About CleanTrax

Printable Version

As with any product read the instructions that come with the bottle.  The text of the instructions is available here.

Description of CleanTrax by Al Fox of Equine Technologies

The active ingredient in CleanTrax is oxyclorsine, which was developed by a large chemical company in New York to treat human finger and toenail infections.  It is pending approval at the US FDA for this purpose, but has been approved by the FDA for use in irrigating the human bladder in resistant urinary tract infections.  The product is called Clorpactin and can be researched in the Physicians Desk Reference.  It is used extensively by urologists and is used off-label to irrigate bed sores and sterilize trauma and surgeries.  It is currently in clinical trials to treat periodontal disease.  The compound is non-necrotizing, extremely surface active and destroys bacteria, viruses, fungi and fungal spores on contact in either the liquid or vapor form.

The chemical structure is unique.  First, a chlorine-based compound has been structured in a way that it will not freely dissociate.  Most chlorine-based substances (bleach, pool chlorine, chlorine dioxide [White Lightning]) come apart upon exposure to air, releasing free chlorine, with the following consequences a) they only kill surface growth and do not kill fungal spores; and b) they cause water to dissociate to capture the hydrogen, forming dilute hydrochloric acid, which is necrotizing and burns tissue on contact.

Second, the stabilized chlorine-based compound is linked to a monomeric oxygen, which gives the whole compound a charge and makes it extremely surface active, allowing it to rapidly penetrate small crevices.  Monomeric oxygen will also penetrate a spore coat and kill spores.  When oxyclorsine contacts organic material, such as a hoof, the chlorine-based compound and the monomeric oxygen begin to separate, a process which takes about 100 minutes to be complete, thus, two 45 minute soaks with effective penetration of the hoofs.  Both the chlorine-based compound and the monomeric oxygen are volatile and begin to vaporize once they are in the hoof layers, attacking fungus and fungal spores with two active substances in both the liquid and vapor states.

The chemical company in New York is one of my consulting clients, which is how we obtained the animal rights to the product.  Before putting it into the US market about 10 years ago, we conducted a study in 350 horses with a variety of hoof infections.  The study was conducted at the farrier school at Cornell University and the farrier unit at the University of Florida.  The animals were treated and were then monitored for two years.  No horse treated had a recurrence of the same infection and in 99% of the horses, it only required one treatment without hoof resection.  It was during these studies that we worked out the logistics for using the product on horses.

One of the major users of CleanTrax in the US is Dr. Scott Morrison, who runs the podiatry center at Rood & Riddle in Lexington, KY. Scott has used the product on horses with fungal attacks on the coffin bone that result in degeneration of that structure.  For this purpose, he soaks the front feet in CleanTrax, surgically intervenes and then soaks the interior in a fresh CleanTrax solution.  This apparently sterilizes the area without localized necrosis and supports grafting onto the damaged area.  He has now done this successfully in several horses.

Indications for use

The conditions that indicate you should treat your horse’s feet are white line infections and frog infections.  Chalky material in white line.  Black smelly areas in frog.  Flaps or pockets in frog.  If there are cracks in the walls, it is a good idea to treat because there may be an infection in the crack.  As long as an infection is present the crack will not close up.

Tips

CleanTrax should not be used on shod horses.  The presence of a horse shoe will make it difficult for the solution to penetrate the wall.  Also, the metal in the horse shoe will react with the CleanTrax solution and shorten the time that CleanTrax is active from 90 minutes to 30 minutes.

It is important to use a soaking boot that will hold the entire gallon.  You need the pressure created by the volume of solution to aid in penetration of the hoof wall.

Tips for using the soaking boots

Have someone to help hold the horse while putting the boots or plastic bags on.

It is a good idea to soak with the boots on bedding or rubber mats to prolong the life of the boots.  If this is not possible the boot can be reinforce with duct tape on the outside.

Put the solution in the boot first and put the horse’s foot down into the solution.  They seem to accept this better than having the solution poured in.  It is a good idea to practice with water first to determine if the horse will accept the soaking without getting upset. You should practice on both the front and rear feet since the horse may react to one and not the other.

When taking the boots on or off turn the top of the boot over the strap.  This will help to keep the boot open as you place the horse’s foot in it.

When putting the boots on use the strap at the top of the boot to tighten it around the horses leg.  If an additional strap (double sided Velcro, vet wrap, duct tape, bailing twine) is put around the horse's leg above the fetlock, it will keep the boot on if the horse moves around while soaking.  It is a little harder to keep boots on the rear feet, so take extra care to make sure everything is on snug.

Procedure

The solution is active for 90 minutes.  Each foot should be soaked for 45 minutes.  After the boot is removed from a foot the foot should be covered for another 45 minutes.  This allows the vapors of the CleanTrax to continue treat the foot.  When done do not dry off feet.

1. Clean horses feet well.
2. Put boots on front feet and soak for 45 minutes.
3. Move boots with solution to back feet.
4. Place a plastic bag over the front feet and leave on while soaking the back feet.  Secure bags with duct tape.  Use a long piece.  Go around the leg a couple of times above the fetlock.
5. After the back feet have soaked for 45 minutes remove boots from back feet.
6. Pour out CleanTrax.
7. Put empty boots on back feet again and leave on for 45 minutes
8. Remove plastic bags from front feet and boots from back feet.  Do not dry off.  All done elapsed time 2 1/2 hours.

The left over CleanTrax can be placed in a sprayer and used to disinfect a stall.

To make things clear my horse Gloi agreed to put the boots on and be photographed to show the steps.

Steps for front feet only

Steps for all four feet