hoof abscess

[scrat]

Our clydesdale mare has an abscess in her off fore hoof. The vet had a look originally as we were not sure what had caused her sudden lameness. He prescribed bute and poulticing and suggested farrier to have look. The farrier has been out twice and dug hole in the sole to allow pus to drain. It will be two weeks tomorrow since she went lame and she is still hopping. The farrier said not to give bute as this masks progress which I can understand. I have put her back on bute the last two days as she seems really uncomfitable and reluctant to move. She is living out as if she stays in she becomes very stiff due to arthritis so I feel this is best for her. I have the farrier calling again tomorrow but I just wondered if it is usual for these things to drag on for so long? I hate seeing her like this so any advise would be appreciated.

 

[GTs]

I would guess one of 3 things

- there is still a puss pocket you have not found.

- going out into the field, with a hole in her foot might be suboptimal - it might be worth putting a medicine boot on it (if you can find one big enough).

- she has a bruised sole too

These things should not take that long to heel - you are having complications

 

[vicster]

I had the same thing to you when my horse came in one day and could hardly walk - the vet thought it was an abcess and dug the hole etc only we had no puss or anything i did the poultice thing and the boot on the hoof but still notthing in a week the farrier said that if it was an abcess then you would get puss before blood in our case we got blood and no puss so decided to use another vet who straight away nerve blocked him to find it was not even in his foot but higher up just beloe his knee - i was told that it could be possible suspencory ligamant but thankfully was the check ligament and within another week he was a lot better but then one day again i brought him in from the field and he could hardly walk we had the vet straight back out to confirm he had laminitis and the check ligament injury is linked to it apparently - i would cover all possisbilities if i were you sweetie - good luck

 

[scrat]

Thanks GTs and Vicster. My farrier says she is a bit of " wuss" and he cannot dig out the area as much as he would like! The last time he drew a bit of blood and the next poultice had pus on it and has since then. She was nerve blocked by the vet anyway as he said that with these hairy horses it difficult to locate the source of pain. We were actually relieved that it was an abscess as her previous lameness( other front leg) was a collateral ligament strain (coffin joint) and she took 18 months to come sound. I hope its nothing else but will see what farrier thinks tomorrow.

 

[hotheaded]

You have to think a little on this one. If you had a hole in your foot how sore would you be? Don't be alarmed by the lameness it is natural as putting weight on the foot is unavoidable. This means it will take a little longer for the bruising to clear up, and there will be a lot of bruising. Turn out is a good idea, but you need to make sure that the foot is fully covered so that no dirt etc gets in. Other than that it's the obvious on keeping it as clean as possible.
You may find she still has some puss in there.
Don't worry it will come good in time it's just a little frustrating. The farrier is right about the bute, it will only mask what is going on so you won't be able to monitor the progress. I would stop feeding the bute.
Hope all works out

 

[scrat]

Just to update. Mare still hopping this morning and actually laid down in her stable which is really unusual. Farrier called and as I led her out the abscess broke out through the coronet band (yuk). Anyway he said that it was quite a nasty abscess and that it had travelled upwards. He thinks that she should now get some relief from the pain, I really hope so.

 

[miamibear]

Eugh horrible but it will be a real relief for her to have some of that puss out, you should see a definate improvement in her lameness, she will still be a bit sore but shouldnt be hopping lame.

Unfortunately those are the worst to clean up because the puss is travelling against gravity.

Good luck getting rid of the blyter!

 

[monstermunch]

Hope she feels better soon. Fingers crossed the problem will improve now

 

[mostfunintown]

One of mine has just recovered from a hoof abcess. I left him turned out the throughout as he is a luny in the stable but it has taken 3 weeks and he is finally walking well. I avoided bute. I just poulticed daily and finished off by wrapping the poultice in duct tape as this kept the poultice in place and kept it water proof. Honestly the best way I have found so far for dealing with hoof abcesses.

 

[scrat]

Thanks for that. It's just about three weeks and she is walking almost normally. I still need to poultice as there is still pus from the coronet band. I have used three large rolls of duct tape and 22 vetwrap bandages to date!! I can tell she feels better as she is being a cowbag having her foot picked up and just wants to go back to the field.