No pus in poultice, and yet horse is sound - more or less.

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showqa

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So, even if I don't see any pus in the poultice, IF my horse is far more sound than she was, can I assume that the abscess must be draining? I really haven't seen anything in the way of black discharge in the poultie, but whereas she was on three legs a few days ago she is now fully weight bearing (she's had no bute now for 36 hours). Confused!!!
 
showqa said:
So, even if I don't see any pus in the poultice, IF my horse is far more sound than she was, can I assume that the abscess must be draining? I really haven't seen anything in the way of black discharge in the poultie, but whereas she was on three legs a few days ago she is now fully weight bearing (she's had no bute now for 36 hours). Confused!!!
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At some point, an abscess has to stop draining, become clean and heal.
It sounds to me as though your horse's abscess is drained - although it may be worth dry poulticing her for a while to make sure.
And keep an eye open for heat, or swelling, lameness recurring.
S :D
 
Thanks Shilisdair - isn't it a bit strange though that I haven't seen any pus in the dressings? There has been a vile smell, undoubtedly, but visually not much to see.
 
Does your horse have a lot of feather? We had this years ago, the vet dug the foot out and we poulticed, pus came out for a few days and then stopped but the mare got sounder.

I was so busy with the poulticing I didn't notice that the reason for this was the pus was leaking from around the corononary band. She had a lot of feather so it wasn't immediately obvious.
 
Thanks Cluck. She's mobile all the time anyway, because I have a poultice boot that she keeps on and so she's constantly roaming around the yard.
 
Leviathan said:
my horse is VERY SORE

poultice still hasnt been a success wish i could feel it starting to drain.:(
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Is your horse able to move around? Can you soak the foot in HOT water and Epsom salts (with a dash of iodine or ACV) for 30 mins (keeping the water hot) and then hand walk? Do this 2 to 3 times/day until the abscess bursts and continue for a few more days to help with drainage.

Not a vet but have too much experience with abscesses.
 
The same thing happened to me a few years ago and my horse went sound so I assumed there was no abcess. Then 2 weeks later he got lame again and the infection had actually started to travel up his leg. We got it out through the cornet band in the end.
 
Totally agree with the above. We had rumbling lameness regarding poison foot with a KWPN and thought we'd got to the bottom of it (teeniest amount of yellow came out) Wet poulticed/hot tubbed/ dry poulticed over two weeks and then once declared sound had the shoe back on... after a month he was lame again. His had travelled to the front of his hoof, right under his point of toe and once we got it this time it was like a mini mountain... now a much happier horse! Good luck xx
 
Oh God - see that's exactly what I'm worried about. How on earth do you know if you're doing all you're supposed to already? Not even really got into wet weather time of the year properly either - great start to the winter.

Sorry to hear about your woes Levi - it is horrible.
 
'Don't allow the farrier to dig a huge hole as you can create more problems.'

Not necessarily so - with yrs of horse ownership and experiencing a few abscess's in those, the quickest ones to resolve have been dug out by farrier.

This must have been quite an unusual case?
 
Sidney said:
'Don't allow the farrier to dig a huge hole as you can create more problems.'

Not necessarily so - with yrs of horse ownership and experiencing a few abscess's in those, the quickest ones to resolve have been dug out by farrier.

This must have been quite an unusual case?
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In my experience the abscesses that are dug out take longer to heal (with a larger risk of re-infection) than those that burst on their own. So lets just agree to disagree on that.

I've had a horse go three-legged to back to work in 8 days from a small abscess and about 2 weeks for a bigger one with obvious drainage. That's virtually impossible if you have a large hole in the horse's foot.

Yes the case I mention above was unusual and the hole was bloody huge!
 
showqa said:
Oh God - see that's exactly what I'm worried about. How on earth do you know if you're doing all you're supposed to already? Not even really got into wet weather time of the year properly either - great start to the winter.

Sorry to hear about your woes Levi - it is horrible.
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Have your vet/farrier out (whichever you prefer to use in such circumstances) and get them to check it with you. Have you bathed in warm water and epsom? It really does work, promise! Let the farrier dig it out, we are a hunting yard and infection in the foot is a pretty common ailment and no farrier I have ever used has caused any trouble when treating such a condition. You may find that the infection has drained and your horse has been left with a certain amount of brusing around the site etc, think about how a human foot hurts if you stand on a sharp piece of stone. Good luck!
 
We normally get the farrier to dig a hole, vet ALWAYS does it too unless it is in a very strange place and then hot-wet poultice for 3 days then dry poultice for another 3 days then fill the hole with tar and cotton wool. More often than not you wont see anything on the poultice, not 100% sure why but you don't.
 
I'm currently poulticing my horse, who currently has an abscess (3rd one in as many weeks!) His was detected by farrier, who dug it out and straightaway started to drain. He's coming back on monday.
At the mo the foot is looking good,and glad it was detected so early on. He's improving already :) I haven't really seen any pus on my warm poultices either! so frustrating but will dry poultice tomorrow morning and see what's what.
 
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Cluck said:
Is your horse able to move around? Can you soak the foot in HOT water and Epsom salts (with a dash of iodine or ACV) for 30 mins (keeping the water hot) and then hand walk? Do this 2 to 3 times/day until the abscess bursts and continue for a few more days to help with drainage.

Not a vet but have too much experience with abscesses.
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heer foot is and has been soaked 15 mins ( vets request) twice a day lami abscesses are always harder to treat then dried and hoof hardner on ( again vets request) with epsom salts. she cannot be walked around she is on box rest.
 
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