Advice on situation, should I change vets?

[JCbruce]

So a few months ago my horse cut his point of hock, I was originally bandaging it. On the Friday I called my vet to say the he was getting a hot swollen part on his leg I was worried about and asked them to come out. They called me later on and said it’s just a pressure sore forming and because it’s not an emergency they had to cancel my appointment, they came out on the Monday and I asked if from now on they could bandage him because I didn’t want to have a bad pressure sore. The vet came twice a week, and would sometimes put pads on and some times not to relieve the pressure. So the pressure sore started to get worse. One day she went to go and put a bandage back on an i had to practically plead with her to check the pressure sore again which she did and it was down to the bone, he then went to the horse hospital and was doing well there no infection ect so they put a very tight bandage on and sent him home. Two days later my vet came to do a bandage change and my horse couldn’t stand and then when the bandage was off loads of blood started rushing out of his sore. I asked my vet what to do because currently my horse is on three legs and she said we could either bandage or try and keep it clean and leave it off. I asked what was best and she said I can’t comment, you need to choose. So I chose to keep the bandage off and after an hour he was completely fine on his leg so it must have been the bandage. Anyway the next day I called the hospital for some advice and they said he defiantly needs a bandage on, my vet came up again and she recommended he went back to the hospital where he has been the past week. When I dropped him up they didn’t change the bandage when I was there they said they would do it in the afternoon and for me to go home, they give me daily phone updates but I keep asking or pictures because I’m always working when they are changing the bandage but they keep not sending any. I am going insane about the situation, the horse was new and wasn’t insured yet so I’m working 7 days a week to pay this. His original cut is fully healed and annoyingly the hair has grown back bay. I payed thousands to have a vet bandage him to avoid anything like this happen and he’s been in hospital twice and no one can tell me what’s going on really. I’m very bad with confrontation and I know the vets are trying to do the best they can but I just feel like someone has messed up along the way.
I was just wondering what other people think of this situation. Thank you sorry for the long post.

Photos of first cut and sore bellow

 

[JumpTheMoon1]

Always get insurance from day one !! Toughen up and you must confront people if you feel they have done a bad job.Would you buy a new car and not get it insured ? If you mess up with the vitals like not having the horse insured then you collect stories like this.

 

[Equi]

You poor thing. Vets will not intentionally do something "wrong" or something that will prolong the injury but at this point you need to really start pushing and asking WHY is this happening and what resolution is there - if they can't commit to an answer you need to change vets.

If you have any photos of the timeline of the injury it would also be helpful to post, because there are many eyes here that may see something.


Ps don't pay any mind to Jump, they are a notorious troll that regularly returns to the forum to purposefully upset people.

 

[stangs]

Always get insurance from day one !! Toughen up and you must confront people if you feel they have done a bad job.Would you buy a new car and not get it insured ? If you mess up with the vitals like not having the horse insured then you collect stories like this.

Why not find something better to do with your evenings than these daily unhelpful posts? I hear crochet is rather soothing. Or a little yoga, perhaps?

 

[Equi]

Why not find something better to do with your evenings than these daily unhelpful posts? I hear crochet is rather soothing. Or a little yoga, perhaps?

Don't feed the trolls

 

[JCbruce]

Photo of the original cut that is healed and the pressure sore after the bandage from the horse hospital the first time was removed

 

[JCbruce]

You poor thing. Vets will not intentionally do something "wrong" or something that will prolong the injury but at this point you need to really start pushing and asking WHY is this happening and what resolution is there - if they can't commit to an answer you need to change vets.

If you have any photos of the timeline of the injury it would also be helpful to post, because there are many eyes here that may see something.


Ps don't pay any mind to Jump, they are a notorious troll that regularly returns to the forum to purposefully upset people.

thank you have uploaded photos below

 

[AmyMay]

Good grief! That’s horrendous. I’d certainly want some discussions about how that happened.

 

[Equi]

Wow. I was not expecting that photo.

The only good thing is that it doesn't look infected as you already know, but i really want to know how on earth that has happened so fast to such a degree? I can't get my head around it.

p.s. yes i would certainly be asking a different vet to look at it!

 

[Ambers Echo]

That’s horrific. I’m so sorry. I would definitely change vets - if nothing else they are not communicating well with you. I vet hop all the time and am registered with several. I switched after a few weeks of failure to diagnose why Lottie was lame and a new vet identified the problem immediately. Is your horse in hospital now? I’d go down for a meeting and say you need to understand the problem and the solution and the time frame/ prognosis. Just so you know what to expect moving forward x

 

[ycbm]

Good grief, I'd not be paying that bill without some serious discussions!


Yes I'd change vets.
.

 

[Sossigpoker]

I would not be happy with that and would probably change vets.

 

[nutjob]

I would right a letter/email to the practise manager or clinical director whoever is in charge there with a copy of these pictures and ask if this what you can reasonably expect to be the state of your horse after treating him. It looks horrific to me, worse than the original injury.

I would definitely be changing to another practise also.

 

[shortstuff99]

Definitely change vets! Joint injuries are always an emergency and should be treated as such until the threat of infection has gone.

One of mine had a small cut in the same place as yours and spent a week at NEH having it treated and it hadn't impacted the joint. Or ended up looking like that!

My other had a front hock injury from a fence and spent 2 weeks in the hospital and a long time bandaged, she only got mild pressure wound. Nothing like that at all and she had to wear a bandage for 3 months!

 

[Ambers Echo]

echo those saying don’t pay for now. I can’t see how a horse gets into that kind of state without something having gone horribly wrong. Which might be just terrible luck but a vet should have been on it immediately, warning you of what might go wrong and why, telling you what they were doing to address the problems. If you dislike confrontation perhaps a friend would draft a letter for you? It certainly looks like incompetence or negligence to me.

 

[nagblagger]

Def change vets and complain, it looks like total incompetence!
That deep wound needs time to heal from underneath outwards so may need packing. But as others say it doesn't look infected.
Good luck and keep us updated.

 

[Ambers Echo]

Wounds CAN look terrible without it being anyone’s fault. I remember the mess made by a simple thorn leading to an abscess and a huge hole. But the vet needs to give an account of why/what/how. And what now. I’m so sorry your in this position x

 

[meleeka]

I’m in agreement with everyone else. The original vet sounds as if they caused this. Was it that bad when he was admitted hospital the first time?

 

[Glitterandrainbows]

I wouldn’t be paying that bill either that looks like necrotic tissue the only time I have seen that is when people go abroad for plastic surgery! It’s definitely a type of infection Google it looks just like it! Hope he’s ok ! I’d be finding a new vets

 

[SusieT]

To be fair, you bandaged him for a period of months, the pressure sore developed ( a feature of bandages over boney parts of horse legs if prolonged bandaging occurs). The vet was then involved more (was a vet involved initially?). The pressure sore did not improve and they have now hospitalized him to more closely manage the bandaging. Most of the damage is probably already done. You don't mention how often you changed the bandage or your experience bandaging before blaming the vets.
What does strike me is that there has been poor communication from the vet hospital you say. You have no choice but to pay the bill as you will have agreed to do that when you gave consent. You can question the treatment, you can also choose to transfer him to another vet practice for a second opinion. You can also choose to request a home treatment plan again to reduce cost. So you have choices, it is unfortunate and I am sorry for you that this is ongoing.

 

[SusieT]

I wouldn’t be paying that bill either that looks like necrotic tissue the only time I have seen that is when people go abroad for plastic surgery! It’s definitely a type of infection Google it looks just like it! Hope he’s ok ! I’d be finding a new vets

'google it' . Ah yes. The professionals treating him must know nothing. Google will solve it...

 

[Barton Bounty]

Why not find something better to do with your evenings than these daily unhelpful posts? I hear crochet is rather soothing. Or a little yoga, perhaps?

Cliff jumping is all the rage ?

 

[Barton Bounty]

That looks painful @Tillydimond someone on my last yard had this at the turn of the year, it took a few weeks for the sore to get better but it did, minimal turnout regular cleaning and silver spray worked for her, bandaging it did not help at all, sometimes you just need to let the air at it to dry it out a bit. So long as there is no infection it will heal ok.
As for your vet….. I cannot comment? So what do they get paid for? Thought that was the whole point of getting them out and taking their advise and address the injury.
if I were you I would send a nice little email to the vet hospital asking if they wouldnt mind sending a couple of pictures as you are working and it isnt ideal to visit. And that youd really like to be kept in the loop as to how the injury is healing .
Hope she gets better soon ?

 

[ycbm]

To be fair, you bandaged him for a period of months, the pressure sore developed (

As I read it, it was days before she realised that she didn't know how to bandage well enough and a bit spot had formed, and asked the vet to take over, after which a vet did it twice a week and the severity of pressure sore was as a result of the vets bandaging it.

 

[TPO]

When did the original hock injury occur? How many days did you bandage for? When did you call the vet? When did thr vet first come out?

My horse cut above his knee on a Sunday night at the end of April. I called out of hours and spoke to the vet on call. They advised that I clean and bandage it and someone would come out the next day. I hadn't cleaned it initially as I didn't want to risk pushing anything "in".

As I cleaned it I discovered it went much deeper than I initally thought so called OOH back then sent pictures. He called me back and ummed & ahhed about whether stitches were required before ultimately settling on the original plan.

So I cleaned and dressed it in a figure 8 bandage so no pressure on the back of the knee.

My usual vet came out thr next day and straight away said it needed stitched (stapled). Some of the "flap" had shrivelled so really it should have been seen on thr Sunday night when I called tonight someone out...

After stapling my vet applied a thick bandage cornet band to elbow. Not as thick as a Robert Jones but still at least 13 layers of padding and bandages to be changed twice a week. He mentioned from the start that pressure wounds were a risk bandaging over a joint so we had to be vigilant.

Between bandage change two and three a pressure sore had formed at the back of the knee. Straight away the vet changed everything to protect the sore while still applying pressure to the wound to aid healing. In this case he changed to using a (very) sticky foam bandage, the name of which escapes me, with swabs over the sore so it didn't stick and folded swabs over the wound for light pressure under the foam.

The original wound healed and bandage was off just under 4wks later/by the last week in May. The pressure sore we picked up was nothing like the size of yours, maybe 50p size at the biggest and didn't go as deep at all, and as of now its still healing (on its own with absolutely no creams or bandages). It dried up quickly but being at the back of a joint it will take a while and there's a small lump.

So yeah, in short my vet took pressure sores very seriously. I was well versed in the risks and thr worst case scenario.

I don't like vet bashing especially when th3 full facts/dates/timescales aren't known but at thr end of the day that's a big wound in a bad place. Steps should have been taken immediately when the sore very first appeared. They are apparently notoriously bad at healing and it doesn't read as if it is being properly addressed.

Changing vet practices sounds like a good idea for starters. Not sure what to advise if you don't trust thr vet hospital. Is there another place with equine inpatients?

Are you a BHS member? The gold membership might be worth it to call the legal helpline for advice regarding the (lack of) vet care

 

[Ambers Echo]

The timeline is obviously important. I also read it that you only bandaged for a few days and then that you wanted a vet more quickly but a pressure sore forming was not considered important enough to come out for urgently so you had to wait a further 3 days from Friday to Monday.

here is a useful article about your rights and what actions to take if you are unhappy.

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-ri...-failed-to-act-with-reasonable-care-and-skill

 

[Red-1]

I would not have been happy...

1. When you called them on Friday night with a concern and they didn't come out until Monday.

2. Changing a bandage only twice a week with an emerging problem.

3. They sometimes didn't use padding.

4. You felt you have to "practically plead" with her to check a pressure sore, that was down to the bone and was about to be re-bandaged.

5. He was sent home from vet hospital with a 'very tight' bandage on, that was then left on for 2 days, at the end of which the horse 'couldn't stand.'

6. The wound was getting worse, not better.

7. You asked for advice as to the best next step and the vet wouldn't give a professional opinion and left it for you to decide.

8. Next day, they said your decision was wrong, you agreed to bandage and transport to hospital but then they didn't change the bandage while you were there to see the condition of the wound.

9. Since then, they have not kept you updated with photos, as requested.

In short, it sounds like you have lost confidence in their treatment and communication. I would ask for a second opinion, with a vet from a different practice. It may mean transporting him to a different hospital.

I have no idea why people are berating you for no insurance when you are obviously paying for extensive treatment. FWIW, one of mine isn't insured other than 3rd party. No one else's business.

 

[Ambers Echo]

Having once worked in a hospital complaints department, can I add the following advice: write formally and use the words formal complaint in the opening paragraph. Hospitals can discuss ‘concerns’ , ‘unhappiness’ etc direct with clients but as soon as it’s a formal Complaint there is a standard protocol they have to follow and there would be an independent investigation of the timeline, actions taken/not taken, what was communicated and when etc.

Don’t use emotive language. The investigating team ignore all that - they just focus on facts.

List all the points you are unhappy with separately. Red has pretty much already done that for you! The complaints team then have to investigate all the separate points. Often some parts of a complaint are upheld whereas others aren’t. So it may be that if you did do the original bandaging for a long period the vets are not held accountable for the pressure sore forming but there were still areas of concern after that.

Good luck x

 

[Glitterandrainbows]

'google it' . Ah yes. The professionals treating him must know nothing. Google will solve it...

always one person who has to start dishing sarcastic comments out I meant Google the name of the infection and I’ve seen people with them types of wounds coming back from bbl surgery in turkey and it looks just like it. I don’t come on this comment to debate stuff I was just mentioning it incase I could help this horse.

 

[TPO]

Just to add mine isn't insured either, that was a conscious choice. Money isn't/wasn't a factor for his care.

Also his bandages were never tight. Snug so thst they stayed up, yes, but not tight and the took great pains ensuring that the pressure was even throughout the whole bandage (when full leg). A different vet came out for the second bandage change, it had slipped within a couple of hours and moved more than I was happy with over thr next 12hrs. My usual vet came straight out the next day and full replaced the bandage free of charge (each bandage change was £248 at that point). He took the utmost care and was hyper vigilant.

It reads like you haven't been receiving good care at all for your horse