Update on foot abcess

[Erray]

Vet came but said she would not do anything as cutting away at foot could make it worse, gave me some bute and told me to keep on poulticing and tubbing. That night and next day some black pus on poultice and horse became much sounder.
I had taken the shoe off and underneath was a hole which the farrier had cut as he said he had a touch of seedy toe. Pus seemed to be coming from here.
Anyway farrier came out and said there was no pus left and put shoe back on. but horse is still lame, I have continued poulticing and tubbing but the poultice isn't drawing anything out now.
He is not hopping lame anymore but very noticably, even in walk. Is this normal? It has now been a week? Or do you think the abcess is still there? The vet say's to just leave it to come out itself and the farrier didn't say much, he is also very hard to get on to the island at this time of year. But the horse has been lame for 3 weeks now. Wish I could get another vet but theres only one on the island.
Will he come right? Or should I insist the vet does something?

 

[dixie]

Sounds like there is still some pus in there. If it's all out I would have thought he would have been sound by now.

When was the last time you spoke to the vet. I would ring him and have a chat.

 

[kick_On]

elo
you say farrier has place shoe back on,
Do you have access to hole farrier dug out??
Does it smell???
Is pony in or out???
Did you have pus coming out of nail holes at all??
How long have you poulticed for and are you wet or dry poulticing???

 

[Erray]

No the shoe covers the hole though there is a slight gap, the farrier said there was no pus left in the hole and packed it with cotten wool though I'm not convinced, wish I'd asked him to leave the shoe off now but at the time I thought he knew best. I phoned him to say that the horse was still lame and he told me to keep going with the epsom salts.
There was a very strong smell when pus was coming out but now it just smells like wet hoof. There is no pain or pus from the nail holes as the farrier told me to tap them with a hammer and he didn't flinch.
He is out, I kept him in when he was really bad but vet told me to let him walk around, though he stands around on concrete yard most of the time as the shelter/feeding area is concreted so foot fairly clean.
Have been tubbing 3 times a day poulticing just at night at the moment, been wet poulticing for 6 days now, no pus for 3 days, since farrier came.

 

[kick_On]

IMO
i would defo stop wet poulticing and dry poulticing using nappys and tub for 10 mins twice a day. If you over wet by poulticing the foot , you will cause MORE problems to sole allowing the risk of re-infection.
I would also bring pony in and place on yard, if you can,so can still move but you can keep foot clean. If in stable take pony out for inhand exercise on clean surface ie quiet road/lane, if you leave out it will take much long, plus with current weather condition very very easy to get foot re-infected
With this sort of thing you really do need to keep foot clean but pony moving, if you know what i mean.
Buy some peroxide from chemist and when you next dry poultice syring into hole and nails hole allow to bubble then place foot down onto clean area and wipe off excess (with clean cotton wool) before place dry poultice on then nappy and tape.
Repeat peroxide for another 2times and this should kill of infection and then you should see big improve
I hope pony gets better soon

 

[Erray]

Thanks thats kind of what I wanted to hear, peroxide is on my shopping list, they don't have any at the local chemist but someone told me to try the hair dressers so I'll get onto it.
I was thinking about taking the shoe off again but will perhaps leave it another couple of days first, to see how the peroxide works.
See what you mean about dry poulticing from now on and I will keep him in and clean.
Thanks very much for all your help.
Liz.

 

[kick_On]

i wouldn't be in great hurry to take shoe at mo.... get foot clean and clean hole and see how it goes. Get sole harden of aswell. And if all goes well pony will be sound very quickly, you'll be surprised how quickly they recovered.
Also purple spray is good to use after you have treated with peroxide for a couple of times
keep us posted

 

[Tempest]

An abscesses is a serious infection and is often persistent.

Hoof abscesses are pockets of pus that form in response to bacteria accumulation. The bacteria gain access to the hoof through any breach of the capsule, such as a tiny crack or a puncture wound in the sole or separation or damage caused to the internal structure. As the bacteria multiply, pus builds in an area that has no room for it.

Left untreated, the pus will eventually work its way out, through the coronary band if the abscess is high in the hoof, or the sole of the foot if it is low. If you can encourage it to come out through the bottom by tubbing and poulticing then recovery will be better ultimately. If it tracks up and bursts through the corononory band, then it can be many months for the horse to become sound and you even risk the hoof sloughing off.

If the original drainage hole was not big enough, it may have resealed before all the pus escaped. An abscess can also form several pockets within the hoof. Unless each chamber is drained, the abscess will form again. A foreign body in the hoof can also lead to recurring abscesses (and an X ray will reveal only objects with a mineral content--rocks and metal, but not wood.) Likewise structual alterations/injuries such as rotation of the pedal bone can cause damage and infection and abscessing.

You need to ensure that you treat it by hot tub soaking and poulticing to draw the abscess and you need to make sure that if there is an open hole that its kept clear AND clean. (protocol follows later)

I'd also recommending hot tubbing the horse twice a day for a minimum of 10 minutes to attempt to draw it and poulticing until its drawn. Use epsom salts or just salt in the water. And remember that a horse will stand temperatures a lot hotter than you can. And you only want to stand the bottom of the foot in the hot water – not the whole leg. You want to encourage the drawing out through the bottom.

After you’ve done that then using a syringe filled with water just off the boil and salt or epsom salts flush out the hole/cavity area. Give it a really good plast.

If there is any hole or visible wound entry then pack it with a poultice paste made with icing sugar and iodine twice a day and its hot soaked in epsom salts prior to repacking to soften and remove the poultice and any gunk abscess infection.

Then dress the whole foot with padding, elastowrap and a baby's nappy (diaper) and if you are going to turn out then put a rubber poultice boot on.

If it was mine though and to ensure its kept clean I'd restrict any turn out to a concrete yard only and when wearing a poultice boot.

Its not best practice to use antibiotics as they can actually slow the healing and inhibit draining.

If there's no sign of an entry wound then best practice is not invade the foot by probing round to find where the abscess is as that in itself is likely to increase the risk of infection and just cause further problems. However this would be quite different though if there is a sign of entry.

Once you are entirely confident that there is no pus left in the wound, then is the time to pack with a wad of stockholme tar and cotton wool.

I’m not sure why the shoe is being left on but its more usual to remove the shoe if its covering the hole so you can gain access to clean it more diligently and then to put the shoe back on once you’re confident that there is no more infective pus.