Abcess HELP?? Please

milesjess

milesjess

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My horse lives out and has had his 2 back shoes removed. He's a TB and quite flat footed but has had all of winter off to live out.

Anyways 2 weeks ago he comes in hopping lame, panicked and phoned the vet who confirms suspected abscess and digs into his foot. Not popping it out but enough to expose where it is, states give it a few days and if it's not out re call. So cue the poulticing and he seemed to go much sounder, with a little coming out of the poultice.

Farrier had come out and by chance, bring horse in and he's hopping lame again like day 1! Hot foot, very painful and farrier confirms abscess seems to have drained out through coronet band but because of the digging the vet has done his sole is basically caved and extremely sore. He also has 2 more smaller abscesses in his other foot!! Both drained.

So both are dry poulticed as I don't want his feet becoming any softer if that's right?

Farrier recommended nappy, iodine and sugar to put on his sole to create a barrier and continue with poulticing, he lives out still so with the mud I need to keep them clean.

Can anyone help??

I feel very guilty, he's always had rubbish feet but seeing him in pain is awful .. Off to get more bute, but anything I can do to help him?

(This isn't a rant at the vet sorry! Just after some help, first time I've dealt with an abcess!)
 
Go to your local tyre shop and ask for a car inner tube. Cut to 12" lengths and pull over the hooves. Tape up well with duct tape. They're reusable as long as enough duct tape is used.

Edit to say this is to be used over your nappy, not instead of.
 
My TB who lives out had a run of abscesses a couple of years ago, at the time I didn't have a stable so had to just get on with it. I used 4x nappies (newborn size), then layer of vetwrap, then layer of ductape, then half a plastic feed sack (e.g. HiFi) wrapped round foot and pastern up to the fetlock, and covered with a couple of layers of ductape. This kept the foot/hoof dry even in the deep wet winter (field is clay, so gets wet), I would change it each end of the day until the shoe could go back on (usually after 4-6 days, but they can rattle on much longer!).

ETA, it's awful seeing them so sore, but this will ease off once the pressure in the foot subsides. It's just a waiting game.
 
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Thank you, I feel like a poultice expert now ha.

The abscesses are out I believe but he's pretty much now walking on his sole with the digging that has been done on his worst foot. I'm just a bit worry that his foot is ruined and it's going to take months to recover.

Would you suggest dry poulticing then rather than wet?
 
milesjess said:
Thank you, I feel like a poultice expert now ha.

The abscesses are out I believe but he's pretty much now walking on his sole with the digging that has been done on his worst foot. I'm just a bit worry that his foot is ruined and it's going to take months to recover.

Would you suggest dry poulticing then rather than wet?
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Wet poultice only for a couple of days max, then dry poultice until all the gunk has come out. After that you can use the nappies/vetwrap/tape/feedsack combo without any poultice to protect the foot until he can be reshod or the foot is ready to go without.
 
my tb was plagued with abcesses during the winter. he lived out too at the time, so in was plagued with them. it just depended where they appeared as to how long it took to recover or whether to do wet or dry.

any near the heel were a nightmare if i kept them wet as his heel would go very sore.i could only wet poultice for two days at most and then had to switch to dry. i ended up having to beg stables for him for the worst ones or any that came through the heel.

i started using a product called blackdraw

http://www.totally-tack.co.uk/p_21_equine-america-blackdraw-hoof-poultice
which i found very good. you don't need to poultice with it, just apply, wrap in cling film, and it draws it out. i ended up having to give up nappy poulticing as it would just get wet and muddy and **** his foot up.
 
Thanks for the advice, fingers crossed they'll sort themselves out with some help and he won't be in as much pain.

Thank you guys!
 
This is exactly what happened with my mare last week. I have wet poulticed then dry for a week but even though I have put tons of tape nappies vet wrap etc the mud has still got through over the past two days, i had the vet back out today and she said it looks very good, considering all. On her say so, I have put her out but I am so worried what I will find tomorrow. Hopefully she will be fine, if not I expect I will be starting the process all over again and it is such hard work. Praying for dry spring weather.
 
I tend to think they are better buted & turned out because it seems to allow better circulation & healing. I too do wet for a few days & then dry. I start with Animalintex, then a nappy, then vetwrap, & then strong duct tape. Works a treat & never comes off even in mud. Wee tip for you ... Before you start, tear strips of duct tape about maybe 8 inches long & stick them on the stable door loosely & horizontally together with a small overlap on each so they are stuck together. Repeat the process vertically. You will end up with a square of tape strips stick together. Once you've got your other hoof dressings on, peel the square off (which is why you only stuck it loosely), lift the hoof up, place the square on the sole & then fold up the sides. Place the hoof down, trim off any excess, the finish with a few similar length strips kinda diagonally from front to back. Saves faffing about trying to keep the horse still while you wrap tape round & round the hoof. Another tip - do all of your dressing with the hoof above an empty trug so it doesn't get dirty before you get the final layer on. I hope I explained that ok!
 
Here's a link showing pretty much how i do it, although i add a nappy before the vetwrap, & his way of making the tape square looks better actually as he alternates the direction of the tape (i do all horizontal then all vertical) & also puts cuts in to fold it up, which is a great idea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCbjQTq95es

Hope that helps! :-)
 
eatmyshorts said:
I tend to think they are better buted & turned out because it seems to allow better circulation & healing. I too do wet for a few days & then dry. I start with Animalintex, then a nappy, then vetwrap, & then strong duct tape. Works a treat & never comes off even in mud. Wee tip for you ... Before you start, tear strips of duct tape about maybe 8 inches long & stick them on the stable door loosely & horizontally together with a small overlap on each so they are stuck together. Repeat the process vertically. You will end up with a square of tape strips stick together. Once you've got your other hoof dressings on, peel the square off (which is why you only stuck it loosely), lift the hoof up, place the square on the sole & then fold up the sides. Place the hoof down, trim off any excess, the finish with a few similar length strips kinda diagonally from front to back. Saves faffing about trying to keep the horse still while you wrap tape round & round the hoof. Another tip - do all of your dressing with the hoof above an empty trug so it doesn't get dirty before you get the final layer on. I hope I explained that ok!
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Genius! Thank you
 
Thank you, both are wrapped up and both still seem to be oozing out yellow pus and black goo only small amounts.

He's still hopping lame and very sore.

Dry poulticing as I don't think his feet will take anymore wet as they have become so soft. Also had to use home made hoof size sponges on the outer side of the poultice to try and give him some support off his sole as he's so sore on one in particular.

Is it common for quite a lot of damage to be done to the hoof itself then? Particularly his left hind, he's flat footed anyways but where the vet has dug has left him walking on barely any sole and I think that's partly why he is still in so much discomfort.

He's out still but I'm going to be fetching him in on box rest.

Farrier mentioned sugar and iodine mixed together compacted into a nappy to try and harden up his sole?
 
How are vets still allowed to dig the hoof? I thought the FRC had advised against it? Certainly the EPAUK do.

My mare used to abscess for a pastime when she was 2/3. I went down the poultice route and dry poulticed with a proper hoof boot. I found the ones sold specifically for poulticing to be crap. Cavallos are good. Buy a size bigger than you need so you can get a nappy in.

Eventually though, I just used to turn her out and leave it to blow naturally. Yes, she would be lame in the field for a couple of days, then seen charging about as usual.

One day, I decided to remove alfalfa from her diet as I read that some horses were allergic. She never got an abscess ever since. She's 6 now.
 
I know, I had a moment of panic when he was hopping and phoned them. In hindsight I'd have phoned the farrier but I have since re phoned the vet, more so for bute for him but they won't unless they see him again which I fear they'll just want to dig even more.

He doesn't have wonderful feet at the best of times so I'm worried that more digging is literally going to cripple him :(

They are a nightmare!
 
As a general rule, I'd always let a farrier see an abcess first - if he then advices vet, then fair enough. Dare it say it, i found vets can be a little dig happy. My TB (who has rubbish feet) did have one where the hoof was so unsecure the whole hoof capsule was moving - the farrier told me later he thought the vet would say he'd have to be PTS & couldn't believe who well his hoof recovered. I'd speak to your farrier again before deciding to bring him in on boxrest (for the reason mentioned about re circulation & healing) & see what he advises. Like Tallyho, i've sometimes just left them to take their natural course (in my TB who has rubbish feet) but i know this doesn't suit every horse/occassion.
 
Well he was crippled lame yesterday, so phoned the vet back out and he's cut more of the foot only to find a pretty nasty abscess that hadn't drained out fully.

Foots all packed up again and thankfully the smaller abscess ok his other foot has sorted itself out.

Fetching him in tomorrow morning and hopefully he's now on the mend!!
 
I do worry about not providing drainage for an abscess - there have been instances of pus migrating through the foot doing permanent damage to the pedal bone. Not only that but there is a lot pf acute pain associated - a good farrier will find the slightest evidence of where it entered and follow the track to release the pressure. I have had a whole series a few years ago and had a farrier excavate to provide an exit for the pus = pretty much instant relief. IME most vets do enough to weaken the foot but not enough to find the pus.
 
One of my horses was days away from being PTS when an extremely brave vet dug a hole the size of Africa in his hoof and exposed an abcess that had underun his entire sole. He was lame for 4 1/2 months prior, even after the pus broke out at his heel, and it took a further 2 months of foot wrapping, booting, etc. to get him sound. What finally worked and got the hole to close over was iodine and salt, and Manuka honey with Red Horse Hoof Stuff. I turned him out wrapped with nappy + plastic bag+ duct tape and with a boot over. He got very sore heels, but ultimately recovered and is still going strong at 16.
 
I had terrible trouble from Sept to Dec with on/off abscesses in my made. We kept thinking we had cleared it up, both vet and farrier had looked at it ( only farrier dug!), the thing that made the difference was getting her onto Prascend. After about 6_weeks, she finally became sound and it hasn't recurred, thank goodness.
 
Well I ended up with the vet back out because he was in so much pain. He dug the sole and voila, out poured a very deep load of black smelly pus.

His other foot looks like it's sorted itself but he's in at a new yard and box rested but looking 100x better. Vets back out for a check up as even he admitted it was a nasty one!

Thankfully my boy is happy to be in out the rain after living out all winter and is making the most of afternoon snoozes!

Fingers crossed we are on the road to recovery now. Continuing with soaking in salt water and wrapping it up dry just to keep it clean.

Thanks guys!
 
Glad your boy is looking so much better, no medical background but I'm of the opinion that until you can get the muck out it won't really start to heal, not keen on leaving it to track up the foot either, it goes against gravity and will spend longer in the foot potentially causing even more damage.

My boy had several, at one stage I was dressing a front and back foot, I put him on magnesium copper and zinc, he lives out 24/7 and we've not had another...............quickly touches wood.
 
Cortez said:
One of my horses was days away from being PTS when an extremely brave vet dug a hole the size of Africa in his hoof and exposed an abcess that had underun his entire sole. He was lame for 4 1/2 months prior, even after the pus broke out at his heel, and it took a further 2 months of foot wrapping, booting, etc. to get him sound. What finally worked and got the hole to close over was iodine and salt, and Manuka honey with Red Horse Hoof Stuff. I turned him out wrapped with nappy + plastic bag+ duct tape and with a boot over. He got very sore heels, but ultimately recovered and is still going strong at 16.
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did they do an xray? you can often see an area of air or liquid on an xray so at least you know where to start from if it needs digging out...
 
amandaco2 said:
did they do an xray? you can often see an area of air or liquid on an xray so at least you know where to start from if it needs digging out...
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Yes, nothing showing on X-ray. It was an "historical" abcess, in other words he'd probably had it for a very long time - he's a stoical chap, and I bought him lame with the goal of either fixing him or putting him down. I had a hunch it was fixable :-)
 
Hi guys

Sorry to pester I'm just after further advice.

Had the farrier out, (new one). He's happy the abscess is now gone but said my boys so sore because he flat footed and has basically been left with no sole through the digging. He said it has grown a new layer and is hardening up but there is one small point (where it drained) that is extremely soft to touch and still sore. He's suggested I leave it unwrapped and add blue spray daily which the vet ha provided.. However horse is still sore so I've done the above but added padding to a hoof boot and popped that on him too.

Vet however said keep wrapping it and flush it daily with peroxide .. Now farrier has said that he doesn't think it'll help as the hoof now needs to harden up.

He's not quite ready for a shoe, but hopefully in a week or two he can have one back on.

Any suggestions? I'm looking at the likes of hoof putty or tar?
 
I would be using a boot and pad for now - the sole is all that supports the skeletal structures (apart from the frog which is shock absorbing) and if that support fails, the laminae will be compromised and you might get inflammation i.e. laminitis. Support the sole with a pad in a boot when he is out and about, and leave them off to avoid thrushy problems when he is on a good dry conformable bedding - in other words treat him as though he was a laminitic with the potential for rotation or sinkage.
Feed for hoof quality, with minerals and methionine, the amino acid which builds protein to enable good horn growth. My horse who has had thin soles his whole life now has soles that are tough and hard and ring like steel when you tap them, thanks to good food and good stimulation. The stimulation comes once the sole is strong enough to support he pedal bone, which you will be able to tell when it no longer responds to pressure from your thumbs.
I wouldn't bother with the peroxide, that could damage tissue, but use a little salt water if you feel it is open to infection.
 
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