Beee123
New User
Hi, apologies in advance for the long post! My horse (18 yo tb) ended up with a nasty fetlock wound a couple of months ago - no idea how she did it but she essentially degloved the area. Vets weren’t able to stitch it up as she wasn’t responding to the local anaesthetic across all of the wound and it was getting dangerous for everyone, including the horse, so the decision was made to keep it bandaged to heal naturally.
The wound healed over after about 7 weeks which was quicker than vets were expecting. She’s also never been lame on the leg and with everything looking to have healed well the veg agreed it was best to leave the bandage off. Unfortunately after about a week the wound had reopened so we’re back to square one with an open wound and bandage changes every 3 days. On top of this, a few days after the bandages were removed multiple sores appeared on her legs including one really nasty one, so as well as the initial wound we now have several sores across the lower leg and it’s of course a worry that more will appear now we’re back to bandages.
She’s a very sensitive mare and even though she’s never gone lame with the injury she’s clearly in pain (on Danilon now) as she has become very reactive every time the bandage is changed, and it’s becoming dangerous even with sedation. Vet doesn’t think there’s much we can do other than keep it bandaged until it heals again but has said as the wound is on the fetlock there’s a good chance the same thing will happen again. Given how she’s reacting to bandage changes and that it’s likely to keep reopening once healed, I’m struggling with how to proceed - vet has said PTS is ‘an option’ but I’m struggling when she’s otherwise fine, but I’m worried someone is going to get hurt during bandage changes.
Not really sure what I’m looking for, just wondered if anyone had any ideas or suggestions as it’s feeling like there’s nowhere to go with it…
The wound healed over after about 7 weeks which was quicker than vets were expecting. She’s also never been lame on the leg and with everything looking to have healed well the veg agreed it was best to leave the bandage off. Unfortunately after about a week the wound had reopened so we’re back to square one with an open wound and bandage changes every 3 days. On top of this, a few days after the bandages were removed multiple sores appeared on her legs including one really nasty one, so as well as the initial wound we now have several sores across the lower leg and it’s of course a worry that more will appear now we’re back to bandages.
She’s a very sensitive mare and even though she’s never gone lame with the injury she’s clearly in pain (on Danilon now) as she has become very reactive every time the bandage is changed, and it’s becoming dangerous even with sedation. Vet doesn’t think there’s much we can do other than keep it bandaged until it heals again but has said as the wound is on the fetlock there’s a good chance the same thing will happen again. Given how she’s reacting to bandage changes and that it’s likely to keep reopening once healed, I’m struggling with how to proceed - vet has said PTS is ‘an option’ but I’m struggling when she’s otherwise fine, but I’m worried someone is going to get hurt during bandage changes.
Not really sure what I’m looking for, just wondered if anyone had any ideas or suggestions as it’s feeling like there’s nowhere to go with it…
have also tried holding the opposite leg up and she still tries to kick out and ends up falling. It’s awful and so stressful for everyone involved. Haven’t tried with a twitch yet but worth a go at this point!
