I was called to look at a donkey who has WLD in all four feet. Her right front seems to be the worst. If I resect I will be taking hoof wall off almost to th CB on at least two feet and enough hoof wall around the sides to keep me from nailing a shoe on. She weighs about 500 lbs. What can I do to stabilize this donkeys hooves after the resection? I was thinking about putting equipack CS in all the resected areas and then putting the foot in a cast. Anyone else have any ideas? Sorry no pics yet.
If the donkey can walk you are better off not to resect. I would treat with white lightning or Oxine AH (activated with white vinegar) applying to all infected areas full strength. After keeping the infected areas wet with this concoction for about 1/2 hour I would follow up with a heat gun or hair dryer to dry out the foot then apply Durasole with a small stainless steel wire brush - a flux brush like the ones sold at welding supplies - about the size of a tooth brush. Donkeys are highly susceptible to WLD - I've never seen one that didn't have at least a low grade infection. If the owner is willing to treat with Durasole on a weekly basis - following the directions, the problem can be kept well controlled. Good luck getting an owner to actually do this though.
The donkey can walk. We tried white lightning awhile back and I thought we had a handle on it but it is back with a vengeance. The donkey pulls a cart so she isn't just a pasture ornament. One of the main problems is the pasture she is in has been VERY wet this year. Why does the wire brush need to be stainless?
