foot rot question

I have a steer with foot rot. He has a big puss pocket on the back of his foot right above his hoof. I have given him Sulpha pills and LA 200. Now here is the question do you lance it and drain the puss or leave it alone. I have had people tell me both ways and would like to know what you think.

Probably worth a trip to the vet if you have an abcess.  Also, we use LA 300 and get good results on hoof rot. 

Sulfa pills won't help with the abscess and depending on the causative agent sulfa probably won't work either.

since there is an abscess i would consult your veterinarian to prevent getting the joint infected

i usually use Nuflor with cases of footrot

Just my opinion

JWW

nuflor, banamine, and koppertox

cattlepimp said:

nuflor, banamine, and koppertox

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Ditto that!

and salt! will keep it away

I've also heard that the vaccine for foot rot is a pretty good preventative.  I'm definitely going to give it to my donors on the next go around.

Don't overlook good ol' Long-acting Penicillin for true footrot.

You said steer so I assume its a show steer and easy to work with. I would also soak his foot in Epsom salt to help bring all the puss out. I too like penicillin.
Why wont sulfa help a abscess? I had two cows get foot rot in pasture this year with no corrals or chute to use to treat it. Both were old show heifers that I caught with a halter and gave sulfa pills only and it cleared it up right away. One did have a abscess break and it worked there too. Was I lucky to have it work? 

How do you use salt to keep it away? We get hoof rot every year with our show steers so we aparently have it in the soil-I am interested in any way out there to prevent it instead of treat it.

here is the mechanism of most sulfa - - competively inhibit dihydropteroate synthase, the enzyme that catalyses the incoroportation of PABA into dihydrofolic acid,  -- inhibit folic acid production

within an abscess there are many dead cells that have spilled their cellular contents allowing the bacteria in the abscess to have free range on the available folate within the abscess and their folate production pathways shutdown, hence sulfas and other folate inhibitors won't work well on abscesses.

JWW

Ok the vaccine for footrot is semi helpful.  Problem with it is you need to have like 20 fimbrial types to be effective and there isn't much immune action going on pertaining to the hoof.  Hard hoof doesn't have much blood flow relative to other parts of the body.  It is not just in the soil either, foot rot (dichelobactor nodosus or fusobacterium necrophorum) can't survive in the soil for very long (usually under a year, and in many cases just a few days).  It takes trauma to cause foot rot so part of prevention is examining your yards and finding areas where injury could occur. 

so how long do you need to wait to use penicillian if you have already given them LA 200?

snoit said:

I have a steer with foot rot. He has a big puss pocket on the back of his foot right above his hoof. I have given him Sulpha pills and LA 200. Now here is the question do you lance it and drain the puss or leave it alone. I have had people tell me both ways and would like to know what you think.

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u

Cheap and easy soakboot is a tire innertube cut in 2 pieces.  Makes 2.  Slide the foot in halfway.  Fill with the warmest water you can stick your hand into that you have dissolved a handful of epsom salts into.  Fold the other side up and duct tape around the tube above the dewclaws.  Leave on for 12 hours.  Check the abcess.  If popped, treat the area with antiseptic.  Works great and easy fix. 

snoit said:

so how long do you need to wait to use penicillian if you have already given them LA 200?

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Give the penicillin anytime.  I know of no contraindications to giving both drugs close together.  Like someone else said, use koppertox too.  If it does any good or not, it sure makes me feel better to squirt something on it! ;D  Seriously it's a good product.

thanks everyone for your help

As a professional hoof trimmer , I just thought I would throw in my two cents worth. Where your describing the abcess it would appear to me your steer probably has or had a forien object stuck in the sole of the affected hoof some where along the white line handy the heel. My suggestion is to lift the foot clea up the sole with a knifethen check along the white line that is where the sole joins the hoof wall for cracks and or sharp objects. Once your problem is found remove it and any damaged hoof around it. You can then pack the area with tetracycline powder and pine tar. The improvement in the animal should be almost instant. Hope you find something.