swollen hock?

blacksabbeth

blacksabbeth

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Hi,my horse came in 3 weeks ago with pretty much a hole in her leg,it was on her right hind and she had managed to just miss her tendons and millimetres from her bone showing!!I had the vet down who cleaned it all up and explained that she had a rare infection,one that doesnt survive on fresh air.So he also gave me 10 days antibiotics and a dose of penicillin just for back up.I dont understand as the wound is still there and the hole is pretty much shut but still pink flesh around wound,I have been bandaging and making sure its well covered,I have been letting her out for a couple of hours and keeping her in throughout most of the week,now her hock is swollen and you can feel heat and she is now slightly lame again which she wasnt?I am sorry its a bit long,but just confused as to were i have gone wrong and what it could possibly be?I am getting the vet out tomorrow but just after some ideas to try settle my mind a bit as this has knocked me.cheers.
 
ok thank you ive have been thinking about the infection as the swelling has travelled up the hock,if itn isnt does anyone think it could be a kick?As she is turned out with others and they do hare about sometimes?Im definetly getting the vet tomorrow!!!!Thank you very much for replying.
 
If the injury was a hole then most likely she injured herself on something.Has the injury been a kick then it would have been more of a hoof shaped or slice type of injury.
 
the fact that the swelling has appeared and there is also now some lameness I would suspect that perhaps your horse needs a longer course of antibiotics to treat the infection. given how close to the bone the infection was to begin with I would be concerned that 3 weeks down the line the horse has deteriorated.You may need a longer course of antibiotics or worse case scenario that the horse require IV antibiotics.
 
My horse came in last year with a swollen hock, he was 100% sound, I cold hosed etc for a week, thinking it was a kick.

I called the vet a week later as although still sound the swelling hadnt gone down, it turns out he had chipped a bone in his hock, it was infected, he had soft tissue damage, ligament damage and tendon damage - and yes he was still sound!!! This all showed up on scans/x ray.

A month lated he was 2 weeks in horsepital, had a massive abscess on the bone, and nearly died (and yes, he was still sound!!!) The vet couldnt beleive how much damage he had done.

Hocks are very dodgy joints, I would call the vet ASAP.
 
I wouldn't have expected an injury like that to have fully healed up yet - especially as you say infection had set in (so presumably had had the injury for some time before receiving treatment).

As others have said - perhaps you should ask the vet to re-visit for a check up and re-evaluation of the treatment.
 
Agree with R2R please don't mess about with holes in hocks....if there's an infection in there you can lose your horse in a matter of hours......
 
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