HeyMich
Well-Known Member
I've had the most horrendous few days! Feel the need to share...
My mare had a tiny wee cut on her back leg on outside of hock joint on Tues eve last week. I cleaned it out and put some purple spray on it. It was clean and not hot to touch, she wasn't lame (I'd long-reined her, so had a very good view of her rear end!) so put her back out in the field with the herd. She trotted off happy as anything.
Weds I didn't see her as I was busy collecting my shiny new trailer (eeeeeek!!). YO said she was happily grazing and moving around the field, no probs.
Thurs am, another livery brought her in for me at about 9am. She didn't notice anything off or odd, walked in fine, started on her hay like normal.
I went to the yard at about 11am and her leg was swollen and the wee cut was weeping. I cleaned it out, cold hosed it and walked her in-hand to try and reduce the swelling. Called the vet after an hour, as the swelling wasn't going down.
Vet came at about 4pm. In the meantime, I'd cold hosed again repeatedly, and walked in-hand again. Horse was starting to look sorry for herself and non weight-bearing. Vet took a sample of the synovial fluid in the hock, gave IM abx and said he'd be in touch...
He called back an hour later after taking sample straight to the lab, saying to take her to vet hosp asap. My first trip with her in the new trailer wasn't exactly as I had planned - the upside is she travelled brilliantly!
So, Fri am she had operation under GA. Hock joint flush and de-briding of infected tissue. There was also some damage to internal joint structure, implying a crush injury, consistent with a kick (I'm not pointing fingers, she's in a happy herd and I know accidents/hijinxs and herd dynamics do happen!). Treated with more IV abx and close monitoring...
Thurs/Fri I was ready to PTS. I had totally made the decision, not that the decision was ready to be made. The vet made it clear that she might not survive tho. Very tough words to hear!
She has made a brilliant job of recovery at the horspital. Eating/pooing well, and responding well to the abx. I went to see her on Sat and she was brighter than before, not 100%, but better. She has since had the dressings changed and they say she's on the mend! Phew!!
Hopefully should be able to bring her home tomorrow... then 3 weeks box rest! Arghh! She's very much an out 24/7 kinda horse... it's going to be painful! Then restricted turn-out, if recovery goes well with no set-backs...
Anyone else been through similar and come out smiling? Back to riding/jumping as normal? How long did it take to recover?
Anyone know why a tiny cut would lead to such a massive infection?
And most importantly, would anyone else have done anything differently? I'm beating myself up about not checking on her on Weds, even though the infection only appeared to set in mid-morning on Thurs. What if... what if...
Packet of jaffa cakes for anyone getting to the end! Thanks for listening xx
My mare had a tiny wee cut on her back leg on outside of hock joint on Tues eve last week. I cleaned it out and put some purple spray on it. It was clean and not hot to touch, she wasn't lame (I'd long-reined her, so had a very good view of her rear end!) so put her back out in the field with the herd. She trotted off happy as anything.
Weds I didn't see her as I was busy collecting my shiny new trailer (eeeeeek!!). YO said she was happily grazing and moving around the field, no probs.
Thurs am, another livery brought her in for me at about 9am. She didn't notice anything off or odd, walked in fine, started on her hay like normal.
I went to the yard at about 11am and her leg was swollen and the wee cut was weeping. I cleaned it out, cold hosed it and walked her in-hand to try and reduce the swelling. Called the vet after an hour, as the swelling wasn't going down.
Vet came at about 4pm. In the meantime, I'd cold hosed again repeatedly, and walked in-hand again. Horse was starting to look sorry for herself and non weight-bearing. Vet took a sample of the synovial fluid in the hock, gave IM abx and said he'd be in touch...
He called back an hour later after taking sample straight to the lab, saying to take her to vet hosp asap. My first trip with her in the new trailer wasn't exactly as I had planned - the upside is she travelled brilliantly!
So, Fri am she had operation under GA. Hock joint flush and de-briding of infected tissue. There was also some damage to internal joint structure, implying a crush injury, consistent with a kick (I'm not pointing fingers, she's in a happy herd and I know accidents/hijinxs and herd dynamics do happen!). Treated with more IV abx and close monitoring...
Thurs/Fri I was ready to PTS. I had totally made the decision, not that the decision was ready to be made. The vet made it clear that she might not survive tho. Very tough words to hear!
She has made a brilliant job of recovery at the horspital. Eating/pooing well, and responding well to the abx. I went to see her on Sat and she was brighter than before, not 100%, but better. She has since had the dressings changed and they say she's on the mend! Phew!!
Hopefully should be able to bring her home tomorrow... then 3 weeks box rest! Arghh! She's very much an out 24/7 kinda horse... it's going to be painful! Then restricted turn-out, if recovery goes well with no set-backs...
Anyone else been through similar and come out smiling? Back to riding/jumping as normal? How long did it take to recover?
Anyone know why a tiny cut would lead to such a massive infection?
And most importantly, would anyone else have done anything differently? I'm beating myself up about not checking on her on Weds, even though the infection only appeared to set in mid-morning on Thurs. What if... what if...
Packet of jaffa cakes for anyone getting to the end! Thanks for listening xx