PICTURES Mare with infected wound in withers. Still looks nasty.

The vet seems to be closely managing this case- by all means ask them about other options but Id be very wary about following Internet strangers advice over the vet at this stage.
 
Manuka honey is brilliant.

As others have said the site of the wound is not in a good place for it to drain so you will still see some pus for a while.

I also would not let a scab form, scabs seal the wound and allow granulation to form in the tissue - granulated tissue = scars. My vet always advises to keep clean and let them drain until any infection is gone then cover with a pad smothered in manuka honey until you see pink flesh. I'd then rub daily with an oil based product (I use one from my vet) to keep a scab from forming and preventing proud flesh.

So far this has worked very well on a stallion who degloved his leg, a young filly who sliced her knee open and a mare who nearly ripped her ear off, all healed well with no proud flesh. (none of those horses were mine but owned by the stud I help out at)
 
One thing I would do is give the wound a wider clean margin. So do a bit more clipping. If you want to keep the mane, I'd plait it on the opposite side of the wound to prevent any cross contamination.
 
rara007 said:
The vet seems to be closely managing this case- by all means ask them about other options but Id be very wary about following Internet strangers advice over the vet at this stage.
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Agree with this, certainly run anything past the vet too. I would agree with them re. keeping it open - allowing infection to further develop with sealed up puss is not good idea.
 
rara007 said:
The vet seems to be closely managing this case- by all means ask them about other options but Id be very wary about following Internet strangers advice over the vet at this stage.
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This ^^^^

And (to completely contradict my own advice) don't cover it! It's got to be kept open and draining so that it can heal from the bottom up/inside out. It looks like it's supposed to look at this stage, and actually pretty good. Patience...........
 
Some good advice here. The only thing I would add is to remember to rinse very thoroughly when using hibiscrub/iodine to clean and use them very well diluted. They are cytotoxic so will delay healing, I don't use them on wounds for more than a couple of days at most.
 
Another one here who says keep it open, also keep cleaning the pus away a weak saline will do but gently, don't rub away any granulation tissue and always work from the inside to the outside of the wound so that you don't carry nasties back to the middle. Use a fresh swab (not cotton wool) for each wipe. Sorry if I'm 'teaching my grandmother' how to clean a wound but I've seen so many people just scrub away at a wound and carry all sorts of contaminants back into it by wiping top to bottom and side to side.

Once it's clean, fill the hole with some intrasite gel or a simple wound cream - nothing aggressively antiseptic or antibacterial - you just want a layer to stop fresh contaminants getting at the freshly cleaned wound (honey I've not tried so I won't recommend as I never do that with anything I've not had personal experience of) and gently wipe it away before you clean the wound next time. Cleaning and re-filling you may need to do everyday whatever you do though don't let it scab over or you could end up sealing in more trouble! I'd also recommend trimming the mane so that it can't touch the wound and potentially contaminate it with whatever dust etc is on the hair.

This type of wound will take ages to clear up - there is so much healing and tissue growth that needs to take place - you just need to keep cleaning and protecting and eventually it will get there.
 
Thankyou to each and every one who has taken the time to answer in this post. The pic below is what I have come down to his morning! Will post another pic after cleaning. The vet has said that I can cover in honey but must leave open. Nothing else to apply topically. Doesn't look any better today :( :( :(

I should add that I have just gone and bought vaseline to protect the skin and hair below and razore to clean thr surrounding area more.

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It is still draining though, which is a good thing. When we were on a yard, a fellow livery had a mare with a hip wound that abcessed, the goo was like pints of custard! They were told to hose the wound out two or three times a day, the wound was big enough to put your fist in, but she healed and there was even minimal scarring.
 
YorksG said:
It is still draining though, which is a good thing. When we were on a yard, a fellow livery had a mare with a hip wound that abcessed, the goo was like pints of custard! They were told to hose the wound out two or three times a day, the wound was big enough to put your fist in, but she healed and there was even minimal scarring.
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LOVELY!! I looked after a mare who had rolled on a chain harrow - so she had several puncture wounds on her quarters - every time she walked a few steps, custard consistency pus squirted out of the holes. Ive got a pretty strong stomach where wounds are concerned, but that one even made me feel a bit peculiar!
 
Auslander said:
LOVELY!! I looked after a mare who had rolled on a chain harrow - so she had several puncture wounds on her quarters - every time she
walked a few steps, custard consistency pus squirted out of the holes. Ive got a pretty strong stomach where wounds are concerned, but that one even made me feel a bit peculiar!
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Ok.. I feel a little more reassured now. This goo is definitely custard like! Vet is coming tomorrow now. I cleaned it out and think I see a small hole in the wound and when I press on the withers the pus oozes out of the wound.

Sigh.....
 
When my friends horse had a similar injury she cut a hole in an old rug over the wound so it was always exposed to air, really helped to dry it up
 
Looks revolting! But imagine if all that pus couldn't drain, she would have a terrible infection, possibly even septicaemia. Manuka honey is very 'drawing' and will help to pull out any infection; a word of warning though, I know from personal use that it stings like hell so do be prepared for a reaction and don't risk getting squashed.
 
YorksG said:
When we had a mare with an open wound on a leg, the vet told us to keep washing it out and to not let a scab form, we washed it out with warm water with an irrigation syringe. This was so it healed from the inside. It worked well and there was no scarring.
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This is what I did with a deep puncture wound in the chest. If you can get it, put one or two drops of tea tree and lavender essential oil in the syringe. The tea tree is one of the strongest antiseptics, and the lavender will sooth the wound and acts as an anti inflammatory. I once had a wound in a lamb's leg from a dog bite that was full of maggots. After flushing with a tea tree wash, they poured out of the wound!
 
Agree with Sula-leaving this open will simply allow debris to cling to it and for it to dry out. The principles of modern wound healing are based on a moist wound envirronment to allow cells to migrate from the wound margins and heal from the edges. Intrasite gel will help absorb the infective material. Seaweed dressings (calcium alginate) are also good and can simply be flushed away with warm saline using a large tipped syringe. I personally would consider an iodine soak for a few days then intrasite or seaweed. Not used honey and friend has used it on herself and found it very nippy! I would be cleaning it by irrigation and keeping it covered at this stage.
 
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