Abscess taking longtime to drain

[ATrueClassAct]

Basically old cushings lady has come down with an abscess in her front left foot. It had a small drainage point at back off hoof where the abscess seems to be coming out of but nearly two weeks ago it decided to burst out the coronet band round the rear of her hoof.
Now has been prescribed antibiotics and is pretty much sound but on a 1 1/2 danillon twice daily for her arthritis and making sure she doesn't over load onto the other foot as both have a rotated pedal bone. Shoe is off and the gunk doesn't seem to stop coming out :O. Vet + farrier have checked it over and say there is a lot of pus but will start to get concerned if its still going on any longer. Obviously her immune system is down from cushings so presumiably this is what is taking her longer? It has been wet poulticed and washed in salt water for two days then dry poulticed and washed in salt water and let to air for 20 mins everyday on a dry area so her hoof doesn't over sog.
Anyone else have experiences or advice for never ending abscess? :/

 

[Hoof_Prints]

I don't know anything about the horse's other conditions but my horse had an abscess going on for 6 weeks! the vet and farrier both said it must be something else underlying as it had been cut out and poulticed every day with Epsom salts, after a while I begun soaking it all day ( he was allowed out all day to walk on it) then stabled him with just the sole plugged where it was cut and as it dried out and hardened it seemed to push the pus out where it had burst (eventually burst in the heel).
He came sound after ongoing intermittent lameness and has been fine since so it was a troublesome abscess but it cleared up eventually

 

[ATrueClassAct]

They aren't fun abscesses
I know movement is meant to help but unfortunately she's not got a shoe on so the vet doesn't want her walking without the shoe on, will make her very ouchy! I'm loving Espom Salt...got some in my cut today on my finger...
I'm glad someone else has had stubborn abscess though, gotta keep going for abit longer before ruling out underlying causes.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Yes, it went on and on for ages, niggling away and moving sideways around the white line. In the end the hoof wall was taken off over the abscesses (there were two) to expose them to the air and all the black gunk was cleaned away. This might not be possible for your horse (depends on location of abscess). I have a photo showing the hoof after the hoof wall was taken off. She was then totally sound and it grew out with no problems.

 

[ATrueClassAct]

Oh wow Faracat! That's a holy hoof!
Not sure if it would be possible for my lady though since hers is at the back of her hoof and farrier was already concerned about the amount he had dug away from an already compromised hoof :/.
Just glad to hear others have abscesses that over stayed their welcome, she's never had an abscess with me before(10 years of owning her) and all the other ones I've seen had cleared in a week, max! Suppose its good my ladies abscess is around the back of the hoof rather round the toe region..

 

[Meowy Catkin]

I hope it clears up soon. They can be horrendous.

 

[ATrueClassAct]

Thank you I'm glad your lady recovered x

 

[hobo]

OP I am in the same boat as you at the moment 3 vet visits, 2 blacksmith still not sound but a little better each day. I hope all infection has gone and it is just recovery from all the digging.
FC that is scary so glad your is sound now.

 

[Highlands]

Tub with Epsom and keep flushing! Good luck

 

[ATrueClassAct]

Awe it does suck seeing them with a foot all wrapped up but She's now an angel to poultice after rearing up with the farrier and being a swine to poultice for first few weeks. Hope yours clears up soon Hobo! Sending abscess going vibes to you.
And Highlands ) thank you! We are flushing salt water down and around the abscess area, she wouldn't let you tub her foot, not worth risking stressing the old lady out but it seems to be calming down today with all the pus :/

 

[NaeNae87]

Not sure if you can get it over there, but we have this awesome stuff called Magnoplasm. Its a powerful drawing agent and heaps of people over here use it on stubborn abscesses.
You smear it on the abscess site and cover it, it will draw all the puss and gunk out.

http://www.magnoplasm.com.au/

 

[shergar]

Epsom salts are magnesium sulphate, you can buy magnesium sulphate paste from the chemist ,to use as a poultice, it is very effective and cheap . Hope this helps .

 

[Gerdy]

Had a terrible abscess last yr; after 5 months (!!!) of it going on and on and on, i changed farriers: New farrier said he had seedy toe as well as abscess, and was basically just re-infecting repeatedly.

He cut an upside down 'v' from the front wall, 3/4's of the way up the hoof!!! My poor boy looked like a cow!

But it worked. The bacteria was exposed to air and by keeping it as dry as possible, and occasionally cleaning with betadine, it cleared it up.

Took a further 6 months for hoof to grow back completely, with a lot of management during that time to maintain the cleanness/dryness (especially after turnout obviously) but now looks good as new.

My moral of the story - the farrier has to be very brave about how much hoof to cut away otherwise they can niggle away forever.

I hope that helps, good luck!

 

[mightymammoth]

Not sure if you can get it over there, but we have this awesome stuff called Magnoplasm. Its a powerful drawing agent and heaps of people over here use it on stubborn abscesses.
You smear it on the abscess site and cover it, it will draw all the puss and gunk out.

http://www.magnoplasm.com.au/

that looks very interesting, wish we had similar here.

 

[meandmyself]

Try a heat pack!

Poultice as normal (wet is best), bandage over it, then add one of the small air activated heat packs. Stick your boot on over that then leave it alone until it goes cold. The heat will help draw the gunk.

 

[shergar]

that looks very interesting, wish we had similar here.

WE DO as I said in my post earlier Magnesium sulphate paste.

 

[meandmyself]

that looks very interesting, wish we had similar here.

http://www.boots.com/en/Boots-magnesium-sulphate-paste-50g_865677/

 

[shergar]

Meandmyself Thank you for posting the link for Magnesium Sulphate it is great stuff for wounds that may have dirt in ,and very effective on foot abscess.

 

[faith123]

My mare went down with (another) abcess 3 weeks ago - vet out as farrier wasnt available straight away and she was on 3 legs.

Poulticed normally for 3 weeks and small amounts of gunk each day - farrier was out yesterday and this is the result. Abscess was tracking under the sole.

He has told me to pack with Sugar and Iodine and bandage over the top rather than animal lintex.

Roll on dry weather!!!!!!

 

[ATrueClassAct]

Thank you for all the wonderful advice. Gunk seems to be drying up now, its now been dry poulticed as the hoof was starting to look abit wet. Still flushing it out with epsom salts as it dries..seems to have worked well :\ The only problem is that today she seems abit sore on it, was absolutely fine to poultice but wouldnt put the other foot properly down as i was cleaning it .
I'm just getting concerned about the other foot now since shes been putting more weight on that one