Abscess

[Pippity]

Ten days ago, my horse came in from the field 'not quite right'. I got the vet out, who diagnosed an abscess in the bulb of her off fore. So, poultice until it's drained, the usual.

It still isn't drained.

She isn't showing any pain, but she never really was. She doesn't show much of anything, though - I've had her less than a month, and she's had an unsettled year prior, so she's pretty shut inside herself.

I've got the vet coming out again on Tuesday for a second look (and to give the second vacc), but am I right to be worried? She's the first horse I've owned, and I've never had to deal with an abscess with any of my loans/shares!

 

[be positive]

When you say it hasn't drained what are you looking at? if she is not showing any pain I would suspect the abscess has drained and what she now has is a tender area where it needs to dry out and harden up, abscesses never follow a set pattern so you may have been lucky that it was just brewing and caught before there was much to come out.

 

[Pippity]

Unfortunately, it's the yard staff doing it (I have to get a bus/taxi to the yard because I can't drive atm - broken finger) so I'm going off their reports, which are just that it isn't clear yet.

The vet suggested the same as you, but these are experienced yard staff who I trust (they spotted the issue in the first place, while I was out of the country for work) so I'd have thought they'd know the difference. However, a very experienced poulticer is doing her tomorrow, so I'll get an updated report from her.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

If there is still something to see on the poultice, it is still draining, which is fine. If there is nothing to see, it needs to be allowed to dry and heal. Sometimes, you think it's cleared and it pops up again in a different place but they are rarely serious, or a symptom of something else, except in laminitis-prone equines, or the elderly where they can be a symptom of untreated Cushings.
What a pity she started her life with you with a sore foot but she will get over it.

 

[Fiona]

My TB was prone to foot abscesses, and each one was different as to treatment. He had one right through the bulb of his heel that needed hydrogen peroxide flushed through the tract twice a day for instance.

You really need to see it.

Fiona

 

[Pippity]

Managed to arrange to be there today while the poultice was being change, and it's definitely still draining. However, the woman doing it commented that the gunk today was brown, while it was black yesterday. Any chance this is an indication we're coming to the end?

The horse is still perfectly happy in herself, and only barely perceptibly lame.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Once the pressure has been relieved, they usually are not very lame, just a bit uncomfortable on some steps. It does sound as if you are getting to the end of the gunk.

 

[Fiona]

Managed to arrange to be there today while the poultice was being change, and it's definitely still draining. However, the woman doing it commented that the gunk today was brown, while it was black yesterday. Any chance this is an indication we're coming to the end?

The horse is still perfectly happy in herself, and only barely perceptibly lame.

Hopefully a positive sign

Fiona

 

[ycbm]

Poulticing is not a good way to get the gunk out of an abcess which is sited lower than its exit wound. Which is the case with most which exit through the bulb of the heel. If she was mine I would be tubbing twice a day in warm salt water and flushing hard with a syringe of hydrogen peroxide, and not poulticing at all.

 

[Carrottom]

Poulticing is not a good way to get the gunk out of an abcess which is sited lower than its exit wound. Which is the case with most which exit through the bulb of the heel. If she was mine I would be tubbing twice a day in warm salt water and flushing hard with a syringe of hydrogen peroxide, and not poulticing at all.

Agree with tubbing twice a day although I would use Epsom Salts in warm water.

 

[Pippity]

Vet's verdict was to lay off poulticing, keep her in for another couple of days while the ground's bad, then start giving her time in the school until the crack in her bulb has healed over. Phew!

It's now been two weeks of box rest, she's a reasonably fit 6yo, and she's absolutely calm and chill. The only 'argument' while hand grazing her was a moment of hesitation and a deep sigh as she stepped back into her box. I love this horse!