8/6 - Day 1 or 2 ? Discovered small round hole on 8/6. Very small, thought it was puncture wound. Hair around was good at that time. Sprayed Scarlet oil and then later applied wonder dust. Checked to ensure nothing was in small hole. Size of penny.

8/7 Treated the same and saw it was slightly larger. Put wonder dust on it.

8/8 Day 3 or 4 - Hole was a little larger on 8/8 and when I looked at it I saw small white things that looked like wood shavings. I thought she might have wood stuck in hole. Called Vet. No pictures taken. Hole did not have deterioration of skin around it yet. Vet said to give Zimectrin but I had just wormed with Strongid, double dose. Wait 1 week and give Zimectrin. Vet dug out esoinophilic granuloma. Several of them were in hole and hole was getting deeper. Bleeding a lot but blood looked good at that point. Put horse on Uniprim – 5 day dose starting 8/8. Bute 2 tabs twice a day. A.m. & p.m. Soak for 10-15 minutes in Epson salts and benedine surgical scrub. Wrapping with green solution from vet. Soaking pad. Could be several things. Summer sore, esinophilic granuloma, Florida leech, Phycomycosis, hard to say what cause is but symptoms are what we are seeing. Typically fast growth and sometimes antibiotics don’t work.

Day 8 - 8/12, slightly worse and skin around sore was dying. Vet came. More granuloma, gave Zimectrin in the a.m.Continued Uniprim, rec’d second jar. Vet dug out granuloma and tissue.

Day 9 = 8/13 picture. Sore continued to get worse quickly. - Starting to get lumpy. This looked like bite due to dead area around sore? Weren’t sure if this was Florida leech or not. Leaning towards summer sore from spider bite????

Day 11 - 8/15 Picture 2:34 PM Sore seems to be opening up to the point where skin has deteriorated. This area didn’t appear to be getting bigger. Still thought it was spider bite.KG continued to dig out granuloma, soak and give uniprim and bute. Soaking twice a day, wrapping with green solution. Dead tissue around sore came out in whole pieces.

Day 12 - 8/16 - Vet visit, dug more stuff out. Put on Prednizone 400 mg daily. Took off Uniprim. Gave Banimine, didn’t give any more bute. Continue to wrap and apply “green solution”. Green solution is something from vet office used on summer sores and promotes healing?

Day 14 - 8/18 - Skin or tissue surrounding sore easily came out. Continued to pull out granuloma. Was hopeful the prednisone was working and pushing out granuloma as they were popping to the surface Saw skin deterioration was getting larger and growing. Sore seemed to be growing out more than in. from volcano type type to fungus growing out????

Day 15 – Vet visit 8/19 - Had discontinued Uniprim on 8/16 when prednisone given. Gave her two shots, one on each side of neck. Milky white looking. Asked if she was allergic to penicillin .Getting really bad! Nothing we’ve tried has been working. Getting much larger. Tranquilized her and dug in to clean out more.

Day 17 - 8/21 continuing to get bad, called emergency on Friday/Sat? and vet on call said start packing with sugar and betadine solution. Eerything else was okay. She was very sore, hardly walking. Started giving her bute. Asked about blue wound, purple solution. Would this work?

8/21 – view shows how sore is starting to grow around fetlock and get closer to cornet band. Vet due on 8/23.

Day 17 – 8/22 Called Copeland for f/u. Sore started turning purple. This was supposedly good as it was drawing poison out with sugar and benedine. Continued using this until vet visit on 8/23.

Day 19 – 8/23 Vet visit. Didn’t do much, Gave additional shots same as on 8/19. Scheduled surgery to cut out and burn. Surgery scheduled for 8/24 noon. Granuloma continues to fall out. No word from the lab as to what this is. No other tests given to lab.

Day 21 - 8/25 Morning I took Stormy home. At vets - Bottom looked suspicious. Tranquilized horse and dug out a few areas. Could not tell there was granulom growing or not. Tissue seemed okay but this was a worry.

Day 21 – 8/25 Replaced wrap at night around 4:00 p.m.and actually saw one granuloma on bottom. Was very concerned we didn’t get it all. Wiped out everything. Pushed and looked for more. Saw nothing strange. Sprayed Banixx on bottom of sore. Applied the burn solution to entire sore per instruction from vet. (Thermazene, silver sulfadiazine 1% cream). No pictures.

Day 22 – 8/26 11:00 a.m. Changed dressing saw several small granuloma, small on overall sore but very little. One in center, one on side and I think several in the hole in the bottom and hole on side was dug out and I think that had some little ones. Put in jar and talked to vet about hole in the bottom and one on side. Dug out as best I could.

Day 8/27 –Vet visit pulled out more granuloma, got banamine and started 1st of 3 day dosage. Vet had to tranquilize to pick out granulomas. After talking to Marty I went out and held ice pack for 5-10 minutes. Sore was very dry. Didn’t prod. Will try olive oil tomorrow with ice.

..., as a reminder of our conversation, please ask your vet to contact Dr. Gary Shelton in Elkton, Florida about the treatments he has done on Pythiosis horses. He has used the freezing method that worked on a horse in St. Augustine. That horse got Pythiosis in his chest cavity. He has had very good results. Also remind your vet to get that vaccine asap.

Where and how did your horse get Pythiosis? To begin with understanding Pythiosis you need to know that it is a Tropical Micro-Organism and not a virus. fungus or bacteria. It finds a host to feed on, creates a community and breeds all by itself. There is no male or female to this organism. It survives in marshy areas, ditches, mud, and especially around standing water such as a pond. It is around the edges hiding on the grasses. In order for it to get into the system of an animal, that animal has to have an entry point. A cut, scrape or itchy spot. Fire weed is one way for an animal to let Pythiosis in. It irritates the skin, the animal bites at it and creates a spot where the skin is broken. For an animal to get it they usually have an immune system that is not 100%. Without a good immune system, the animal cannot fight it on their own and as the stages continue of the infestation the immune system goes down even more.

Pythium is the name of the organism, Pythiosis is the name of the infestation. Pythium will get in the skin and immediately build a house called a Kunkle that nothing can penetrate. While it is in this house it multiplies. When it needs to feed, it will open the Kunkle and spit. This spit will cause skin to rot and the Pythium feeds. As the Kunkle get crowded, it builds a tunnel to a next Kunkle that it will build and create a sort of road system to travel around the host animal. The end location will be in a major organ of the animal where the Pythium will feed until the animal dies.

Knowing this part of how pythiosis works, the stages of getting rid of it have to be followed. It's a hard job and will take a few months but as I see your pictures, You caught this in time. The Pythium is moving but you and the vet have arrested the entry point. Now all you have to do it keep the area cold and keep the swelling out. This is the ice packs or freezing with liquid Nitrogen (vet has to do) and it's expensive. Remember Pythiosis is a Tropical Micro-Organism. It doesn't survive in cold. Extreme warning, do not take care of the horses leg with bare hands. USE GLOVES and burn bandages and gloves after use. Do not use a reusable bandage. In the stalled area, make sure you do not change bandages or wash in the stall. Do all of the treatments including medications in one spot away from where the horse sleeps. Try to keep the horse in a paddock area to walk around and not in an open field. While the healing process is going on, the area will itch and the animals natural instincts are to scratch at the bandages and rip them apart.

This is the list of things I suggested you get from www.saddleuptack.com

Equine Elite Products: Elite Wash, it kills all topical organisms, fungus and bacteria from the rotted area and helps in quick healing.

Elite Antimicrobial Spray - it stops itching of the infected area and promotes fast healing. Use this first so you can work on the leg. I took as much of the bandages off as possible then sprayed the remainder on the nylon then gently and slowly pulled it off without getting kicked. Remember, it hurts.

Elite Wound Relief, really promotes fast tissue regeneration.

All of the Equine Elite Products have an Olive Oil base so if a bandage gets stuck in the mess, put some on the bandage then take it off.

A vitamin and mineral supplement just for the immune system.

To make life easy, I suggested and ice boot. It is easy to put on with Velcro tabs, wraps around the leg and can stay on for a few hours at a time instead of hosing or holding an ice pack. It is flexable and horses can not get it off. I used it over bandages. The one for the rear leg will go from cornet to hock easily.
If you see swelling inside the leg, get it down with ice asap. Remember, swelling gives pithium the opportunity to attack that area and create rot to feed on.

I hate to say this but check your horses face and make sure there are no small area's on the lips or jowl area. The pithium can't get in unless there is a cut or scrape but just check to make sure.