5 Days Box Rest with lameness - Vet has cut lots of Hoof

[denisel]

My poor 14.2 gelding has been on box rest for past 5 days. He was in excruciating pain on Day 1, sweating the lot. Wouldnt put his foot down at all - laid down the whole day. Farrier convinced pedal fracture.

Day 1: Vet came out suspected 1 of 3 things: 1: absess 2: massive bruise 3: Pedal bone fracture.

Did the X-rays - fortunately no fracture (PHEW). Showed signs of either pus or bruising but not crsytal clear. Punctured hoof, put on Bute twice a day and was told to hot poultice twice a day to draw out the pus.

Day 2: Much more comfortable, still not putting pressure on foot but happier in himself. Still clearly painful though.

Day 3: Vet back out - cut deeper into hoof (in fact now looks a bloody mess). Vet I may add is from Bell equine in Kent.
To continue with Poultice and pain killers - remain on box rest (not that he wants to walk on it bless him).

Day 4: Still no sign of pus, but evidently still painfull. Although now putting a little more pressure on his foot which is a very good sign.

Day 5: Still no sign of pus and to me the hoof is looking a little soggy through the poultice. Much more himself though - frustrated at being kept in and eager to get out the stable. Putting much more pressure on foot, although always reluctant to take that first step.

Day 6 (Today): Rang Vet, gave him the update as above. He has now advised to reduce to 1 sachet of Bute per day rather than 2 sachets. Also to stop doing the poultice but instead put a dry one on to protect the sole and hoof whilst in the stable. Also to walk him up his block occasionally to give him some exercise.

The farrier is coming out tomorrow to have a look at his hoof. Our Farrier is excellent actually so hopefully he'll be able to come up with a plan so he can get a shoe back on him. Will need packing out and building up, possibly glueing to begin with.

What worries me is that a: his hoof will now be soft, so much more vulnerable whilst out and b: how long it will be before he is sound again. Poor thing is so frustrated being indoors.

Any words of wisdom and help out there

 

[tikino]

why do vets insist in hacking away at horses feet instead of getting the foot exspert to deal with the feet(farrier). vets don't get a lot of training on feet where farriers get 4 years training. right enought of the rant. i would not worry to much as if you have a good farrier he will be able to assist you with your poor lads foot. i personaly always get the farrier to have a dig around the foot first

 

[denisel]

Well the Farrier had cut in the first instance but the Vet unfortunately intervened in my absence without the Farrier there.

However we have had an update today.

Farrier came again today and dug just a little deeper and came across some Pus - Hoorray I thought - until he then said it was not the colour he expected but more pinky which sometimes indicates a fracture of some sort.

Rang the vet to advise. Although in my opinion he's taking guidance from us and Farrier rather than giving it!!

Farrier has now suggested to poultice on that particular area only twice a day for 2 days then use purple spray, cotton wool and a dry wrap. By this point he would be off the Bute and either getting better or worse.

May have to take him back down for a second set of X-rays as he had the portable ones come out to him.

So worried....

 

[Nailed]

Sorry but vets are BUTCHERS.
Dont panic about your farrier saying it indicates fracture. It can be a sign of a fracture but Pinky pus is also sign of a deep abcess..

Lou x

 

[denisel]

Well i have look and searched everywhere on the internet for an analysis of different coloured pus's. (Amazing what you do when stuck in front of a PC for hours on end worried out your mind!! Not always a good thing I may add.)

Anyway - I cant find a thing. However one article I did find from a farrier was that pinky pus can indicate old pus. Which bearing in mind its been in there for a week now and not very forthcoming at coming out possibly does indicate that its been a very deep set absess.

I know its all summising and we all clutch at any bit of hope we can get - anything but a fracture but is there anyone that can explain the workings of what my poor boy is going through and what different coloured pus's mean??

Lou - I have pm'd you. Thank you x

 

[Orangehorse]

Been there, got the T shirt. My horse wasn't as in acute pain as yours, but he just wouldn't come sound after 3-4 weeks, he was on and off lame, and the senior partner came out and she wondered if it was a broken bone, so we did X rays. No breaks fortunately, but she could see how the infection had tracked round the hoof and yes, my horse ended up with 3 big holes in his foot too, which took months to grow out properly.

The trouble with Bute is that it is a pain killer, but it is also an anti-inflammatory and this can sometimes damp down the infection and stop it coming out, which I think happened to my horse in this case.

Some people say you have just got to let them go out in the field and walk it off and although they will be lame it will resolve quicker. However, when you horse is in so much pain that they are sweating and cannot put their foot to the ground who can deny them a pain killer? And it would probably be unethical too. You have also got to be sure that it isn't a broken bone, because in that case the last thing they should be doing is walking around on it.

When my vet was wondering if it was broken or not she could see my look of horror and was quite breezy about it all - Oh just put on a circle shoe and box rest and they are better quite quickly.

 

[denisel]

Well personnally I do feel that he was on the Bute too long. Masking the effect. I have also heard that the more they circulate the quicker the abscess can come out. Trouble is he cant go out as he is - plus he hasnt got a shoe on yet so its awkward all round.

Its the unknown thats killing me. Just need to know what the hell it is. If the infection tracks round the hoof - how does that work then?? sorry very green. x

 

[Orangehorse]

Well it is just that it doesn't come to one point and bursts out, so you don't have an acute infection and get rid of it, it just sort of lurks there, and one day it is hurting and the horse is lame and then for a couple of days it doesn't hurt and the horse is sound, until it either bursts out or the vet or farrier manage to locate it and after a few days poulticing you can get rid of the infection. Of course, the horse's system is also fighting the infection, but once you have any sort of inflammation in a foot it is very painful as there is no room for expansion, hence the acute pain.

Then a few weeks later, after the horse is sound and well again, you are picking out their feet and the whole of the bottom of the foot falls out. Cue leap back in horror, but it should reveal a nice healthy sole underneath and next time the farrier comes to trim the hooves he takes off double the amount of hoof wall. It doesn't really all fall out in one piece, it falls out in chunks, it is where the infection has got between the layers of hoof growing down so it can separate, it is a natural process.

 

[denisel]

Hey guys - just wanted to update you all. Vet came back out Friday night and inspected foot etc. Also did tight turn walks and on the straight too. Vet is pleased with progress and advised that being pain killer free he would have shown signs of pain with the tight turns that he was doing if there was a fracture.

He is aiming to get a shoe back on him asap to get him slowly walking. Course the problem now is can the farrier get a shoe on him!!

So relieved though.