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Our first Abscess!

4K views 21 replies 8 participants last post by  nvr2many 
#1 ·
Well, my first abscess that is, may not be hers. Farrier came out yesterday, poked around and the abscess is found and draining. The farrier flushed it out and packed the tiny hole with cotton. This morning I went out to check on her and picked her hoof and the cotton came out and drained a tinyyyyyyy bit. Not even a drip but could see the wet.

Anyway, my question is, do I leave it or flush it and replace the cotton?? Seems like it would plug and not drain that way but hey, what do I know. LOL.

Farrier says it came out at a great spot, side of toe at white line. So that's a plus. What do you all think?

Oh and when will she stop limping and stand on it? I need to get some shoes on that girl!!!
 
#2 ·
Well if she is still sore, I would soak in very warm water with epsom salts. I had one simular a couple years ago . when she wasn't sore anymore I would use a seringe and squirt water in to flush and then used paper towel or cotton as a plug so dirt wouldn't get in. I would change the paper towel and flush everyday.
 
#3 ·
When I have to treat an abscess I soak in epsom salts, then pack the bottom of the foot with more epsom salts and gauze, and the wrap the whole thing in vet wrap and a layer of duct tape. I generally repeat daily for ~3 days after the horse is no longer sore just to be sure everything is drawn out completely.
 
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#8 ·
OMG! I was just outside with her cleaning stalls and well, that danged thing busted out her hairline also!!! I guess thats good because it needs to get out but mannnnnnnnnnnn! Well, we will be soaking and wrapping it up! Thanks everyone!
 
#9 ·
Don't block the hole up whatever you do! I know its what your farrier did (???). Let it drain otherwise you will have problems. You can still pad her hoof with a poultice but don't stick anything into the actual drainage hole or holes otherwise you are just letting the pus build up again until it bursts out somewhere else. She could also have another abscess. If ther hoof doesn't clear up in a couple of days and she still shows signs of lameness, get a vet to see her. It really is worth it.
 
#10 ·
I agree with the poltice and wrap to keep dirt out and allowing the poltice to do it's job. I do not Bute unless they are very lame, then only lightly. The Bute will interfere with the healing of a hoof abscess. I like to soak in Apple Cider Vinegar if I am soaking. Personally I would not shoe until it's cleared up.
 
#14 · (Edited)
I find it kind of hard to believe there were two when the blow out at the coronary band was directly above the one at the white line.

Another thing, when it drained at the white line it was grayish black and when it blew out the coronary band it was meaty and clear?? Any experts out there?
 
#15 ·
My farrier was out last weekend doing her regular trimming when she found a nice sized abscess near my mare's frog. My mare wasn't even lame, I never saw it. The farrier drained it, which unfortunately really hurt my mare, and then cleaned and wrapped it with poultice. She said to leave it on a week then remove it. I did that this morning. When I took it off, nice big abscess..again. Off to the store for some wraps and epsom salt. When I got back. I cleaned her foot out well, and the abscess had already burst and drained. It actually looked almost healed, but was still tender to the touch. I soaked her foot in epsom salt and warm water for about 15 min, dried her foot, put hydrogen peroxide in there, dried it again, then wrapped it well with some clean non-stick bandages and a generous dollop of an antiseptic cream (kind of like Neosporin for people). I will remove it again in a day or so to see how it's healing up. She isn't lame at all and hopefully it will be better by then.
 
#16 ·
If there is infection in any wound be it in a horse's hoof or a humand body, pus is usually a result. This is caused by the body's own defence mechanism of sending 'infection killing' cells to the area to fight the infection. If there is nowhere for the infected material to get out of the body or in this case, because the farrier blocked up the hole the hoof (which is a very odd thing to do), it just builds up and up and up, then it will find its own way out. Its not about how hard the hole was packed, it is just the fact that it was blocked. Pus looks for the weakest point to make an exit and believe me, the amount of pressure which can build up is like a mini volcano. In humans it is usually an old or new wound site. In horses it is either the bottom of the hoof or above the coronet where there is softer tissues. If the farrier had not blocked the hole (I still can't get my head around why he would do that), then the pus would have drained away and not caused a build up of infected material. I genuinely doubt that two abscesses were present at the same time in one place as this is very rare. But it is good to know that the hoof is draining and things are clearing up.
 
#17 ·
Hi nvrtoomany,

Abscesses can be due to accidental trauma, such as a bash to the wall or stone bruise to a weak sole - like bashing your nail with a hammer & getting a blood blister which can become infected. They can be due to constant compression - eg. shoes create 'corns' which can abscess, contracted heels can become abscessed especially in the bar region, etc. Or they can be due to other trauma/infection such as 'seedy toe', laminitis, leverage on walls, etc. They can also sometimes be due to puncture wounds.

If it were a 'one off' type affair, they usually resolve pretty quick. But if it's a 'symptom' of other problems, it can perpetuate. I suspect that as your horse also had an abscess burst(may or may not be literally connected), it's likely that something else is going on. Some hoof pics & more info might help us give you a better idea & more specific answers.

As a rule, I disagree with digging for abscesses, and I wouldn't tend to 'plug holes', as this can make for a nicer germ growing environment if you haven't got rid of every bit of infection. There are exceptions though, such as if there's a hole in the sole that may need protecting.

Bluebird a bit of cotton wool is not likely to cause any building of pressure & assuming there wasn't separation/infection all the way up anyway, it's not going to 'track' through healthy wall/laminae all the way to the coronary. While it can be a 'better of evils' with regard to need of relieving pain, and some vets are quite free about giving bute, an anti-inflammatory is not the best first aid IME, as the inflammation is, as you put it, the body's defense mechanism, so suppressing that can suppress the infection & cause it to perpetuate and potentially cause other issues.
 
#18 ·
Believe me, if an exit hole is block either by a piece of cotton wool or a foreign body be it in any wound - equine or human, then you are containing the problem and as you correctly say a breeding ground for infection. Pus is formed of dead and dying cells and if there is more infection building up, then there is more pus. The material has a tendancy to 'track' and it will eventually burst out of the 'weakest point'. I really do know what I am talking about as looking after horses in not my day job, only a hobby. I do something else which pays to keep my horses happy in their 5 star hotel and they are better looked after than I am...LOL.
 
#19 ·
In my experience, cotton wool is the 'weakest point', assuming the horse doesn't have massive separation all the way up to the coronary. Like I said, I still wouldn't tend to plug it up though. This is my day job and I have had quite a bit of experience, along with much study.
 
#20 ·
Had one horse with.. poor feet.. thin walls and so forth and she got an abscess which we drained thru the sole (likely from a stone bruise). My job was to wrap the foot and soak the foot. When the horse was sound again but the hole was still there, we shod her with pads (on the front.. this was one front foot) for 6 weeks and then all was well.

Had another horse with much better feet that I pulled from a place that was ready to send him for meat (this is when there were Horse Slaughter houses in the US still). Took a risk on that boy but it ended up being a risk worth taking (he just needed to be trained). He was lame about two weeks after I got him home and he had an abscess (he was not in the best place b4 I got him). Again.. drained it and wrapped it and soaked it and shod him w. a pad for 6 weeks and he was right as rain. He became a really nice cow horse.. really reliable worker.

We never packed the hole in any of these horses. I did rinse the hole out with Penicillin Mastitis treatment for cattle.. the stuff was oily and kept the hole open and draining (did this at the Vet's suggestion BTW). Hard to believe this was over 12 years ago!
 
#21 ·
It is so easy to simply apply a drawing poltice and wrap up the hoof to keep it in place and the sole clean for a sole abscess. I have no idea why anyone would want to pack it other than to apply an antibiotic to the area. Still, wrapping to keep clean would be necessary. :) I have no doubt it was 2 abscesses as a bit of cotton is not in any way going to block anything with enough power to burst thru sole or wall. Simply by virtue of the fact the horse was still lame after the sole abscess was drained screams to me there is more going on. I don't like digging either unless they are 3 legged lame and it's obviously close to the sole.
 
#22 ·
I feel he put cotton in the hole (after flushing it out with hydrogen peroxide and getting iodine in it) just to keep bad things out. Anyway, after the coronet blow out, she was sound in a day! Thanks for all your info. I love the learning I get here.
 
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