Suspected Abscess

[EllieLouLou]

Came to the yard yesterday to find my horse has gone lame. Have checked his legs and hoofs for swelling, cuts & heat. We found some heat in his foot but can't see an abscess entry hole or puss etc (he also isn't sensitive when touching the area), we are awaiting farrier to come out and check him as he is also due to be shod. Have been soaking in warm/hotish iodine water and then poultice but we found that he had got very sweaty under the boot when changing it today, is there anything else we can be doing before farrier comes out?
Also will be it worth getting physio out when he's back into work as I'm worried he'll be stiff due to shifting his weight.

 

[PapaverFollis]

Just keep tubbing then poulticing. I found about 3 days wet poultice is about as much as I'm happy with before the foot gets a bit too stewed. I tend to tub in the morning. Leave the foot uncovered (or put a dry poultice on) during the day, which gives it chance to dry out. Tub again in the evening and wet poultice overnight. It may come out faster if you keep wet poulticing but my one that abscesses tends to keep them grumbling on for days and days and I ended up with a really soggy nasty foot the first time, so did a combination wet and dry approach for the couple he had since.

Tub in as hot water as they can stand. Cool enough to keep your own hand in for a few seconds. For as long as you can, 20 mins plus ideally. And Epsom salts in the water should help too.

Personally I don't like the farrier or vet to dig at the foot too much anymore. I've had better outcomes from the abscess bursting itself. But if it grumbles on for more than a few days I do speak to the vet. My vet is magic... as soon as I phone him or he look at the horse, the abscess bursts. But I think that's just my vet.

If you're worried then a physio visit is nice. My physio found a bit of stiffness that could have been abscess related this time. But I didn't book a specific visit, just something she picked up at a routine visit.

Check for a digital pulse in the foot and heat round the coronet band and heel bulbs. Sometimes you can get a pain reaction if you press the coronet band at the spot where it's going to blow. If you can find it you can focus the poultice on that spot which saves a bit of the foot rot.

 

[EllieLouLou]

Just keep tubbing then poulticing. I found about 3 days wet poultice is about as much as I'm happy with before the foot gets a bit too stewed. I tend to tub in the morning. Leave the foot uncovered (or put a dry poultice on) during the day, which gives it chance to dry out. Tub again in the evening and wet poultice overnight. It may come out faster if you keep wet poulticing but my one that abscesses tends to keep them grumbling on for days and days and I ended up with a really soggy nasty foot the first time, so did a combination wet and dry approach for the couple he had since.

Tub in as hot water as they can stand. Cool enough to keep your own hand in for a few seconds. For as long as you can, 20 mins plus ideally. And Epsom salts in the water should help too.

Personally I don't like the farrier or vet to dig at the foot too much anymore. I've had better outcomes from the abscess bursting itself. But if it grumbles on for more than a few days I do speak to the vet. My vet is magic... as soon as I phone him or he look at the horse, the abscess bursts. But I think that's just my vet.

If you're worried then a physio visit is nice. My physio found a bit of stiffness that could have been abscess related this time. But I didn't book a specific visit, just something she picked up at a routine visit.

Check for a digital pulse in the foot and heat round the coronet band and heel bulbs. Sometimes you can get a pain reaction if you press the coronet band at the spot where it's going to blow. If you can find it you can focus the poultice on that spot which saves a bit of the foot rot.

Thank you for your advice, I'll keep doing as you've said! I found that he was getting really sweaty due to the poultice is there anyway I can make it more breathable whilst still being waterproof? Would putting a nappy on it make it more breathable?

 

[PapaverFollis]

I tend to use a nappy for a dry poultice. Nappy, sturdy plastic bag, vetwrap, duct tape. Or without the plastic bag if they are in the stable. If the foot is getting really soft and stewed I would stop poulticing altogether and just tub as often as possible for as long as possible.

You want to soften the foot enough for the abscess to come out more easily but not so much that you compromise the health of the rest of the foot.

If in doubt speak to the vet or farrier. Most abscesses are pretty straightforward in my experience but they can go nasty or be more complex so it's good to have the vet aware and advising I think. But I do prefer a conservative approach to start before allowing vet to get knife happy on a foot.