Bruising/abscess help please

[Sarah1]

Hi all

(Also posted in veterinary but hoping for more replies in here!)

Saturday morning we're all tacked up for our hack, we go out of the gate & bam my boy is hopping lame. He stood on a stone and I thought he'd twisted something as he yanked his leg away from it - couldn't see a puncture wound.
Cold hosed it and kept him in the stable until Sunday morning - took him for a leg stretch (in hand) as he seemed a little better and I had thought it was a strain/sprain of some sort, brought him back up to the yard lame again. Popped him in the stable where he started shaking & sweating (this could have been due to the pain or the fact that his field mates were out - though he did have the Shetland for company). I didn't want to take any chances so I called the vet. We had another horse put to sleep on Tuesday with a twisted gut and he wasn't showing typical signs of being in huge amounts of pain but his heart rate was sky high so we're slightly paranoid at the moment.
Vet came, put the hoof testers on and said she thought he'd badly bruised his hoof and that she thought he was heading for an abscess so since yesterday I've been poulticing it twice a day and have it wrapped in layers of plastic bag, duct tape & canvas boot so that he can be in the field where I know he's happier and more settled.
The thing I have been wondering is how does an abscess form from a bruise? Could someone please explain the mechanics to me? Also how long, generally, would you expect treatment to last?
In lots of years with horses I've never had one with an abscess so this is pretty new to me but having read up on it I've found that cold treatment soon after the bruising occurs can, in some cases, avoid an abscess?
Any comments are gratefully received!

Thanks

 

[amandap]

The thing I have been wondering is how does an abscess form from a bruise? Could someone please explain the mechanics to me? Also how long, generally, would you expect treatment to last?
In lots of years with horses I've never had one with an abscess so this is pretty new to me but having read up on it I've found that cold treatment soon after the bruising occurs can, in some cases, avoid an abscess?
Any comments are gratefully received!

Thanks

I believe bruising can cause tissues to die from subsequent swelling (bleeding etc.) and mechanical forces. This forms a pocket and leaching of damaged tissue fluids into it increases pressure in hoof = abscess pain. It is sometimes called a sterile abscess.

That's my understanding anyway.

ps. It's a case of how long is a piece of string if that's what is going on. You have to wait for the tissue to repair and reabsorb the fluids or it may burst out.
You may need to review if your horse has thin soles or thrush for eg. and address that if standing on a stone causes abscessing. Not meaning to be rude, just something to bear in mind. Sole should be thick, calloused and hard as this is the horses' main protection from the ground.

 

[Sarah1]

I believe bruising can cause tissues to die from subsequent swelling (bleeding etc.) and mechanical forces. This forms a pocket and leaching of damaged tissue fluids into it increases pressure in hoof = abscess pain. It is sometimes called a sterile abscess.

That's my understanding anyway.

ps. It's a case of how long is a piece of string if that's what is going on. You have to wait for the tissue to repair and reabsorb the fluids or it may burst out.
You may need to review if your horse has thin soles or thrush for eg. and address that if standing on a stone causes abscessing. Not meaning to be rude, just something to bear in mind. Sole should be thick, calloused and hard as this is the horses' main protection from the ground.

He's got quite good feet & in the time he's had the back shoes off (probably 5 years) this is the 1st problem we've had - I think he just stood on it particularly hard or at a funny angle? My farrier mentioned he's wearing his back hooves quite a bit (we have a lot of hard ground, ie roads & stoney tracks) and said to see how he goes as he might need back shoes again - then this happened!

Thanks for your reply - you actually answered another question I had and that was if there's no puncture wound where will teh fluid drain from but as you said it's re-absorbed.

Thanks again

 

[amandap]

Just thought of how much more painful a bruise can be under your finger nail than on your leg for eg. The hoof wall is a nail equivalent but all the way round not just one side of the digit like our finger nail.

Short hoof wall alone shouldn't make a horse sore/footy.