How long should you keep wet poulticing a foot? - recurring abscesses

B

Butterbean

Well-Known Member
Joined
30 December 2006
Messages
1,098
Visit site
Long story but my horse had a puncture wound in his sole (in one of the clefts) at the end of October and since then has had recurring abscesses with varying degrees of lameness.

This was while he was in hospital (for something else) so he was poulticed on & off in hospital and even had an MRI scan as they were so concerned, which didn't show a problem with any internal structures. But heat & soreness kept coming back.

Anyway. Horse now home. Foot hot & sore again. Had the vet out Tuesday and have been wet poulticing every day. Quite a bit of pus coming out of the injury site so vet says keep going for now - however also said that continual wet poulticing can cause problems in the foot.

How long do you keep going with a wet poultice? - I really want to get rid of all the pus so we can get his foot healthy again. What happens if you keep going too long? Any other ideas? He's on supplements to boost his immune system as he must be a bit of a wreck by now.
 
Mm i have poulticed for up to 10 days then it had cleared up!! You could also try getting him to stand in a bucket of warm water with epsom salts. Changing the poultice frequently also helps. If you carry on poulticing though the foot will become very soft!! We tried to get the farriers to dig out as much pus as was reasonable and then i applied pressure every time i redid poultice to get excess pus out. Not sure if this helps you tho??!
 
You need to wet poultice until what comes out is clear (ish) then change to dry poulticing until nothing comes out.
 
I would hot poultice for no more than 7 days then 3 days of a dry poultice to keep the area clean. If when you dry poultice you still see muck coming out do 2 more days of hot poultice, then dry poultice.
I would recommend pampers newborn nappies for your dry poultice.
Have a word with your vet it maybe that you could do with anti biotics to help fight the abscess, but more worrying if they are reaccuring could it be that the foreign body ie thorn etc is still in the foot hence the recurring problem ?
I hope you get on top of it !
 
Thanks guys
Yes definitely worrying that the abscesses are recurring but vets did say nothing showed up on MRI - perhaps that is follow up question, what wouldn't show on an MRI scan?

Will definitely ask about antibiotics too.
 
Ask the vet to tell you why it would keep reoccuring ? A friends horse has had several foot abscesses and apparently it caused an infection in the hoof. Despite all the tests nothing showed up.
Strong course of anti biotics and her mare is getting sound now, for the first time in 6 months.
There has got to be a reason why you can't get on top of the abscess, and I would suggest that a foreign body may still be present.
Not sure re MRI but I suppose it would depend on what they were looking for ?
Good luck
 
I have had several horses in for clients that have had abcesses.

One horse had recurring abcesses for 6 weeks with vet and farrier visits and it still wasn't getting any better. He came in and went in the hydrotherapy spa for three days. He was dry poulticed when not in the spa to see what was coming out. The spa drew the pus out, helped with the lameness and cleaned out the area and on the third day there was nothing on the dry poultice. The farrier filled the hole and replaced the shoe and the horse has been sound ever since.

So if nothing else is working something like a spa might be worth a go.
 
I don't have any experience of MRI scans but are they as detailed as an X-ray?

We had a brood mare that kept getting abscesses and it turned out that her pedal bone had an infection.

I would double check with your vet as there must surely be a reason behind them.
 
Well now after a week of wet poulticing & getting him to stand in a bucket of warm water there is hardly anything coming out of the foot so we are going on to dry poultice (thanks for the tip re nappies!). However he is still lame so looks like there is something else going on. May have to have more x rays / nerve blocks etc; though I thought MRI would have shown anything going on. NOTHING is ever straightforward with my lad.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top