Rotten Dock

DosyMare

DosyMare

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So I had the vet out Tuesday for his final vaccination and asked vet for a quick check up and that his snip went ok. All is good. I decided to give the yearling a bath in fly shampoo as I had the day off.
When washing his tail I noticed it was falling out in my hands. When I got to the bottom of his dock the hair just fell out in clumps. As I looked more closely at the dock it was covered in yellow puss, bloody, and red raw and about 3 inches worth with no hair on it.
I called the vet and explained what I had found. They asked if he had ever wore a tail bandage! That it would have been on to tight. I explained he live in a field 24/7. Anyway they didn't come out as they had seen him that morning and advised I could collect 5 days worth of antibiotics and clean with salt water and cover with suda cream. Which I have done.
He has a foal short tail but you can't actually see the wound unless you move the hair back to the dock.
I then realised that he had been wearing a tail bandage three weeks previous when he was at the vets for his castration. Do you think that this is effect of a over tight tail bandage? Should I ask the vet to pay for the antibiotic? Could it be sweet itch? Or a midge?
Vet said if it wasn't better in 5 days then they may need to remove the bottom of his dock!
Any one got any experience of this? Suggestions?
 
Here is a not so good pic...

c716f255.jpg
 
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Hi.
That sounds nasty, hope your boy is ok!! It doesn't sound to me like it is from a bandage. It would of had to of been on very tight and for a long period of time for it to of cut the blood supply sufficiently enough to cause that type of damage.
Maybe more lightly he has caught in the field or on the waggon, and it has got infected fast, from him having a low amune system from being castrated.
I would continue with the vets advice.
If you do think it could be sweet itch you could try Teatree oil, it has wonderful poperties for flies, infections and healing fast.
You can get it at most chemists, health food shops, or maybe your local Boyes for a couple of pounds. And you can use it with the Sudacrem no problem, diluted or neat.
Hope he's better soon. X
 
It does not look at all like sweet itch, more an injury if he was caught on something and because it is well hidden has gone unnoticed allowing infection to really take hold.
It may be worth cutting or clipping the hair off around the wound to allow you to really keep it clean and let air get to it. While that may sound a bit drastic it is better than him potentially having part of his dock removed, the hair should grow back as soon as it has healed.
 
Yeah his fine in himself and when I cleaned it it was like he couldn't feel it.

As for the tail bandage - i believe it was put on for his snip which was 8am and then I saw him at 6pm with it on and I think he was left for the night like it as the grooms finish at 5.30pm. So I would say he wore it for at least 24hrs.

Would a horse itch all over if it's sweet itch? I use Cooper fly rep on him and also Net-tex Stop Itch. He also has a fly rug and mask but I don't always use the rug.

I doubt it's from in the trailer - could be field but that's electric fenced with no places to really rub on.

Could a midge or insect cause it - he in a water meadow with lots of bugs.
 
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i have heard of a tail being damaged by a bandage left on, for a shorter time than you say yours was :(
 
I would say it wasnt a midge, i would imagine the flies would go for areas that didn't require so much effort to get too.
I saw the pic after i made the post, i agree defiantly not sweet itch.
I would use the Teatree neet on it for a couple of days applying it 3 or 4 times a day to help dry it out, then i would dilute it and go down to twice a day and put some sudacrem on after to help premote the hair growth.
If you do decide to trim some hair away the teatree will help keep the flies of for sure. X
 
That is an awful long time for a tail bandage to be left on. Sounds like blood supply was compromised which has caused this injury. Something you can never prove but if I were you I'd be having some STRONG words with your vet.
 
I spoke to my vet today. They are looking into this - I've asked that they pay for the antibiotics and refund the £25 per day livery charge.
But all seems to be healing and it's not a visible blemish and Neddy seems fine.
Just glad I found it before the infection spread.
 
applecart14 said:
That is an awful long time for a tail bandage to be left on. Sounds like blood supply was compromised which has caused this injury. Something you can never prove but if I were you I'd be having some STRONG words with your vet.
Click to expand...

That IS a tail bandage injury - absolutely no doubt about it. And any vet would confirm that this is the sort of injury you would see from an over-tight tail bandage! I would ring your vets again - assuming they are the vets that did the castration and left the tail bandage on (???) I would ask them to visit, 1) to see the damage done by themselves, and 2) to clip out the dock where the damage is - but leaving as much tail hair at the end of the dock as possible (will probably need sedation as it will be sore!!) and to trim and tidy the areas of necrotic tissue. And I would make it VERY clear that you expect them to treat the horse without charge for as long as it takes (but DON'T let them cut the end of the dock off - unnecessary - all that needs to be trimmed is the necrotic tissue!)

I would then be washing it twice daily with DILUTE Hibiscrub until it is clean, pus free and healing - then use something like Dermogel twice daily to keep it from cracking as it dries up. Of course, even with the remaining tail hair he WILL need some help with fly protection for the rest of the summer - and probably next summer as well!

Unfortunately I can't find the pics I took years ago when a mare of mine on loan to the hunt came back after having her tail too tightly bandaged. Hers was on for a much shorter time - but probably much tighter. She lost a LOT of flesh all the way down the dock but made a full recovery and eventually her tail grew out - although with a number of white areas in the black tail!
 
Janet is absolutely right and your vets need to, at the very least, treat the result of poor care on their premises, with no charges.

I managed to damage the dock of my welsh cob some years ago, his dock was rotten and fell off in lumps. Not through a tail bandage though.

He suffered very badly from harvest mites on his legs, sheath and tummy. He had a tail like wire wool and would thrash himself trying ease the itch of the harvest mite.

His tail would make the sores worse and remove the cream I covered him in. I very loosely plaited his tail and doubled it over well below the end of the dock. There was absolutely no constriction of the dock but we think the weight of the tied tail hair caused pressure on the end of the dock when he flashed his tail about. It was a right mess and very upsetting as I felt it was totally my fault. With due care it did heal although his tail was never as thick again.

It certainly made me think that docks and tails need more care than we perhaps give them in general.
 
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