HELP!!Need advice!!

lauren&genie

lauren&genie

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Hi guys I am new and joined to try anf get some advice from other horsey people!!

My mare cut her leg quite badly from a gate in the field, the cut was on the front of her fetlock and was deep but no tendon damage, the vet came out and stitched her up, gave her pain killers and antibiotics with strict boxrest. A support bandage went on which was changed by the vet every 4 days for two weeks. After the 4th change the stitches came out exactly 12 days after accident, then one final bandage went on.

I was told by vet to remove the bandage myself 4 days later and to start walking her in hand from then on building up the time she exercised. I was to bandage her leg overnight for protection of the wound.

I took the bandage of and the wound had knitted really well but I noticed she was seeping some sticky fluid from the back of her tendon, I bandaged her leg like the vet told me on that night and the next but by the third day i was worried about the fluid as the hair had become matted and the front of her leg had a bald spot as well.

A friend looked at the leg and said that these two areas were now pressure sores from the bandaging. I was so angry witht the vet as he charged me £90 a bandage change as he advised me that it was best he changed it so it was done PROPERLY. I phoned them to tell them I was not happy and to discuss the new wounds, he basically said it was from my bandaging and that he would come look at it but I got the impression I would be charged for this again. So asking for his advice on how to treat the wounds he told me to leave them and let them dry up and they will heal. As this is my first horse and first experience of this I took his advice and left them alone.

My poor mare now has two nasty pressure wounds and they have got infected, a friend of mine took the top layer of hair off as he said this needed to come off to let the wound heal. I am using udder cream to keep the cut which look ok supple but the pressure wounds are now my main concern.

Please help, I have been looking inot Camrosa cream as I dont want white hairs growing back as she is bay with black legs. Plus as she now has three areas that may grow back white.

Im looking for advice on how to treat these areas further. Also I am wanting to write a letter of complaint to the vets as I am so angry with their service and feel a bill for £800 is too much when she has now got two pressure sores that their bandaging has caused (in my opinion).

Any advice or similar stories would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks for reading!!
 
For god's sake don't put camrosa on an open wound, it's very caustic! And anyway, it wouldn't help with regrowth of white hair. Hair will always grow back white if the damage to the skin is deep enough to have damaged the hair follicles. If it were me, I'd change vets to get a 2nd opinion from someone you trust. Take care with advice and help from friends because they may not be familiar with the problem your horse has (but they may THINK they are). Are you absolutely certain that the new weeping areas ARE pressure sores? What exactly did your friend take away? How did he remove just the hair? Did he pull it out (god forbid) or clip it or scrape the top layer of skin off? If in doubt, remember that the horse is a mammal like you and me so ask yourself if you had such a weeping wound eg on your arm or leg, how would you help yourself? Regular, careful but very gentle washing will keep the wound site clean. Only very very gently though because you don't want to wash or scrub away the new skin cells as they start to regrow. Then think "baby's bottom" for a safe and suitable cream to put on top to protect the wound from dirt and muck. Sudocreme or any of the propprietary nappy rash creams for babies will be ok. Bepanthen is brilliant. Always be guided by what your vet says re keeping it bandaged or letting it dry.
 
Thank you box of frogs!!

I have been sticking to applying udder cream and today her leg looked much better, skin is healing and the scar from her cut looks good too. I apprecitate your advice and am now applying sudocreme to the scar.

x x
 
My horse got this necrosis from bandaging too and it can look very nasty. Try not to worry too much, it does heal in quite well in time as long as you keep it free of infection. You can dye the white hair if it bothers you.

Some horses have a strong reaction to Sudocrem and produce a lot of serum if you use it on an open wound. Lots of humans are allergic to zinc oxide too and sudocrem has lots of it.
 
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Sudocrem is NOT the thing to use on an oepn wound-it just creates a 'soup'! Get your vet out to look at it-pressure wounds over tendons are not nice! In the location it is, a pressure sore can happen and blaming someone is not always the way to go, depends on how the bandage was applied of course. Please call your vet back out to advise, horse owners do their horse the least favours by insisting on putting crappy wound creams on or inapporpriate wound creams on.
 
SusieT said:
Sudocrem is NOT the thing to use on an oepn wound-it just creates a 'soup'! Get your vet out to look at it-pressure wounds over tendons are not nice! In the location it is, a pressure sore can happen and blaming someone is not always the way to go, depends on how the bandage was applied of course. Please call your vet back out to advise, horse owners do their horse the least favours by insisting on putting crappy wound creams on or inapporpriate wound creams on.
Click to expand...

Totally agree with this .

I don't put cream on any open wounds!

The only thing i would ever use is Hydrogel, specifically designed for this and sterile.

Creams just ask for bacteria to stick to them, plus owners dirty fingers in the pot etc.....they're just money making crap in my opinion.
 
I forgot to say that the wound where she cut herself is not open the vet stitched this up and it has knitted together, just a scar where the hair is to grow back. The pressure sores have scabbed up now and look a lot better.
 
For a cheap, safe, natural option for open wounds and sores try Manuka Honey. No, I'm not some crazy hippy. And yes it was approved by at least 2 vets from different practices. No it doesn't attract the flies.

My 4 year old cut down to the bone when he was just a yearling. It was found too late to be stitched. My parents used the honey - I wasn't happy!!! We were told it would grow proud flesh and need shaving and all sorts But it healed perfectly, just a thin line you wouldn't see and some white hairs caused by the bandages rubbing a little.

http://www.natural-animal-care-products.com/Wounds-Ulcers-Sores.htm
 
Well I was a nurse and dealt with a lot of pressure sores, etc. Chronic wounds are hardest to treat but I agree with poster who suggested hydrogel. You need to make sure the dressing over it doesn't absorb the gel, you can use clingfilm as a non stick layer. Wounds with any infection need redressed at least 24 hourly. The hydrogel abosrbs the excess exudate while leaving a gentle surface over the wound which allows the cells to migrate across the surface. The best way to clean a wound is to irrigate with a 50ml syringe of warm saline solution. There are also seaweed based dressings which are great. Good advice is necessary.
 
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