The poor people who have been hit with the flooding from the hurricanes now have one more thing to consider.  Not only does your house have a water line half way up the wall, all your stuff has been soaked for who knows how long, your car is soggy, and you’re done with this whole thing.  By the way.  If you are buying a used car, make sure you find out if it was involved with flood waters.

We no longer hear about the sufferings of the people who lost just about everything from a home, car, job, and everything else they owned, but now the horse owners who escaped the worst of it are faced with a new problem.  Sure down here in Florida we deal with hoof problems from water, bacteria, and fungus all the time.  Florida is a wonderful environment for these amazing treasures, but most people have never heard of Pythiosis.  Who???  What???  But so many of them are finding out the hard way.

I’ve seen two horses with it and it’s just plain disgusting.  The one horse had a sore on its leg.  The treatment was horrific, but the owner persisted and the horse was saved.  The other horse had no skin on its face, neck, and chest area.  It was supposedly getting better, but I don’t know what the outcome was.  These cases were several years ago.  No hurricane involved.  They just stepped into a pond with a cut, and voila!  Cases have been coming into the University since the hurricane.  If your horse has sores or wounds, it is susceptible to the invasion of this disease, where its zoospores encyst in the tissues, continuing to bore inward.  It grows quickly and must have professional treatment right away.  Treatment will likely consist of systemic and local anti-fungal agents, and surgical debridement if needed.  It can be fatal.  If your horse has a growth or sore that seems to appear overnight, and it’s been in standing water, pay attention to it and call your vet immediately.  It’s very aggressive, and trust me, you can’t fix this one by yourself.

Just one more thing horse owners must be aware of and take seriously.