Abscess or something more sinnister?

[SaharaS]

In brief, vet coming tomorrow, farrier was here thurs, initially thought to be an under run sole,but on thurs the abscess was exposed properly - full crater style excavation to expose, but carefully & gingerly so as not to take too much. This was the only course of action. No blood at the time. Blood noticed when dressing half hour later ( i stood her on a scrubbed bit of yard while leg dried off after hot tubbing.)

Completely trust farrier as not an aggressive scissor happy type. within 12 hours a white bit I can only describe as similar to squid - rubbery soft tissue was protruding. Continued to hose clean,hot tub, hydrogen peroxide wash & dress & horse been turned out daily with dressings & field/weather proof leg so has been impeccably clean. Dressings as long as dry have been changed twice daily till yest so this am was 24 hours. I applied septicleanse spray before redressing as used last of my iodine/tea tree.plugged with mag sulphate then dressed, vetwrapped & gaffer taped as per usual so nothing could get in over night either. Today, when I removed the dressing, pus ran out of coronary band -like thick snot but still erring on the hoof side than the furry side (good) but there was also still pus on the sole at point of excavation and when i wiped away what i thought to be congealed pus, there was a red fleshy nobbly bit round and like the size of a finger nail ( i have tiny fingers so lets say 7-8mm round... the nobbly bit, not my fingers!!) it felt like slimey flesh. I could wipe the pus off, but this is clearly attached.she didn't react to hoof testers, but today at first reacted to pressure above the coronet..ie I nearly had a hoof firmly planted in my face..she's normally incredibly patient & gentle for any handling esp back legs at worse you would normally get a tail flick if something hurt but that would (from experience would have to be something big like a leg sliced right down to the bone..shes REALLY got a high pain threshold)anyway can stand on it and walk on it and happy once turned out but not keen to full support back end on it..does anyone have any ideas what it might be? Before I get some clever sausage telling me I'm a div for asking on a forum, I'm simply asking between now & vet tomorrow..after all we're all here for experience sharing and not every vet has experienced every single condition ever thought of, so am genuinely asking for comparisons & similarities, not an earfull!

Thank you very much

 

[Brightbay]

Vet.

The stuff you can feel that is rubbery is prolapsed corium. It should be packed and dressed in a specific way to support it. It was a deep hole (or a very thin sole) - the danger with a prolapse is that it is pressed down into the hole and the blood supply is pinched or compromised. The area can die, in the same way as any part with no blood supply will... but since the corium is what forms the new sole for you, you really don't want that to happen.

I would definitely be consulting my vet.

 

[SaharaS]

Vet.

The stuff you can feel that is rubbery is prolapsed corium. It should be packed and dressed in a specific way to support it. It was a deep hole (or a very thin sole) - the danger with a prolapse is that it is pressed down into the hole and the blood supply is pinched or compromised. The area can die, in the same way as any part with no blood supply will... but since the corium is what forms the new sole for you, you really don't want that to happen.

I would definitely be consulting my vet.

Thank you very much. Spoke to vet on phone and he said non urgent till tomorrow and to me what you say IS urgent! Ringing a different vet now. thank you xx

 

[Brightbay]

You're welcome

It was a vet who explained about the corium to me. It's why some vets dig big holes and some dig small ones - the big ones get the pus out better at the risk of prolapse, the small ones don't risk prolapse but can seal up before all the pus is out.

It is possibly not an emergency call out, but definitely needs to be seen because solar corium needs to be cosseted in order to work properly and grow the new sole your horse needs But equally, you need to get all the pus out (both from the top and bottom) so you're doing all the right things there.