Recurring foot abcesses

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SpruceRI

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A friend of mine has an elderly mare who is a happy hacker, but has been intermittently lame since October, with what the vet thinks is foot abcesses.

The vet has been out twice, and poked around the foot. Seemingly can find no site of the abcess, and nor can the farrier. But still thinks that pus is the problem.

My friend poulticed for ages, wet and then dry. The mare came sound-ish and has been back out in the field.

My friend hasn't ridden her since, but decided, last weekend to trot her up and down in the lane to check soundness in the hope of being able to take her for an amble.

A quick whizz in hand, and the pony limping badly.

Friend says pony isn't lame out in the field.

I forgot to ask her whether the pony has got her shoes back on, but can abcesses last this long?

she has started poulticing again...but is feeling like this is pointless.

Can this really still be abcesses? Do they recur like this in the same foot?

What else can she do?

thanks
 
Abcesses can re occur again and again if they are deep seated and dont drain out. If polticing is not drawing out the infection the vet should have suggested a course of antibiotics to clear it up from the inside. get your friend to ask about this.

The other thing i would suggest is that re occuring abcesses can be a sign that the immune system is weak, does the horse get any feed? If she is already on a complete/blanaced feed then just add echinacea. If the horse is not being fed try giving a vitamin and mineral suppliament with some chaff and some echinacea.

has either the vet or the farrier tried searching for the abcess with a needle orr a nail? it gets in deeper but is less invasive than 'digging trenches' especially if you cant find it. The other possibility is that its not an abcess at all.
 
More lame on a hard flat surface than on a soft surface that packs up inside the foot is not what my horses have shown with a foot abscess, it's been the other way around.

This sounds like something that box rest cured (irrespective of the poulticing) and that being out again has made worse - a tendon pull? A splint developing? DDFT inside the foot? A cracked pedal bone?

They can recurr like this if they are deep, sometimes called "occult abscesses" because of their nasty, deep, hidden behaviour. I would be very cautious of antibiotics for a foot abscess which is not draining, vets have always told me that they are, in vet-speak "contra-indicated" because they can control it just enough to cause it to fester on for an awful long time instead of breaking out.

Sounds like it's time for ultrasound and xrays to me..
 
Not very up on medical matters but have the vets investigated into any other problem other than abscess? Like cptrayes says, x-rays might shed some light on if there is a different problem?
 
Antibiotics cannot actually help at this stage, so pointless giving them. I'm very surprised that a farrier has been unable to locate any abscess this late on, and suggest either calling the farrier again, or asking your vet to do some further tets, maybe starting with a nerve blockk to ensure the problem is actually in the hoof.
 
It could be an abscess, but if its gone on this long its more likely to be something else. They need a lameness work up with a specialist vet.
 
MH my first thought is a compromised immune system, so possibly showing signs of Cushings, dare I say, especially as you say she is 'elderly'
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[ QUOTE ]
Abcesses can re occur again and again if they are deep seated and dont drain out. If polticing is not drawing out the infection the vet should have suggested a course of antibiotics to clear it up from the inside. get your friend to ask about this.

The other thing i would suggest is that re occuring abcesses can be a sign that the immune system is weak, does the horse get any feed? If she is already on a complete/blanaced feed then just add echinacea. If the horse is not being fed try giving a vitamin and mineral suppliament with some chaff and some echinacea.

has either the vet or the farrier tried searching for the abcess with a needle orr a nail? it gets in deeper but is less invasive than 'digging trenches' especially if you cant find it. The other possibility is that its not an abcess at all.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thankyou 'TheFarrier'.

Yes, a course of antiobiotics was administered along with Bute. I believe that the A-B course finished ages ago, but my friend has kept up with the Bute - until the day before the attempted trot up.

Sorry, I forgot about the Bute
crazy.gif
That would explain why the pony was seemingly sound.

I will ask her what she is feeding and how much 'poking' both the vets and farrier has done so far.

Thank you very much
 
Cptrayes - Sorry, I forgot to mention in the original post that the pony has been on Bute since Oct. Friend took her off it the day before the trot up to see if she was sound. She was OK whilst ambling around in the field, but not on the lane.

I'm not sure whether the mare has had her shoes removed as I'd imagine she'd be a bit sore without anyway. I will ask friend about that.


Midlander: My friend said that the original vet who came out in Oct thought the problem might be Laminitis. Friend wasn't able to glean any further info from that vet at the time as to why she thought this, as the vet suggested the Anti-bios, bute and poulticing as a first point of call, and then when the 2nd vet came out, he didn't mention the likelihood of Laminitis at all.

Donklet and Flame - I was also surprised about the Anti-bios as my own farrier has said that they are unneccessary in incidences such as this.

I think nerve blocking would be a good idea too...

Eaglestone - Maybe the first vet considered Laminitis as being Cushings related? Not that the pony has been diagnosed with either condition, but it's a possibility that this is the start of it and/or the pony lacking in the nutrients she needs as she gets older. I think she must be about 25yrs old.

Thank you all. I will email my friend will all your help. It's much appreciated.
 
I agree with the above posters that at this stage a PD nerve block at the very least is required. Preferably some xrays should also be taken - this could rule out a number of other causes of foot lameness and may enable your farrier to suggest a better approach to shoeing the horse. A good vet will liaise with the farrier to discuss any improvments in the shoeing of the horse that could help to get her sound. Is the vet she uses a specifically equine vet? If not I think she should book a lameness workup with an equine vet.
 
Oh blimey, well if she has got an abscess and she was given antibiotics when the foot was not draining then you could well have an abscess that has "gone to ground" and it could be a long time before it gets resolved. I'm surprised your vet gave antibiotics in that situation, before finding out for sure what the lameness actually was caused by.

Surely it's time to xray/nerve block/scan or whatever and find out exactly where the lameness is? The symptoms you describe are the same as for pedal bone fracture and a number of other things too and if they are left any longer then permanent lameness could result.

A second opinion from a different vet, maybe?
 
We have a gelding that has a very thin sole on one of his front feet. He will often come in hopping lame. He is already on a bute a day for arthritis.

The vet will have a poke around but often finds nothing and poulticing doesn't yield anything either. His conclusion is that he is badly bruising it hooning about in the field. Invariably after four or five days box rest he is sound enough to go back out although sometimes it can take up to 2 weeks.

He does this at least twice a year.
 
Oooh, now THAT's interesting! Do you have any idea why he has a thin sole on one foot and not the other? I'm fascinated by things like that in hooves....
 
Does the horse have extremely thick feathering by any chance - the sort where you can't see the skin at all without clipping. It's just that this sounds similar to my sons horse last Feb & that turned out to be pastern dermatitis.Suddenly hopping lame initially thought to be an abcess. Seemed to get better then intermittently lame so Vet then thought possibly a fractured pedal bone. Of course whenever the Vet turned up it was a good day. Only found out what it was when he went in for a full lameness check (although naturally that was a good day too!)
 
My mare also has a very thin sole on one front hoof, and is constantly bruising and getting abcessess.
i have to keep her shod the whole time even though she is not ridden anymore.
She can sometimes only need a couple of days in but sometimes a few weeks, had numerous specialist vets and farriers to look at her, general concensous (sp) keep doing as i am doing
 
My youngster had what I thought was an abcess as he presented exactly the same as a year previously which was an abcess. Turned out it was a keratoma.
 
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