A therapeutic shoe for cloven-hooved lactating animals protects a diseased or injured hoof from the external environment to promote healing. The shoe is notionally divided into four parts: a sole portion for supporting the undersides of the medial and lateral claws; a vamp portion connected to the sole portion for at least partially enveloping the hoof wall between its toe, heel and coronary band; a quarter portion connected to the vamp portion for at least partially enveloping the front and lateral pastern sections; and a heel portion connected to both the vamp and quarter portions for at least partially enveloping the heel and the area beneath the dew claws. The material of the shoe at the heel portion is relatively more deformable than the material of the shoe at the sole, vamp or quarter portions thus avoiding the application of excess pressure to this sensitive area of the hoof anatomy.
