Had the vet out to Grace this morning...

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She looked a little worse this morning on her near hind, so I put her out for 15 mins on her own (she just mooched about) to see whether it eased off a bit with movement. But when I brought her in it was exactly the same.

I phoned the vets and they said someone would be with me shortly as I am near the surgery and they tend to come to us first if anyone on the yard rings. The vet came out, watched her walk up and down a few times and then asked me to trot her up. He looked a little puzzled because the lameness was not showing at all on the straight, but when she was turned in a tight circle it was more than obvious
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He flexioned her back legs (still nothing...) and then asked for her to be trotted up a few more times. She did not become unsound the more we trotted her so I was starting to think she was completely broken with a mystery injury that was so rare it was not recognisable
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He then felt her foot again and there was a distinct difference between the temperature of both back feet after she had been trotted up, and her left one had a slight pulse
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So, after all that it looks as though she may just have an abscess
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She is now munching away happily in the field (the vet advised as much turnout as possible to keep her moving about) and has told me to phone in the morning as he would expect her to be worse by then... She was definitely worse this morning compared to last night, so hopefully she will not be out of action for too long
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So are you having your farrier to dig out the foot then? As the puss will need to be drained out as that is what causes the pulse/heat in the hoof. She'l need to have it poulticed aswell...... (not that im querying your vet, just curious as to what is your next plan of action!) xx
 
Excellent news! Out is better. Lovely wet ground to help draw the abcess out. It's amazing how lame they can be with one, but then it's so painful.

If you have her in overnight do a good hot poultice.

Once the abcess is out - she's be as right as rain.

Phew, what a relief.....
 
That's sort of good news then - lucky you had the vet out first rather than paying for others! Lameness is always hard to diagnose and is most of the time in the feet or lower down. This is why I said in the other post that a vet should always be the first port of call!!!
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Thanks... it is a relief!

The vet said the wet ground will draw it out and he does not want it poulticed over night. I did ask, and he said to leave it... He also said, because there is no sign of discomfort when hoof tested he doesn't want to take her shoe off yet and start poking about as it may not need this and he would rather leave it over the weekend (plus my farrier is the same at the vet's and he is in N.Wales until next week as only does a few days up here now).
 
I'd still poultice personally. It's such a huge relief for it to be out - but if you're not sure exactly where it may come from agree that it can sometimes be a little difficult.

Poor Grace, so sore.
 
S_V, I will never forget when I was working for Equissage someone gave us some info on a test doneon lameness. There were a number of vets who were asked to diagnose many horses (it was a controlled study) and a large majority of the lameness problems arose from the feet and many of the vets were saying shoulder etc etc because of the type of movement a foot problem can cause.
 
ahhhhhhh - thats answered by question above! i know sometimes (from people whos horses have had them at my yard) that they have got the farrier out to dig them out, and have then just poulticed them. But its good your vet thinks it will come out on its own
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I know... poor baby!

The majority of the heat is higher up the hoof wall, so I think the vet is thinking it needs to chose its own path to come out rather than being drawn down through the sole (does that make sense???)

I will leave it unpoulticed tonight as he has said, but when I speak to him in the morning I will ask again about whether I shoudl poultice it, but he was very adamant this morning that it should not be done (I asked a few times because I said I like doing something rather than feeling useless... he just laughed at me and said to leave it alone
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I just hope he is right
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I would usually get the farrier out, but I suppose I can understand the vet wanting to leave it rather than creating more holes in the foot for infection to sneak through when it coud come out on its own without that.
 
Yes, it does have to find it's own path - and it could come out just anywhere.

The main thing is - don't panic. She may go on off lame for a while with it - or it may miraculously come out in the next couple of days.
 
I would very much prefer the latter as we have the Area Festival on 11th August
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So I could do with someone talking to the little abscess and explaining this fact to it
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One of my horses had one ages ago & it came out at the coronet band. She got better very quickly once it 'burst'.
 
Snap!!! Had the vet out to my mare today as well, and that was also an abcess! It's suprising how vets go about treating the same thing in different ways though - your vet said to turn out, my vet poulticed and said to leave in.
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Let's hope they both heal well!
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I'm fairly sure you can give them a homeopathic remedy silica to help with abcesses too. But PLEASE check that out first in case I've got the wrong remedy in mind.

Definitely agree with not getting the farrier to dig the abcess out, can cause lots of problems as disrupts healthy tissue too. Fortunately once the abcesses "burst" the relief is pretty instant for the horse. Poor Grace, hope that she is much better soon.
 
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