why won't it heal

[Good morning]

My horses puncture wound won't heal 3 weeks now 1 dose of antibiotics antibiotic cream a weeks worth of bute and a vets bill!!! And still nothing just a hole! No turning out in mud just concrete area no heat some swelling from arthritis and yet it still there glaring at me, how much longer till I get the vet out again I just want a happy horse ... grrrr

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

My horses puncture wound won't heal 3 weeks now 1 dose of antibiotics antibiotic cream a weeks worth of bute and a vets bill!!! And still nothing just a hole! No turning out in mud just concrete area no heat some swelling from arthritis and yet it still there glaring at me, how much longer till I get the vet out again I just want a happy horse ... grrrr

It needs to heal from the inside to the outside, sorry if your doing this but this is what i would do (not knowing where puncture wound is)
antiseptic cleanser like hibi scrub/betadine Maybe hot poultice
jelonet over the wound to help draw out any pus
lint with gamgee on top and bandage

once nothing coming out I would still cleanse it and day by day it will heal and use dermisol as it aids healing


some use honey but I have never actually used it http://www.vetuk.co.uk/veterinary-s...1_169/dermisol-cream-30g-and-100g-tubes-p-744

 

[be positive]

Where is the wound? I had one with a deep puncture wound that did not respond to initial treatment, he had a fractured splint bone which required surgery to remove the fragments, another had a nasty infection take hold that required intensive antibiotic treatment after swabs were taken to find out what was going on.
Sometimes they are just slow healing as they are deep but 3 weeks seem rather a long time for it to still be open and not improving.

 

[paddi22]

i'm another one who had a wound that wouldn't heal and it turned out to be a bone chip that needed an operation to remove

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

To ditto the others my mares puncture was bleeding for 2 days and ended up as fractured splint bone in 19 pieces. Check with your vet again

 

[Good morning]

It's the short pastern bone at the back so it probably isn't the easiest place to heal
, I think when he moves it just slows his healing down. I've been using hibiscrub and antibiotic cream the vet gave me. I've had them out every week so far seems like it's taking forever to heal. They have just said keep what your doing ���� I can't bandage it due to where it is also I would have to sedate to bandage �� just hope it improves this week or they will be coming back out. It's been so icy or muddy where we are I haven't been able to trot up this week even our school is flooded so I believe he is sound seeems lively anyway, just haven't had anywhere I can check. Hopefully this horrid weather will go this week

 

[Orangehorse]

As above. Get the vet out again as I would suspect there is something still in the wound.

 

[Goldenstar]

As above. Get the vet out again as I would suspect there is something still in the wound.

Sounds like it , don't delay these things can go very wrong very fast.

 

[fatpiggy]

Yes, get the vet out again, but in the meantime, stop using the Hibiscrub. It can be really nasty stuff if not used absolutely correctly (most people don't dilute it anything like enough) and it is really harsh on skin and tissue. Use boiled water with added salt. I used to keep 3 old plastic syringes of different sizes for flushing out wounds and that worked very well.

 

[Brightbay]

Two things that really seem to affect wound healing (esp. in winter) are zinc and vitamin E. Lots of UK grazing and forage is low in zinc, and high in iron which competes with the zinc that is there for uptake by the body. So the horse can end up very low in a mineral that's essential for immune function and tissue repair.

Winter grazing and preserved grass in the form of hay or haylage is also very low in Vitamin E, which is essential for good healing.

I'd consider getting hold of some Vitamin E powder and adding it to feed at a rate of minimum 2000 iU per day, probably even higher given you may be compensating for a deficiency.

Progressive Earth on eBay sell the powder - I used to use it but now use a specific winter supplement with high zinc/copper and added Vit E (I think it's the ProHoof Platinum).

Here's a useful article : http://holistichorse.com/health-care/importance-of-vitamin-e-in-horses/

 

[ester]

I too would ditch the hibi scrub and consider the possibility that there is something in it.

 

[AmyMay]

Has the horse been box rested at all?

 

[Good morning]

He has been on box rest for 3 weeks this week, he is a complete stress in the stable box walks and weaves when by himself, so goes out on a small concrete patch for the afternoon.
Thank ks everyone I'm going to leave the hibiscrub give it until the weekend assess it and then call the vets out again. Hopefully there will be some improvement

 

[charlie76]

We had one in the yard which bad a wound that wouldn't heal. I told her that I thought there must be something in there trying to come out, vet disagreed and basically looked at me as if I was nuts,six months later doing what this vet advised it was still not healing, got a different vet, x rayed and had bone fragments from the end of the splint bone.

 

[ycbm]

We had one in the yard which bad a wound that wouldn't heal. I told her that I thought there must be something in there trying to come out, vet disagreed and basically looked at me as if I was nuts,six months later doing what this vet advised it was still not healing, got a different vet, x rayed and had bone fragments from the end of the splint bone.

This does happen, but I have an alternative experience. A clean wound on the inside of a forearm was not healing. Horse was in hospital for other reasons and a worried vet wanted to x ray it to see if there was a bone chip in it. I refused, the horse was sound, the wound was clean, and I told them I didn't care what they thought was in it, I wasn't going to have a sound horse operated on at that point (three weeks). After another three months, it healed. There probably was a chip in there, but horses are often capable of reabsorbing bone chips. I had an earlier one which I'd seen on an x ray do it. The vet saw the horse a year later and was completely shocked that it had never had anything done to it. Obviously don't leave it forever. But if it's draining, clean and the horse is not lame there's no rush, in my experience, to start operating on the horse.

Somewhere between the length of time casey was told to wait and the rush my vet was in is probably the right timing.



If he is sound, given that he is bad to bandage, I would twitch him, get someone else to hold up another leg, stick a quick vetrap round the pastern and chuck him out.