Some quick advice please.

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goldenmint

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So an absess, how long should it roughly take to pop (gross I know)

If it take over say 4 days should one be worried?

Is there anyway to make it burst quicker?

Do they always burst on their own or do they need vet/farrier sometimes?

These might sound like simple questions :rolleyes: but the only other time ned has had an absess we have had vet out next day and he drained it.

Before I am jumped on I have spoken to vet and have his advice but just wanted a second opinion.
 
The only time I have left one (ie not had it dug out) was because they couldn't defo locate the best place to dig - it took 4 days of 2 x day hot tubbing with epsom salts.

However, if you can get them dug out then this is much better because they can end up erupting out of the coronet band which is nasty!
 
Ah thanks for your answer,

This is the problem we had last time couldn't find the absess even with xrays till after vet had fished about and cut half the hoof off. I would really rather not have to have this happen this time as our field gateways are quite muddy and it would mean box rest for ages until the hoof had grown back or weather got better!
 
Absess in a hoof or on the skin?
Can you poltice to help it along? Could you get the farrier to have a look and test how near the surface it is?
I'd have thought the longer it's left the longer the horse will be off work so I'd get farrier asap.
 
id hot tub the whole hoof if possible for as long as possible each time, im lucky and my girl will stand for hours in buckets :D Good luck!
 
Sorry, yes its the hoof. I have been polticing for the past day and this morning.

See my plan of action I talked over with vet was to poltice for the next couple of days, keep in but with a little pen outside front of stable. If nothing is drawn out or gets worse phone farrier and see if he could have a look (although not sure he would be happy to poke about too much as last time absess was a pain to find) or get back in contact with vet and get him out.

I am thinking maybe epson salt in bucket and poltice inbtween?
 
Try borrowing some pressure pincers and seeig if you can find a point of soreness to show the farrier and yeh poltice all the way and cover in silage tape to keep it in place, I always think the farrier is the best best to dig it out then poltice it back up, plenty of green spray and usually does the job, good luck with it :)
 
Thanks for the advice, I have Soaked hoof in bucket of epson salts and then polticed with animalintex soaked in epson salts, nothing had come out of poltice tonight from this morning :-(
I was hoping it would be an easy to sort thing, think it may be vet tomorrow if nothing on poltice in morning. I suppose I should be pleased its just before xmas for getting the vet out could you imagine the call out fee xmas eve!
 
jess31 said:
Try borrowing some pressure pincers and seeig if you can find a point of soreness to show the farrier and yeh poltice all the way and cover in silage tape to keep it in place, I always think the farrier is the best best to dig it out then poltice it back up, plenty of green spray and usually does the job, good luck with it :)
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Yeah I have tried to find where it is sore with the hoof pick and it seems to be actually on the sole to the right of the cleft if you see what I mean. Sort of between frog and hoof wall.
I am torn a bit between vet and farrier I just wonder if vet would be best to give pain killers to make it more comfortable for when he digs around?
 
goldenmint said:
Thanks for the advice, I have Soaked hoof in bucket of epson salts and then polticed with animalintex soaked in epson salts, nothing had come out of poltice tonight from this morning :-(
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Animalintex is impregnated with something much better than Epsom Salts, you just activate with with hot water then squeeze the excess water out
 
However, if you can get them dug out then this is much better because they can end up erupting out of the coronet band which is nasty!
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Sorry but I found the opposite. When the abscess burst at the coronet, it was actually far better (horse came sound as soon as it popped and had no further trouble from the abscess) and the hole just grew out slowly.

If the abscess is in the sole rather than the hoof wall, then it's different, as it wont just travel up the hoof and burst at the coronet. So in this case I would call the Farrier.
 
Yeah I think it might be vet or farrier tomorrow.

I don't normally put the lintex in epsom salts, but it hadn't drawn anything out so as a last ditch attempt I thought I might aswell try it and see.
 
You do not want painkillers they will mask the degree of lameness, get farrier to dig not the vet they get carried away, hot tub am and pm and wet poultice only for. 5 days, then dry pad for 3 days, and put iodine in hole and hydrogen peroxide to harden sole, fill hole with keratex filler if deep or barefoot, this is assuming abscess burst if it did not after 5 days i would consult vet may need ab's but would still not wet poultice for more than. 5 days.
 
Forgot to mention do not box rest, walk out in hand movement encourages the abscess to do its thing. If you have padded up enough after poultice horse shouldnt be too uncomfortable to walk out.
 
I'd leave the horse out in nature's poultice - wet mud - as much as possible. Popping on the coronet has never been an issue with any of the ones I have had that have done it.
 
Wet mud is not a poultice. movement can help. popping on the coronet badn can be fine-but can cause compromised hoof growth so is not recommended.
 
but can cause compromised hoof growth so is not recommended
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100_2113.jpg


The hole just grows out and the hoof above is not compromised in anyway. Once the whole hoof capsule has grown out - all evidence that there had ever had been an abscess is gone.
 
yours does not appear to have popped at the actual coronet band but below it-it is a known complication-which means it deos not happen in all or even the majority of cases, but it can happen and as owners we should be trying to reduce the risk.
 
With the huge number of ways ours have been treated I'd always get farrier to have a look. Have been recommended leaving in field with nothing, boxing, poulticing, digging and not, all dependant on horse.
 
It would need some force to pop through the hoof wall! ;)

It did pop at the coronet - the photo was taken once it had grown down a bit (a few weeks later). I wanted to show that the hoof was growing normally.

All I can say is that both my Vet and Farrier say that it is better to let it pop naturally. This is also what I have found. Obviously it does need keeping an eye on as if the leg swells, or it is taking too long - action must be taken (x-rays etc..).

Just for you Susie - photo showing double exit holes at the coronet (approx a week after bursting) and the same hoof later (link as the photo is huge).

100_2232-1.jpg


http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z87/kij_pictures/100_2327.jpg
 
If there is an abccess in the foot either a vet or farrier have to cut a hole for it to drain, it wont just come out on its own, shoe should come off if there is one, hot poulticed for a few days then just dry poulticed then put iodine and surgical spirit on the area.
 
SusieT said:
Wet mud is not a poultice. movement can help. popping on the coronet badn can be fine-but can cause compromised hoof growth so is not recommended.
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It's recommended over digging a hole by a lot of people, some vets and farriers included.

It makes a mark or a hole in the hoof which in the enormous majority of cases grows down with no further complications whatsoever.

Wet mud does act as a poultice, it softens and once the abscess is open it draws. I once had a horse with an abscess, long before I knew what they were. Every day I turned him out in wet mud he was sound, and every day his feet dried it closed and he went lame. Eventually a vet dug it out, and I always wished I'd just left him out in the mud, but I didn't know at the time.
 
SusieT said:
yours does not appear to have popped at the actual coronet band but below it-it is a known complication-which means it deos not happen in all or even the majority of cases, but it can happen and as owners we should be trying to reduce the risk.
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Oh Susie! It popped at the coronet weeks before and the hoof has grown :p
 
please note my word 'appear'. well there you go, you got lucky. If you're willing to take the chance of permanent damage to your horses hoof, so be it. They are better out the bottom, you don't get damage growing down the hoof wall weakening it and you don't risk permanent damage to the hoof.
(and hang on-bf always say wet weather doesn't soften the hoof.....) softening something is not the same as drawing it with heat and poultice!
it is a new fad amongst barefooters who don't want to dig, an appropriately sized and located hole will be safer and heal faster than these coronet band farces.
 
Wow lots of different advice lol.

Im sorry not sure who asked and can't quote as on phone, but I know its an absess as had one before exactly the same and I git vet next day and he dug it out etc.

I really was hoping it wouldn't need to be dug out as it really messed the hoof up before and horse had been shoeless and sound for years. It seemed to me that digging it out really affected the feet long term.
 
hear hear blucanoo. anyway, the long and short of it is-abscess=pain. leaving it to 'work its way out' in days or weeks is cruel imo as the horse is often in severe pain (i.e not wt bearing) with a proper abscess.
 
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