What would you do with this? Warning.. bit gory

[only_me]

Can't quote as on phone but thanks susiet for explaining

 

[bumblelion]

This is my tb and his head wound last year. He had a quick clean up by vet with warm water, bute daily for 5 days and a 7 day course of antibiotics. The only thing I applied around it was fly cream (yellow stuff) as was summer! Healed really nicely on its own!

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=484763

 

[peaceandquiet1]

Do NOT spray on it. Stupid thing to do. Cold hose it initially yes. Then put a moist dressing on (veterinary type-allevyn or similar). You do not want it to dry out. Dryign out increases healing time.
Please actually get your vet out. It's on a fetlock joint which means that there is a lot of motion going on-it may well need bandaged in a robert jones type bandage to prevent movement constantly re opening it. He probably could do with a covering course of antibiotics.
There is a significant defect there ini terms of tissue, it might take longer than you think to heal.
don't touch it with hibiscrub. Hibiscrub kills good cells. Vet advice is your best bet. As you can see from the answers on here-horse people are full of 'good' ideas-lotions, potions, washes. Half of which totally kill any good cells taht are trying to make the wound heal..

I agree with this. Modern wound management is based on keeping the wound moist and hence powders are a no no for a wound such as this. Saline is the most suitable cleanser, you want to remove any debris as gently as possible. If it gets infected then you need systemic antibiotics. A moist wound dressing such as intrasite is ideal. The important thing is not to let anything stick to the wound. Hibiscrub is used to disinfect intact skin and I think it is overused in the horse world.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

firstly is his tetanus up to date??

I would ask the vet to see it so they can give you some norodine antibiotic

In the meantime I would trim all the hair round the wound back about 1/2 inch from the injury open areas so vet can see the area well

If you don't call vet :
then check any further depth to see if injury goes deeper anywhere, you have to be careful as this is on a joint and you don't want the joint to be infected.

I would bath is warm water with betadine
i would then put jelonet gauze over the open area followed by lint then gamgee followed with bandage .

change twice a day for the first few days then drop down to once a day.


I have seen and treated loads injuries like this they heal really well given the right initial treatment

this treatment i used on my mares knee you can see the quick improvement

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

I am seconding the manuka honey ointment idea, did amazing things when my mare cut her face open. Cant even see a scar now altho she was stitched by the vet.

I would get vet involved tho....

 

[martlin]

I would wash it with warm water, tidy up the hair around it and put a dressing of Intrasite gel or Intrasite conformable. If it was Mabel, I would also get a course of antibiotics and bute, otherwise just monitor.

 

[Black_Horse_White]

Maybe just pick up some Ab's from the vets just incase. They don't always need a visit.

 

[AmyMay]

I wouldn't cold hose, either.

I'd ensure the area was clean, apply some antibiotic cream and dress it daily for a couple of days - then review.

Keep him in, and walk him out in hand a couple of times a day for some grass and exercise.

 

[LaurenBay]

I would wash it with salt water. Then leave it to air. Walk in hand to give him excercise and a chance to graze. Keep it clean and dry.

 

[NOISYGIRL]

I'd get the vet to that, moist wound environment is best now so they say, intrasite gel is brilliant, might need dressing for a week or so allowing it to heal, main thing is to keep it clean

I wouldn't hose as you could wash dirt in and it could get infected

 

[shadowboy]

If it were mine wash it out and stick some flamazine (used in hospitals for burns etc, my horse had it for deep cuts that couldn't be stitched) and then if puffy or lame get anti biotics

Further to the post I made above- this is one of mine from 2009 who climbed through a barbed wire fence when the farmer came to trim the hedgrows without warning me!

He only has anibiotics(norodine) for 5 days and flamazine applied once daily after initially washing out the wound. No infection or scars were apparent. A 100% recovery was made. Flamazine is expensive but highly effective.

He lived out the entire time as vet said that a shavings bed would actually cause more problems!

 

[goodtimes]

How about manuka honey?

Have heard its great for healing big open wounds

 

[swampdonkey]

vet came out on a recent visit to our yard for a cut similar and said that the new train of thought is to bandage. He said that wounds heal better in a warm moist environment. It might take longer to heal but it will heal from the inside out rather than form a large scab on the outside and is likely to reopen, especially in around a joint where movement is unavoidable. Honey is great for wounds.