Can an abcess just disappear?????

Bug2007

Bug2007

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Bug was really lame last week as some of you already know...had the vet out, no real pin pointed pain, so back out in the field until she was really lame and we could then pin point the pain and dig the abcess out.
two days later, Bug was on three legs, so vet out again, shoe off dug down for abcess but got no pus.....so back to hot poultice for three days to see if it would draw the pus out......No pus but she is now not as lame, dry poultice for two days and now took it off completely, i'd say she is as lame as i would expect her to be without a shoe on, knowing that when the farrier normally comes and takes them off for twenty minutes she doesn't want to stand on them.......

Can a abcess reabsorb and not need to come out, or maybe it was just really tiny so didn't see it in the poultice and the smell wasn't that bad as it was so tiny....maybe she was just being a TB wimp about it.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm what do you all think????? :confused:

Now planning on getting the farrier out to put shoe back on and see if in a few days she is totally sound again.
 
We had one that did this recently... lame as hell one day, poulticed for days and nothing came out then perfectly sound.

About a week later he was back on 3 legs, vet was useless so got the farrier to have a dig instead!

If your farrier is any good you could ask their opinion?
 
Always get your Farrier out when foot abcess,as vets tend to take to much sole off and never find the damned thing. My young mare had an abcess in her frog and my farrier found it with in seconds, mare lame for a week while being politiced and sound after that.
 
Seems totally sound this morning....
Farrier coming out tomorrow morning to put shoe back on once he has had a dig to see if there is anything....really hope it's not going to raise it's ugly head again.

Will defo go with the farrier in future not the vet.
 
One of my horses was like this, lame then sound then lame again. Vet came out and said he went sound as the abcess had flattened out then started again
 
If it was deep rooted, it's quite possible that the immune system took care of it like it would any other infection. You only need to debride an abscess if the resultant swelling is a problem (such as on a foot!). Otherwise, the ole neutrophils et al will take care of it and it will go down naturally. Hopefully it will disappear completely, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did return.
 
I had this problem before. In my horses case the infection travelled too far up to come out the sole and ended up coming out by the coronet band! took about two months from when he was first lame, again was on three legs one day then fine the next. Vet told me to soak his hoof in salt water twice a day and poultice.
It's got to come out somewhere :)
 
A horse will become lame from an abcess when the perssure reaches a certain point inside the hoof (same with you getting an abcess on a tooth), it can often be sound for up to a couple weeks as the infection develops until it reaches that crucial pressure point. It is often so sudden a horse can go from sound to hopping lame with a swollen/puffy tendon within 10-30mins, and often is mis-diagnosed as a damaged tendon/ligament, although rather be safe and start at that diagnosis and work back to conclude 'just' an abcess.

On rare occurances can disappear simply by the body's ammune system fighting it off but more likely if the abcess has moved (normally tracks up the foot) and therefore relieves pressure the horse can come briefly sound again before the abcess once again builds up causing renewed lameness.

A farrier is normally better than a vet to locate and dig out an abcess basically because feet are their speciality! Also if possible you always want it out the sole rather than the coronet band as that takes far far longer to heal.

A tale tell sign of an abcess still being present when sound will be if there is a digital pulse in that leg as there will be increased blood flow present to help the body's immune system fight the infection.
 
santa145 said:
A horse will become lame from an abcess when the perssure reaches a certain point inside the hoof (same with you getting an abcess on a tooth), it can often be sound for up to a couple weeks as the infection develops until it reaches that crucial pressure point. It is often so sudden a horse can go from sound to hopping lame with a swollen/puffy tendon within 10-30mins, and often is mis-diagnosed as a damaged tendon/ligament, although rather be safe and start at that diagnosis and work back to conclude 'just' an abcess.

On rare occurances can disappear simply by the body's ammune system fighting it off but more likely if the abcess has moved (normally tracks up the foot) and therefore relieves pressure the horse can come briefly sound again before the abcess once again builds up causing renewed lameness.

A farrier is normally better than a vet to locate and dig out an abcess basically because feet are their speciality! Also if possible you always want it out the sole rather than the coronet band as that takes far far longer to heal.

A tale tell sign of an abcess still being present when sound will be if there is a digital pulse in that leg as there will be increased blood flow present to help the body's immune system fight the infection.
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Thank you
 
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