterday due to having only a camera and a stick to pick it out with, but here it is. It's her right front foot. Upon further inspection this morning I did find a pin prick size divot on her sore foot

Squeaky McMurdo · #2 09/19/13, 12:53 PM

The one on the sore foot

Squeaky McMurdo · #3 09/19/13, 01:00 PM

And advice on any further trimming that needs to be done so she continues to improve would be appreciated. Here is how she stands on it when she decides to and I'm not sure how to fix it. Do I need to keep trimming her heel back or something every week or so? Brace her leg again? (She will not walk on it at all with a brace, but will stand on it)

MDKatie · #4 09/19/13, 01:11 PM

It doesn't look like foot rot to me. Foot rot will be stinky, and the hooves will be soft/mushy. It looks like that big hole was from an abcess.

Clovers_Clan · #5 09/19/13, 09:36 PM

Her feet look good to me. Have you considered rickets? Are all legs this way or just one?

Clovers_Clan · #6 09/19/13, 09:50 PM

"Manganese: Slow growth rates in kids (especially buck kids), reduced fertility and abortions in does, improperly formed legs, and difficulty in walking are general signs of manganese deficiency. Too much calcium interferes with manganese absorption."
(VITAMIN AND MINERAL DEFICIENCIES IN GOATS, http://www.tennesseemeatgoats.com/ar...mineral06.html)

Also if she was bottle fed on replacer...
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1440546

Could be a mineral deficiency or imbalance.

Frosted Mini's · #7 09/19/13, 11:18 PM

Do you have any before-trimming pictures? I would not keep trimming heal down. If her toe is long, she will lean back on the heal, which is what you are trying to prevent. Just keep the bottom of the hoof parallel to the top like usual. It looks like in the second pic, she could use a little more trimmed off on the outside edges. My goats get little holes like that sometimes in their feet. I assumed they had stepped on something sharp and it poked their feet.

If you haven't given her copper bolus and bo-se, I would do that, and also give a good quality loose mineral free choice. Hopefully the leg straightens itself out with proper trimming and minerals. I would also trim her frequently, at least once a month if not every 2 weeks for awhile and see if that helps.

Squeaky McMurdo · #8 09/20/13, 12:38 AM

I took this her first trimming. You can kind of see how badly she hyperextended that front left leg. Imagine a triangle of hoof where her toe is off the stand in my previous picture. That's how bad they were. I had to stop this time because I was starting to draw blood.

They get minerals on the stand but I can't free choice anything because Cocoa will eat it all and beats the liver and lights out of Hercules and Gemini if they even look at it.

Her joint (is it the hock?) was inflamed but wasn't today. That leg isn't as flexible as the other and makes a clicking noise at the joint.

She was dam raised, tested CL and CAE free in May. She's 3.

Edited to add: no clue why this picture is upside down...

MDKatie · #9 09/20/13, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squeaky McMurdo

Edited to add: no clue why this picture is upside down...

You sure you don't live in Australia?

Frosted Mini's · #10 09/20/13, 12:16 PM

The hock is the real pointy joint on their back legs. Maybe the knee, or the fetlock? Fetlock is the first joint above the hoof, and the knee is the next joint. Maybe she injured that leg at some point?

motdaugrnds · #11 09/21/13, 06:31 PM

Maybe it is a mineral deficiency; however, I know what I'ld do if she were mine. The first thing I'ld do is make sure the "toe" is not so long she cannot stand on that part comfortably. Then I'ld clean out that hole, squirt a little LA 200 (an antibiotic) into it, stuff some triple antibiotic into that hole and then put the entire hoof in a boot. I'ld leave it 24 hours, then take boot off and do it all again, replacing the boot.

That looks like something that will need to heal from the inside out and that means it will take longer; so you need to keep dirt out of it while it closes itself off.