I've broken my horse - opinions please :(

J

jumpthemoon

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following on from my post about bute, my horse has hurt himself and I'd appreciate some opinions...

Friday night - turned out as normal

Sat am - came in with a cut halfway up the inside of his gaskin - caused by the little adjusting buckle on his fillet strap (I know - wierd!) I cleaned it up, he wasn't lame, not much swelling, turn back out

Sunday - slight swelling below wound above hock. Doesnt seem to be moving poorly hock as well as good hock. I figure clean it up again and see how it is on Monday - still not lame

Monday am - 7.30am - even more swollen, slightly lame. Called vet for advice and wait for him to ring me back

Mon 12pm - call from YO - horse is on 3 legs in field, can't walk, leg huge...

Mon 2.30 - I finally arrive with bute and antibiotics to hand. horse v lame, leg v swollen. give antibiotics & bute

Mon 6pm - leg still swollen, horse looking v fed up.

Is this just infected or could it be something more sinister? It was defo caused by rug and not a kick, not lame until mon am. Sorry it's so long..
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no - i described it to him and he said he was happy that it was infected and all he would do would be to give antibiotics to start with, anyway. He said if its not looking a bit better by morning to have a visit then.
 
Sounds like a little infection...the antibiotics might not kick in too quickly though...and in my experience 'bute can take a while too.
It's a difficult place I know, but perhaps you could poultice it?
S
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It does sound like an infection, but i'm surprised your horse has such a big reaction to such a superficial wound. Will keep everything crossed that bute/antibiotics help. I would definately want the vet to check it if there isn't a marked improvement by the morning.
 
if it's from the buckle on the strap then it's a puncture wound type and the infection has gone inside and trapped itself with the wound healing over on the outside

hence the reaction and the infection.

vet is right - anti-biotics - although if he's on 3 legs then I'd get vet out as maybe injectable anti-b. are necessary rather than trimediazine/uniprim which is what I assume he's given you

I don't think that bute is right for an infection as it masks the symptoms and you need to know if the infection is gaining ground - which you don't know if bute is given but if that is what the vet has given then he is the best person to know

is there any chance that something else has happened to cause the buckel to penetrate the skin - i.e. have you checked for any thorns from brambles, etc - i.e.could he have been caught up on a bramble and that cause the buckle to penetrate and he's still got a bramble thorn in his leg causing the massive reaction ???

I'd look for a thorn somewhere
 
Hmm..if it's not much improved by morning I'll be having the vet straight out. I only didn't have him come out t onight as he said that the antibiotics would take a while to work and to leave it til the morning. (I rang him back at 6). it is actually quite a deep cut - surprisingly nasty for a rug...
 
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[/ QUOTE ] Mon 2.30 - I finally arrive with bute and antibiotics to hand. horse v lame, leg v swollen. give antibiotics & bute

Did you give your horse the antibiotics, as I no my vet would not recommend anything untill he has seen the wound. Was the buckle rusty!!! Is the horse up to date with his vaccination's, i;e tetanus
 
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I'd look for a thorn somewhere

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Cheers airedale - I gave him the bute (with vets approval) as he was obviously suffering. Once the swelling goes down a bit and he looks more comfortable I'll stop bute.

There are no thorns in the field! No hedges, trees, nothing! It's surrounded by elec fence and only 1 other horse who is 18 and good as gold. I've looked round the leg and there are no other injuries. It is like a puncture wound but it hasn't healed yet at the deepest part - it's sliced into his skin and gone pretty deep at the end of the slice. It looks pretty red and raw still as well, even though I've been cleaning it every day.
 
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Did you give your horse the antibiotics, as I no my vet would not recommend anything untill he has seen the wound. Was the buckle rusty!!!

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Yes I gave the antibiotics -I know thats not normal practice but i know my vet very well and he has seen a lot of my horse recently. I think he is confident that I can describe the symptoms to him accurately. He did say that if I didnt get an improvement by morning to call him out, which I double checked later on, but I just wanted to see what everyone on here thought.

No, the buckle wasn't rusty and he is up to date with his tetanus jabs.
 
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I would get the vet out asap, sounds like could be severe lymphangitis, it won't go away without vet attention and can be fatal if not treated quickly.

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Thanks FMN - don't worry, I will be straight on the phone in the morning if its not a whole lot better. I would have had them out tonight but they didnt think it was necessary and said to wait and see how he gets on with antibiotics.
 
very old fashioned but I'd stick peroxide and iodine on it - peroxide to bubble the sh1t out of it and then iodine to antiseptic it

iodine went out of fashion but is back in now and Inadine gauze is exentsively used on humans

sounds nasty and very unlucky
 
i would give him the antibiotics and keep him in for on a deep bed if you can. im suprised the vet has not come out. bu definatly sounds like an infection.
 
Have you been flushing the wound out?
If infection sets in, it will be tricky to get out. If you have a syringe, poke it in the wound to fllush it, and very definitley get vet to look at it, he may be able to see something you can't.

Hope it gets better soon
 
Morning all. Quick update on this - I went down this morning and although the leg is still swollen he is walking comfortably on it. I'm going to give the vet another call this morning to see what he thinks but hopefully the antibiotics will start to kick in. I walked him round earlier and he was dragging me in the direction of the field so he seems ok. I have cleaned the wound out - I can get right into it with my gauze - gave it a real good scrub with hibiscrub and it wasn't as sore as yesterday. I'll see what the vet says and how he is later. Im hoping for an improvement in the swelling by later on...

Thanks for al your advice!
 
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