Lingering hoof abscess

[wickedwilfred]

I have a 2 year old with an abscess on a front foot, which is a challenge in itself. I called in the farrier who found it in the toe and drained it. We poulticed it until all the pus had gone - about 3 days and then, so we could turn her out, I put some copper sulphate in the hole and plugged it with cotton wool soaked in Hibiscrub, which is what I had seen my farrier do in the past. However, the abscess first appeared over the Coronation weekend and there was a delay before the farrier could come out and deal with and meanwhile, the abscess had travelled up to the coronary band. I have been given conflicting instructions - to cover or not to cover, to poultice or not to poultice. My vet says just keep on poulticing it but I have always understood poulticing should only be done for 3-4 days and there are no visible signs that the abscess is draining through the coronary band, she is still very lame on it and no sign of improvement. I was wondering if a course of antibiotics would be appropriate at this stage, but my vet says no.

 

[HorsesRule2009]

Personally if it has been going on since the begining of May I think its time for Radiographs to asses internally and see if there's anything causing the abscess to rumble on / delaying healing

 

[meleeka]

I’d stop poulticing to let the hoof harden again and then get an x-ray to check that the infection hasn’t reached the pedal bone. If an abscess has come out the top I would just hot tub twice a day and squirt iodine in the hole with a syringe.

 

[Hollylee1989]

Sadly not a positive story to add here, whisper had her first ever abcess. Was a deep underrun one, over a week more and more pus kept coming, and her lameness did not improve. The following day her leg went like a balloon, and she would not stop shaking. She got down and did not want to get up, despite a very strong painkiller injected from the vet. We made the call as it was more than likely septic by that point. Hope your horse recovers quickly, abscesses can be a nightmare.

 

[Birker2020]

Sadly not a positive story to add here, whisper had her first ever abcess. Was a deep underrun one, over a week more and more pus kept coming, and her lameness did not improve. The following day her leg went like a balloon, and she would not stop shaking. She got down and did not want to get up, despite a very strong painkiller injected from the vet. We made the call as it was more than likely septic by that point. Hope your horse recovers quickly, abscesses can be a nightmare.

That sounds very traumatic.

 

[irishdraft]

It sounds like your doing all the right things abscesses can rumble on for weeks. Has your farrier dug out the abscess for draining that could possibly make her lame if foot is sore or there could be more infection present which is why vet suggests more poulticing . I would poultice and wrap foot up very well and turn out for a for a couple of days & then check poultice & go from there. I had a abscess that went on for 8 weeks a few years ago.

 

[Hollylee1989]

That sounds very traumatic.

Was awful, first ever one in her 28 year life, and it takes her.

 

[Murphy’s Gauntlet]

Sadly not a positive story to add here, whisper had her first ever abcess. Was a deep underrun one, over a week more and more pus kept coming, and her lameness did not improve. The following day her leg went like a balloon, and she would not stop shaking. She got down and did not want to get up, despite a very strong painkiller injected from the vet. We made the call as it was more than likely septic by that point. Hope your horse recovers quickly, abscesses can be a nightmare.

That is terrible.
I think everyone (me included) over look an foot abscess. We nearly lost my boy last year from one. It ended up being a subsolar abscess and traveled under the entire soul of his foot, almost affecting the pedal. 6 months it took to get through to the other side and 9 months until he was able to be ridden! Was a nightmare and very sad seeing them in so much pain!

 

[Murphy’s Gauntlet]

I have a 2 year old with an abscess on a front foot, which is a challenge in itself. I called in the farrier who found it in the toe and drained it. We poulticed it until all the pus had gone - about 3 days and then, so we could turn her out, I put some copper sulphate in the hole and plugged it with cotton wool soaked in Hibiscrub, which is what I had seen my farrier do in the past. However, the abscess first appeared over the Coronation weekend and there was a delay before the farrier could come out and deal with and meanwhile, the abscess had travelled up to the coronary band. I have been given conflicting instructions - to cover or not to cover, to poultice or not to poultice. My vet says just keep on poulticing it but I have always understood poulticing should only be done for 3-4 days and there are no visible signs that the abscess is draining through the coronary band, she is still very lame on it and no sign of improvement. I was wondering if a course of antibiotics would be appropriate at this stage, but my vet says no.

I would always go with my farriers advice. Vets are great and there’s no getting away from that, but I trust a farrier over a vet as regards to butchering a hoof. They know the boundaries and vets are great with gathering the evidence to help farriers.
I would be on and off with the poultice but the off days need to be dry.

 

[meleeka]

That is terrible.
I think everyone (me included) over look a foot abscess. We nearly lost my boy last year from one. It ended up being a subsolar abscess and traveled under the entire soul of his foot, almost affecting the pedal. 6 months it took to get through to the other side and 9 months until he was able to be ridden! Was a nightmare and very sad seeing them in so much pain!

I too lost one last year when an abscess developed into an infection of the pedal bone and then laminitis in her good hoof