Some famous HHO vibes please... not decision I wanted

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SecondLifeOnHere

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Hi all, I posted a few weeks ago about my gelding having an abscess, to cut a long story short, he's been on mainly box rest (and coped very well which is a huge shock) with some limited turn out on dry days. Vet & farrier cut up into sole to get to what has appeared to be a nasty abscess, which has every appearance of tracking in varied directions. Speed 3 weeks on, and no change, he's sound, but the amount of muck produced is still the same, so vet has taken the decision to take him in, and perform a standing op on him, dig right up and scrape the pedal bone, which is where he is certain the infection is coming from. We will xray beforehand to rule out the keratoma, but he's pretty confident this isnt the case. So, just waiting to sort transport, but looking likely he will be off to horsepital on Tuesday. Farrier is also gutted, but typical of my boy to be the 1% who doesnt respond to the normal treatment! In all honesty Im gutted it's come to this, he's already been through alot with other things, but we've been together 14.5 years out of his nearly 15 years, so not going to give up on him now.

PS - shower caps make excellent poultice holders, will work out how to post pics one day!
 
Oh no! How gutting. Sending some healing vibes to him (and you). Hope he pulls throuh. If it's any consolation, my mare had the whole of the front of her hoof parred away to the soft tissue. I never thought any horse could recover from that much hoof removal. It took her nine months but she did come sound.
 
Oh dear sounds awful...not had personal experience of this myself but really hope everything works out well, sounds like you will need a few more shower caps!
 
Have you tried soaking the hoof in cleantrax? Aparently it's amazing, I think there's more info on hoofcare on the pheonix horse forum, worth having a look
 
My horse suffered over 20 abscesses before he was 17 months old, so I know how awful you will be feeling. My ted's story has been emotional and stressful but we've come out the other side and I'd be happy to share it with you and help if I can. Please pm me. I had to analyse his feed and I now feed a specific recipe of vits and mins to balance it all up. That's the simple version! Lol good luck, let me know if I can help.
 
Thanks everyone, I AM worried about him going through the op, and, moreover, what they might discover... I've got a lot of thinking to do if they find a lot more than they're currently thinking. He's a big heavy (not fat!!) horse, and he deserves the best I can do for/give him - and that is not a life with intermitent pain or discomfort.. CB - thanks, will PM you
 
My Shetland had an abcess a few years ago which developed into quittor (infection of the lateral cartilage) diagnosed on xray. He had an op to scrape away the infected tissue and after a long recovery in horspital, he's been fine ever since although he is retired now.

Good luck with your boy, I hope he makes a full recovery
 
Thanks all - yes, abscesses have 'burst' at various times, then healed to only come back months later, burst above and below on ocassion, it's been a few months between then each time.

CT - no, into our local Horse-pital near Lichfield - locals will know who I mean I suspect! trust them inplicitly, am hoping I can scrub and stay with him, but not sure yet
 
Sending <<<<<<<vibes>>>>>>>. We've had a 31yr old recently lame from a suspected abscess which hasn't really burst but after a month she seems sound again, if very tired. I understand how you feel, I've never before known an abscess which didn't just come thorugh and clear up.
 
My old horse (23 at the time) had about half his foot cut out due to a bad abscess and was in the vet hospital a long time. He eventually got over it and did do some further in hand competing (was already retired). Was horrid at the time and as one of the other posters said about their horse, couldn't believe how much they could cut away. Good luck vibes for your horse.
 
Thanks all, it's a bit of a worry - I thnk I really need to speak to the vet again to see how they're going to approach it - he's already got a faily big hole in his sole where we cut away to try and get at the infection, so I assumed they would continue with that, and go up through the sole - I know they will tourniquet him (vet described it as a real bloodbath if not), and scrpae the pedal bone off to get the (expected) infection. I think the xrays before the actual op will show 'what' it is. I hope.
 
Hi all, firstly thanks to everyone especially CB for a lovely , appols for not responding until now! P went to vets today for X-ray, not fantastic news, but bearable, he's somehow snapped the pedal bone off, and a big infection is Surrounding that, plus a big area of wall separation. We are going ahead with the op but under GA, they're removing the bone fragments and scraping the pedal bone clean, and removing separated wall, so big op I think, I'll be a bag of nerves tomorrow but at least I know what the issue is now!
 
Just had 'the' call, and far from good news, although thinking positive, he came out the GA very well, back on his feet and trying to stuff his face. IN a nutshell, damage was a lot worse than x-ray showed, they've pared the bone right back further than anticipated, and in addition have removed a lot of horn deformity, which is being sent away, but are presuming to be keratoma. From what was said and the tone of voice, it sounds like they have had to remove a lot more wall than they would like, and the next stage is Friday when they take the bandages off. Im gutted, he's my world, I just want to make sure I do what is right and best for him, and now I'm not sure I have. he's a big heafty (not fat) boy, and I'm wondering whether an alternative would have been kinder? I don't care if he's not ridden, but his welfare is my only concern. ARGH.
 
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