Following my ponys cancer thread, now need help please :(

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thatsmygirl

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Following my other thread as u know he's been doing fine apart from having a rather large lump on the side of his face but has never been bothered by flies or anything. Just has a Huge black scab on it!! Well yesterday he knocked it in the stable while rubbing his nose and the flies have homed in :( when I got to the yard tonight he's taken the scab/head right off and he's left with a hole in his cheek. It's quite deep and a bit yucky, I can squeeze a bit of puss out of it. Size is about a 2p coin size. Does this still sound like a cancer lump/tumour? But the big problem I have now is keeping any flies of it and letting it heal. Can't use a fly mask as he's got bad eye sight and won't except it, I'm filling it with cream and fly cream all round out but it's leaking slowly so pushes the cream out and fills with as many flies that can get in. :( I almost need a giant horse plaster or a way of putting a dressing over it but can't find any tape which will stick to the hair. Or would spray on human plaster work? HELP
I'm wondering if this is the end for him but he's happy, I just need this to heal and the flies to piss off :(
Any help or ideas would be most welcome.
 
There is such as thing as elastoplast for horses. I saw it before on a horse with a large wound on its neck which obviously you can't bandage. I used to have a pack of horse dressings before my pony went on loan but unfortunately I spilt stockholm tar all over them and threw them out otherwise I would send you them. I can't remember who makes them but either someone on here will know or if not your vet definitely will know and will be able to get hold of something for you. Sorry to be not too much help but at least now you know it's possible.
Also, what about putting him in the stable and putting up one of those fly zappers if you have electric or even just strong insecticide? Good luck!
 
How about using one of those full head and neck covers usually used in winter. They would keep a dressing in place and keep the flies out.
 
mattydog said:
How about using one of those full head and neck covers usually used in winter. They would keep a dressing in place and keep the flies out.
Click to expand...

That sounds like a good idea!
Summer fly cream is good (apart from being bright yellow) the gunk can still wash it off as you mention already but it still seems to keep the flies off better than most things.
I don't know your story but wish you luck xx
 
I've thought about the head and neck covers before bit I've read they can be lethal if they end up twisting and covering the eyes :( to be honest if the creams are just giving way id just try sticking normal human plasters over it, I used to have the horse plasters years ago and I don't remember them being any different to human plasters.
 
Snuggy hoods that's a really good idea I hadn't thought of that. I will contact the vet tomoz as I'm worried its going to get infected.
 
Will human plasters stick to horse hair? Will try tomoz morning.

The other thing that's got me thinking is I know the vet has told me she thinks its a cancerous lump but would a cancerous lump have a big black head/scab and leave a hole like a abscess?
 
He's out by night and in by day amymay :) he goes out at 6.30pm ish and in by 6am. but its in his stable hes pulled the head of it. : /
He's worrying me sick this lad
 
to me (and granted I am no vet!), it sounds more like an abscess than a tumour/growth. Certainly if you say it's got pus in it. Have you squeezed it much more to see if any more pus comes out? Either that or the top being off as allowed it to get a bit infected?

I would be tempted to give it a real good clean with some warm salty water so you can get a proper look at it. Try dry it off and then apply antiseptic cream/the fly strike cream
 
If there's puss coming out of it then its already infected. It probably wants a good clean up too because those flies might have left maggot eggs in there. It sounds similar to a grey I knew who had small lumps, thought to be melanomas, on his head. Suddenly over a few weeks they grew and burst like an abscess lots of puss and horse very ill, nearly PTS, but made a full recovery. The lumps were still there after healing and slightly bigger than they had been. Vets never found out what it was.
 
Iv been washing it out with hypocare and it looks clean, can't see anything in it but if I squeeze it I can get puss out. I will def call the vet tomoz as I would like him cover with antibiotics. This lump has grown over the time off around 8 months ish.
 
There is a product called Well Horse, it is made from plant extracts and is antibacterial. You paint it on and it stops flies from going on the wound. i would see your vet about antibiotics etc., and perhaps ask if this would help. The lady who imports it from America lives not too far away from me and she will post out very quickly. I have used it on Oakley when he had a bad cut on his fetlock joint, now you cannot even see a scar. I was told about it by people on my yard who use it regularly for injuries. I will pm you the web site details.
 
this doesnt sound like a tumour..... just an infected spot/hole

my horse caught his face on the stable door and created a hole in his face - looked like a puncher wound...about 1 inch deep and 'spread' under the skin.

vet came out and said leave it, however it got infected and eventually we had to deal with it ourselves.
we got hold of a syringe and salt water and had to push the syringe into the 'hole' in all directions.
we did this every day for at least 3 to 4 days....first day was quite horrid - lots of puss came out but by the 4th it looked good and was healing over (did have to oull off the pussy scab for a few days)
this will hurt your horse so i advise having someone to really hold the head...but it will get rid of all the puss and yuck!

i would avoid creams.....it will just block it up etc..... use a powder or hypospray (really good stuff)
to cover it use sports strapping for humans (from boots) its very strong and sticks to anything....just put a piece of dressing over the hole (breathable dressing) and only do this till these is a good scab forming
 
not sure what to suggest...could you bandage vetwrap over a bit of gamgee.

you could use a fly fringe a this would deter flies but not affect his vision.

hugs xxx
 
It sounds like an abscess to me, although I'm not a vet but i have seen a lot of wounds over the years. If it is, it will need to heal from the inside out, so you should flush it out every day until the new tissue has filled the hole. Your vet needs to see this to confirm what it is and the correct treatment. It sounds as if anti-biotics will be needed. For now I'd spray with tea-tree spray as it is anti-bacterial and flies don't like it. Or you could put a TINY amount of garlic in some water to wash it out. Garlic is anti-bacterial and flies don't like that either. I've had good results washing wounds with garlic water.

Good luck!
 
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I doesn't sound like cancer at all, as others have said more of an abscess.

My boy had an abscess between his back legs right where his man bits would've been. We got a good vet friend to sedate him and burst the abscess and then every day for a week I had to re-open the hole and get gunk out of it and hold a warm saeline pad to it for 20mins twice a day. He was superb and actually enjoyed it! Just an idea as its obviously very difficult to get a poultice or vetwrap around certain areas.
 
Can't for the life of me remember what they're called but you can get this VERY sticky foam sheeting stuff that you cut to size, peel the protective layer off and stick it to your horse where ever it's needed. We had a mare that had a lump removed from her shoulder and in order to keep it covered we stuck a strip of this foam stuff either side of the wound and then stuck her dressings to that. It's really awesome stuff though a real PITA to get off when you need to remove , think you buy it in a roll and you should be able to get it from your vets.
 
If its an abcess, I'd want to clean it well up, probably apply a dressing to ensure there was no residual puss, then I'd probably use sudocrem, this would dry the wound and you can paste it on to act as a barrier, I'd also be on the phone to the vets for antibiotics.
 
I had a pony with cancer many years ago. Any bump or injury resulted in an eruption that seemed like an abcess. Sorry to be negative, but I would be back onto the vet and keep checking on it.
 
To the ones saying not cancer- quite often if a cancerous lump gets too big, the tissue starts to die off and then you get abscesses/holes develop so please don't get OP's hopes up
 
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