Swollen after injections.

[navaho]

Im going to give the vet a call in the morning, but thought id pick your brains first.
Our little mare was quite ill just after Xmas with Equine Herpes Myleoencephalopathy, shes made a brilliant recovery & is doing well, however my partner took her rugs off this morning to give her a good groom & noticed she is badly swollen in the areas where she was being injected. The vet did make a bit of a hash doing the injections & did struggle on nearly every occasion to find her vein so not sure if this has caused it. Ive got a feeling its an abscess looking at it, its very hot & hard, i was tempted to try & poultice it but thought id better wait & speak to the vet first. Has anyone else ever had this happen to them & what treatment was given?

 

[AmyMay]

It's quite possible that it could be an abcess brewing - so agree about calling the vet as you may need antibiotics.

Hot cloth the area in the meantime every few hours (well that's what I'd do anyway).

I remember a horse at my yard some years ago getting a terrible abcess on the neck from an injection site. The owners left if far too long - and the vet had to incise the area and flush it out with a hose pipe (it really was that big). The amount of pus that came out was astonishing.

 

[navaho]

Thanks Amymay, ill give that a whirl, i have to admit i was wondering how i would keep a poultice on in that area, so hot clothing would make more sense. Will see what the vet suggests as well, hoping to avoid a call out if possible as i think the little mare has had enough of vets to last her a life time.