Recurring abssesses

[scotsmare]

Our section b mare has been plagued with absesses since last winter, she's got another one today.....

I'm a bit mystified as to why they keep recurring!! Her bed is clean / foot hygiene good / the field isn't even thick with mud at the moment....

Any suggestions

 

[Eaglestone]

How old is she?

 

[scotsmare]

She's 7 - this is the same mare you helped me with a week or so ago when we thought she had lami.

 

[Flame_]

Has she actually had laminitis in the fairly recent past?

 

[scotsmare]

No, vet checked her after my last bout of panicking and said it 'probably' wasn't lami, other than being about 1/10th lame on the foot with the absess she's absolutely fine.

 

[Eaglestone]

[ QUOTE ]
She's 7 - this is the same mare you helped me with a week or so ago when we thought she had lami.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh dear ... I do not have a clue then ... if she was an oldie then I would suspect it could be due to her age and possibly Cushings .... but as a youngster I would not like to say ..

I hope you get an answer

 

[Flame_]

That does sound pretty weird. Laminitics, particularly cushings ponies, can be very prone to abscesses, especially in the months following an attack. Sorry, that doesn't help you much, does it?

 

[scotsmare]

No, not really

Am going to give vet a phone call tomorrow and see if he can have a guess over the phone..... failing that it will be another visit

Should have sold the pony when I had the opportunity

 

[BeckyD]

I don't bear good news but it may be something you could rule out - my old mare used to get a lot of foot abcesses, and in the end it turned out her pedal bone had completely disintegrated - showed up on an X-ray. I don't know if the abcesses and the pedal bone problem were connected, but I suppose it is possible and I have always mentally linked the two!

Otherwise, maybe her feet are very porous and just absorb grit or something?

 

[scotsmare]

Thanks Ronaldo - unfortunately the abcesses are occurring on a different foot each time..... nothing is ever simple

 

[BeckyD]

Oh good lord! Ours were only ever the one foot (should have rung alarm bells at the time really!).

Hope you get to the bottom of it, as dealing with them is such a smelly and time-consuming nightmare. And they look so sorry for themselves when it hurts!

Would be interested to hear about the cause, if you find one. Good luck! x

 

[Morgan123]

my horse has an abscess atm and when i spoke to the vet she said they're seeing lots of hoof problems due to the weather being so warm then cold, wet then dry etc causing the feet to soften, dirt gets into white lines, then dry etc - perhaps your horse's are jsut more suceptible to doftening adn hardening somehow?! she suggested getting good hoof boots to use in very dry or wet weather to protect the hooves in general, might be worth a try! i know how frustrating they are, though... good luck!!

 

[scotsmare]

OMG - she has tiny tiny feet I don't think I'd get any to fit

Have had a chat with one of the vets who frankly, is none the wiser!! Am going to phone back tomorrow when my 'own' vet is back in and hopefully get a sensible answer!

 

[Donkeymad]

I'd be very interested to hear what your vet says, if you don't mind. I have a very healthy seven year old mare with a similar problem this year.