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Please help with hoof abscess

8K views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  sportschick068 
#1 ·
So, exactly 13 days ago I went down to the barn to feed and noticed my gelding standing funny. He would not walk for anything, he would not move out of his stall. I figured it was an abscess as I have seen abscesses many times before, but to be sure I called my farrier. My farrier was supposed to come the next day for a trim anyways so he came and took a look at his front left hoof. He said he was almost 99% sure it was an abscess. He trimmed both my horses hooves and told me to keep it clean,wrapped etc and if it goes awhile and is still not getting better, to call him and the vet out.

So, I did have some bute that I got from the vet a few months ago, I gave him two scoops of that in his grain, and then I soaked his hoove for 10 minutes, dried, put an epsom salt poultice on with a gauge pad, vet wrapped and finished with a duck tape boot. Like I do with any abscess. I continued this every 24 hours, soaking and rewrapping with poultice. Well, the second day, he was moving around now. (thanks to the bute) and the third day I gave him half a dose of bute and forth day no bute. On the forth day, he was moving around really good, putting weight on it. Very little limp. On the 5th day he had no limp. I did not see the abscess burst, or even a hole. Well the 6th day he was playing in the pasture with our pony, (running bucking) and when he was done, he had a limp for a few hours but then it went away.

Well now it's the 13th day since he got the abscess and i'm not sure what to do. Every abscess I have dealt with before burst within 5-8 days and I always found a hole and/or puss from it. I don't really know if I should call the vet out or not. He has gotten much much better within the last two weeks. He walks around normally, puts weight on it, it's just when he trots, and plays in the pasture he gets a limp, but it goes away. So any info on abscess like this? Is he just sore maybe? How to know if the abscess really burst?
 
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#2 ·
My gelding got a bad stone bruise that then abcessed took over a month before he was sound. Would look sound at walk would think he was ready to ride again saddle up get on only to find he was head bobbing lame. Went through this on and off all summer sometimes it just takes time and alot of it. I was at one point ready to find another horse so i could ride.
 
#5 ·
With just a small amount of info given on an internet forum, who's to say? The rule of thumb that I follow is, if your horse is majorly lame with an unexplained cause, or chronically lame, say for more than a week or so, if you aren't able to find/fix the problem, get a *good equine* vet.

I am unclear whether the farrier dug around at all(if so where?), found an abscess, why he advised wrapping & keeping it clean if not. Giving bute may have suppressed any infection, so caused it to go on for longer without 'blowing'. But again, with so little info, don't know if it's even an abscess sorry. Info on management, diet, specifics, etc & pics will help if you'd like more info.
 
#7 ·
My mare got an abscess in her sole. She was walking very awkwardly and everything. the BO said it was probably just a stone bruise and to not even bother calling the vet. The farrier did a test and didn't find anything, After two days of it, however, I called the vet. No joke - the vet looked at my horse in her stall for about 5 seconds and said abscess. Took a hoof scraper, scraped a layer of the sole, and found a black spot and pointed out the abscess.

He opened it. He put my mare under a little bit of sedation so he could dig a small hole to the abscess to help with expressing it. For days after that, he told me to put a farrier's nail into the hole to try opening it (never let the horse put its hoof down while the nail is in there. You're just trying to express it).

1. Then put the hoof in warm water and epsom salt for about 10-15 minutes. If you're using a bag (like the IV bags from a hospital), it's okay to let the horse walk on soft bedding because each step they take will push the liquid into the abscess.

2. During the 10-15 minutes, you should have vet wrap handy and duct tape. Tear pieces of duct tape and stick them to your leg just while your horse's hoof is soaking. You're trying to make a bit of a cast with the tape so make sure it's large enough for your horses hoof but not that it would go past their coronary band and stick to their hair. You also need betadine and animalintex.

3. After 10-15 minutes, take the hoof out of the solution, but don't let it touch the ground. I was given Animalintex. Soak a piece of that with Betadine and place over the hole/abscess then keep it in place by wrapping vet wrap over the hoof.

4. Once vet wrap has been applied to entire hoof, take your duct tape cast-thing and stick it to the bottom of the hoof with the ends going up the hoof.

4. Once the duct tape cast is on, take your roll of duct tape and wrap it around the hoof just to keep the ends of your cast-thing down. That will also keep dirt out.


I had to do this twice a day - once in the morning and once at night.. Just always digging with that nail and treating it in the bag of epsom salt and warm water, betadine, and animalintex.


That's my experience... My mare had abscess issues for a few months when she was young but hasn't had one since (knock on wood) and it's been 2 years.
I can try to elaborate if some part of what I said is confusing haha. It's much easier to see it be done than told...



There's a video. They use something other than Betadine and Animalintex which I've used on her abscesses before also and it works :) I just don't know how to spell it. Ic-something lol
 
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