Advice Please - Re. hoof injury and box rest

[Finns Mum]

I wonder if I could ask your advice please.

On Monday night somehow my boy managed to rip his shoe half off in the stable and a nail went into his foot.

The vet came out and dug it out and he has been booted and on box rest since.

Vet came back out today, and said he was pleased there was no secondary infection but as he is still quite sore on it he wants him to stay in for another week

He has terrible feet and to be honest I wouldn't expect him to be sound without a shoe, and my farrier has said the same thing.

I know he doesn't want him turned out in case he gets out of his duct tape covered foot and get his foot wet/muddy, but the poor boy is suffering from being in, and am wondering if I would be daft to consider putting him in a small electric fence area.

I know I pay for a vet and should listen to his advice, do you think I should just get on with it leave him in as instructed, or would I be reasonable to consider putting him in a pen?

 

[stencilface]

TBH, if you think he would be happier out, if only for short periods then put him out (or if you can't do that, just do all day or whatever you can).

If we put ours out with a poultice (have never kept anything in with poultices etc) we just wrap it up really well.

So animalintex or similar on the bottom of the hoof for some padding, followed by vetrap, followed by duct tape. Then follow that with a plastic sack (suagrbeet ones are good

) and tape it up the leg to below the knee- not so tight that it will damage tendons etc, not so loose that it'll fall off. We put a supporting bandage on the leg too so they don't have the plastic directly on it - provides some cushioning from the tape too.

All ours have had these contraptions at some point, and mostly they stay on ok. They also have never minded having a big plastic boot!

 

[brightmount]

The thing is you can never be too careful with puncture wounds to the foot. More often than not everything will be fine, but there is always the possibility of severe complications, depending on what structures if any are penetrated, which can even be fatal for the horse. If you want a reality check there is an article on the Horse & Hound website:

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/horsecare/1370/40329.html

For this reason I would do everything by the book with a puncture wound to the foot. Your vet will always err on the side of caution, so if you asked him this question I am sure he would advise against turning out. However if you ask, he might give you some sedalin to help your horse chill out on box rest while he gets better.

 

[Finns Mum]

Thanks for tips on bandages Stencilfence, and the link brightmount, it certainly got me thinking.

As a result I will be keeping him in, the vet has said that it is a deep hole and we have been very lucky in that there seems to be no infection so far, reading the article it doesn't bare thinking about if by turning him out he got an infection.

 

[Booosh]

We are in a similar position as mare danced about in the horsebox , half pulled the shoe off which resulted in her getting a puncture from a nail. The vet has put her on antibiotics and am wrapping the poulticed foot up with vetwrap,a sock then duct tape then bandage and plastic so that she can go out for a couple of hours - but not all day. PM me if you like on your progress would like to know how yours gets on - nice to know we are not alone!

 

[Discovery]

you have to be very careful with these type of injuries as there is always a possibility of a bone infection, and obviously abcesses. Did you get an x-ray? I would strongly suggest it, especially since you said the horse is still lame.

As for the box rest, I would say as long as you wrap the hoof to keep it clean it would be okay to turn him out for short periods (but if he is still really sore obviously this is not a good idea)

 

[Finns Mum]

I hope your mare has a speedy recovery Booosh, as you say nice to know others are dealing with the same, although of course wouldn't wish it on anybody lol. Sounds like your vet is a bit more open minded about turnout which must be a great help. I am starting my day at 4.30am and finishing at 8.30pm at the moment, I feel slightly rough!

Discovery, no an xray wasn't mentioned but will ask vet about it tomorrow when he is out, Loki is sound when he has his boot on and on grass with bandage, speaking to my farrier he feels it unlikely he will be 100% without the shoe, due to his feet not being great.

Hopefully the shoe is going back on, on Friday and I am hoping the vet will give the okay to turnout after seeing him tomorrow, I don't fancy the chances of any shoes staying on when he is turned out for the first time!

 

[Suz2]

Be very careful. My TB had an abcsess in July and because of the wet weather it reinfected. It came back again, developed into cellulitis and just found out today that it has infected the tendon sheath and he might need surgery at the most, 6 months box rest at the least.

I hate having to put my horse on box rest as I really think that they should be allowed to be horses, but unless you can guarantee that the hoof stays dry I would maybe consider waiting a bit longer.