Advice on cleaning a wound that is obviously painful...

woodlandswow

woodlandswow

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 September 2010
Messages
863
Visit site
I've never been into Veterinary so please be nice!!
(im also not very experienced in vet care as none of my horses have ever done something like this :rolleyes::))

I'll try to do a quick insight - arrived back from lesson last monday to find a gash on horses stifle - about the length of a pencil and as wide as thumb all the way down, and fairly deep.
Called vet immediately as wasn't sure what else to do. - He did a sedation and a local then stitched and cleaned it. Gave us antibiotics and bute for 5 days. we managed to clean it and keep on top of it for those 5 days. Vet also told us it would be ok to ride as usual and turnout.

After bringing him in 2 days ago the stiches had torn, and it was pussy and he wouldnt let us touch it.

A different Vet came out - took stitches out with sedation, took scabs off and opened the wound up to get excess puss out that was underneath.

She then told us to clear his bed and put a handful of clean shavings in, wash his rugs and keep him in for 5 days to make sure its clean. im sure this is really what we should have done in the first place.

The thing is she didn't give us any pain relief - she said he would be fine - however he is quieter than usual and when we try and clean it - he is fine with hosing it first however wont let me near to hibi scrub or put anything else on - vet recommended honey or aloe vera gel. I really want it to be clean as its quite open so worried about this. Any advice!?? Sorry for the rambling -
 
Shouldn't need pain relief for something like that; I think most vets think if it feels it a bit it won't do too much rather than if it's doped out of pain if that makes sense.

Personally, I'd ditch the Hibiscrub completely, just hose it and then slap manuka honey on it. If it won't let you smear that on then I'd blue spray it and leave alone. That's me I'm afraid, a bit old school, others are bound to come up with better suggestions but the one thing I will say is no horse is worth getting injured for so don't go getting yourself kicked for nothing.
 
When my horse cut open his pastern, he had his wound stapled and I had to clean it out everyday with warm salted water. I used an old hypodermic syringe to do it as then you didn't have to get too close to squirt the wound with it.

It was then a matter of putting a non-adherent pad on it and bandaging it to keep it in place. It healed up pretty quickly.

Hope your guys leg heals up nicely.x
 
If you haven't got an old syringe to use, try using a washing up liquid bottle. Have you tried getting a helper to hold up a front leg and giving some carrots to distract her whilst you dress it?
 
I use hibiscrub in garden spray bottle for wounds on one of mine who has a powerful kick :D
Silver spray / hypocare for keeping clean.
 
Hibiscrub may sting if its used too strong, make sure its diluted to recommended level. And the syringe idea is pretty good too.
 
Thanks all for your really helpful advice! - We have lots of syringes from when our bitch had puppies so will try the hibi scrub in there, I will also dilute it a bit more and see how we get on… if not i will stick to hosing - will let you know how i get on..

Have tried honey after vet recommended - nice greek honey .. my dad wont be too happy when he finds out :p;) but he was squirmy with that too
 
Just an aside here.When doing somthing like this ,that may make your horse react sharply and out of character.WEAR YOUR CRASH HAT. Steel toecap boots are also usefull ,but the hat is a must!.
 
I'd ditch the hibiscrub totally and if you feel you want to wash it every day, I would use extremely diluted saline or just plain water.

Hold up the front leg on the same side with one hand, other hand covered in dermoline or something and don't pussyfoot around, very firmly wipe it down the cut in one go.
 
Mooning. just because it is near a joint ( and she hasn't stipulated it's over the joint) does not mean a wound can't be stitched or that it shouldn't be. It may increase the chance of wound breakdown bug from the first vets advice I would assume there was not excessive tension on the wound. Joints in the lower limb would have an increased risk of breakdown but in many cases suturing would still be preferable to healing by 2nd intention.
 
I would hose and slap on Gold Label Wondergel. Brilliant stuff, I use it on pony, dogs and me for a variety of things.
 
firstly if you are not experienced take care! He has had a bad experience (all completely unnecessary I might add) and now is going to be extra wary. The back leg can come out to the side too in an arc so don't think because you are at his side that you can't be got! Get an experienced friend to help you. The general treatment for any wound like this is LEAVE IT OPEN and clean thoroughly with warm water. Wounds get pussy when they close too soon. Really wash it out well and have the warm water on it for a good 5 minutes. Get your hands in there and get the puss out. Then you need to use a good disinfectant initially quite strong and then keep an eye on it. It doesn't sound a particularly bad wound so it shouldn't need disinfecting for more that a couple of days. Don't worry about it getting dirty as long as you are cleaning it regularly. The point of keeping it open is that it mobilises the horse's own defences. If horses died after getting such an innocuous wound they would never have evolved. However, we can help them along. Pain killer is also completely over the top. Horses have a much higher pain threshold than we do and it sounds like the vet just doing stuff in order to put in a big bill. Sorry but it annoys me when inexperienced people are taken advantage of like this for something which sounds so relatively minor.
 
Don't use Hibiscrub as it could disturb the balance of the repairing cells. Use diluted warm salt water and thoroughly clean the wound. I use Dermagel after cleaning and leave alone. In the early days I soak/pick the scab off to ensure no pus collects underneath, then when its looking healthier I leave alone to heal from the inside. Worked so far on my horses - thankfully!
 
agree with the holding a front leg up, and ditch the hiby and just cold hose and then slap on manuka or tetcin spray, leave rugs off for air and inside of rugs will swea and hold in dirt etc etc.
 
thanks everyone - he is still in which is driving him (and me now) crazy but it seems to have been the trick :) the wound is now about the size of a large thumbnail.. I have been hosing it and is now looking clean and a nice scab is beginning to form with no puss. Having been a bit of a wendy, I managed last night to put my hand firmly onto the area and there is no heat or swelling ...
Holding the leg us I think made him panic more, as he is a big worrier anyway so im not sure the vet did any favours. We managed to get a bit of honey in, but now it has scabbed i put a bit of aloe vera gel on witch always works wonders- human and horse..
all your advice has been very helpful.. will decide tomorrow whether to call vet out again, seeing as we can claim i think its more for piece of mind for my unhorsey mum as I am off to africa for a month in a week!!
 
Last edited:
I'd try hypocare, its a spray, so you don't need to get too close.

My horse recently fell and took all the skin off the front of her cannon bone, the vet removed the flaps of skin, dressed it, and said to leave it bandaged for 5 days, and then remove.

The wound was clean but wet, it was sprayed with hypocare 3 times a day, and is healing really well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top