Cause for concern or monitor? (Abscesses)

[Ellietotz]

My mare had what we think was an abscess in her front right in March this year. Farrier had a look and found a very shallow puncture on the sole which he scraped away slightly to relieve any pressure and make sure there was nothing else in there. We poulticed and she was sound again after a couple of days. Not a lot came out on the poultice but it wasn't totally clear so it seems something was drawn out at least.

Yesterday, she wasn't bearing weight on her back left and there was heat around the coronet band and this morning, an abscess burst out of there.

I've had her for 5 years and as far as I know, I've never experienced her with an abscess until recently though she did have one a couple of years prior to me having her when she was barefoot in the field I believe.

She has been fully shod with me but did have shoes off over winter for a period in case this had any effect.

She was tested clear for Cushings last year and was also on Equimins Advanced Complete balancer for about 2 years which I stopped in March about two weeks before the puncture/abscess if that also makes any difference.

Should I be concerned or just monitor for a while?

Thank you!

 

[HobleytheTB]

Did you test her for cushings for any particular reason? It may be worth testing again this year if she's of the age when it's likely to set in. The acth test can give false negatives, so if you get another clear test you can also do the trh stim test, which seems to be more accurate.

It could well just be coincidence having 2 absesses in a short space of time, but if she's an older horse I think it's always worth checking for ppid as soon as possible symptoms occur.

 

[kc921]

My TB went through a phase 2 years ago of having 4 abscesses on the space of a month (only one hoof wasn't effected and all happened one after another)
That was around winter time though when the mud was absolutely horrible.
My farrier said if I took his shoes off it would have made it worse, so possibly due to not having shoes on over winter?

If you have done a Cushing test I would just monitor it and once the abscess has healed over give it a few more days before doing anything again.

Possibly also get some hoof supplement to put in the feed to help them.
I used hoof supplement and hoof oil on my boy and fingers crossed haven't had another abscess since!

 

[Ellietotz]

Did you test her for cushings for any particular reason? It may be worth testing again this year if she's of the age when it's likely to set in. The acth test can give false negatives, so if you get another clear test you can also do the trh stim test, which seems to be more accurate.

It could well just be coincidence having 2 absesses in a short space of time, but if she's an older horse I think it's always worth checking for ppid as soon as possible symptoms occur.

Yes, I think I did it just to rule out if it was causing spooking possibly, I can't really remember!
I will look into doing it again. She is 16 this year.