Oosing wound on hind cannon

[FabulousFlynn'sMum]

Hi folks,

Just after a bit of advice. One of our horses came in on Fri with a small cut about half way down the side of his hind cannon between the hock and fetlock. There was a bit of swelling around the cut so I hibiscrubbed it and applied some antibac gel presuming he'd just had a kick or something (horse wasnt lame at all). Ive been putting the gel on everyday since then and when I applied it last night I thought fab, the cut looked like it was well on the way to healing although the swelling was still there.

Cut a long story short, got him in tonight and there is a watery blood and puss like substance oosing from where the cut was (it was totally dry and looked almost healed last night), also the swelling is a bit bigger too, when I lightly squeezed the wound a small about of puss and blood came out but it isnt bothering the horse at all and he's still not lame! Anyway ive scalded some animalintex and bandaged that on his leg to draw out the puss.

So my question is, is this some sort of abcess or has some infection got in the wound before I started treating it? Obviously when I do him in the morning i'll get the vet out if its no better but how would you all go about treating it? Will he need antibiotics anyway or will it just heal itself when all the puss drains out?

Thanks folks, sorry to be so thick but believe it or not ive never had to deal with an infected wound in 30 years of horse ownership!!

Luv Jayne xx

 

[lizzi2]

Sounds as if it is infected - but if was ok last night, have the flies just been bothering it today?
If the area around it is quite hot too, and isn't any better in the morning, antibiotics will probably be needed to kill the infection. I use lots of natural products myself, but if you've cleaned it up and got the animalintex on, it might do the trick (and will keep it clean which is good if there is infection there).

 

[Hels_Bells]

Is the puss quite liquid and does it spurt out if you squeeze the wound? If so it could be joint fluid which is not a good thing. I would probably get the vet out asap if I were you whether it is infected or joint fluid.

 

[Cobbysmum]

Sometimes small wounds go deeper than you think and scab over too soon. My tb has one at the moment which I'm letting heal from the bottom up. I bathe it every night and use dermoline at night and in the morning, there is a small amount of clear weeping but the dermoline is keeping it really clean. Had a horse with a really bad puncture wound many years ago and you could get hold of terramyacin drains then which were brill but since the good old EU banned terramyacin I haven't found anything quite as good. Give the wound a good clean and start again, don't think it's an abcess, just the remains of the original wound which got trapped.

 

[FabulousFlynn'sMum]

Hi Lizzi and hels, thanks for your replies.

Dont think the flies can have opened it up cos it was actually sealed last night if you see what I mean, at the weekend I was thinking that the swelling could have been a splint or something over the area but with hindsight I think its just been the puss building up.

Its defo not joint fluid thank god, the cut was no where near a joint it was on clean bone if you get what I mean. I'm presuming the swelling behind the cut has been an infection building and its just burst tonight.

I'll get the vet out tomora anyway, presumably if there is puss present that means there's infection and i'd better be safe than sorry.

Thanks both of you for taking the time to reply, its much appreciated.

Luv Jayne.

 

[FabulousFlynn'sMum]

Hi cobbysmum, thanks for that, I must admit it healed over really quickly, bearing in mind he did it on Friday and it actually looked healed last night! I'm gonna get the vet tomora to be on the safe side in case he needs some anti bi's but hopefully the poultice will have drawn alot of it out by the morning.

Thanks again xx

 

[Cobbysmum]

I'm sure it will be fine, good luck with the vet

 

[FabulousFlynn'sMum]

Thanks hun, and thanks for the advice xx

 

[Happy Horse]

There could be a small bone fragment which could prevent a wound from healing. The vet is definitely the best thing to be on the safe side.

 

[Christmas Crumpet]

My TB got a cut on the inside of his hock which appeared to scab over very quickly. It did exactly what your horses's leg has done and it had just scabbed over too quickly.

I peeled remainder of scab off and let it heal from inside out. Took about 3 weeks to go completly but now totally fine.

 

[FabulousFlynn'sMum]

Hi Caroline and everyone else that replied.

Good news I think, I removed the animalintex this morning and it was full of puss and watery blood, lovely!, but the lump behind the cut has probably gone down by at least half the size, the cut has opened up, I presume where the puss has burst out but it looks very clean. Ive hot poulticed it again to draw any remaining gunk out and see what its like tomora. Vet was happy to just let me go and collect some anti bi's so hopefully its looking like its just an infected cut that'll clear up. Im gonna see what more, of anything, its drawn out of it tomora and take it from there.

Thanks all of you for your comments xx

 

[Cobbysmum]

Glad he's on the mend, these horses are meant to try us lol. Pack it with a wound cream when you've cleaned it, we are about a week on from the injury and the flesh is knitting together from the bottom quite nicely, another week and we should be just about right.