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Ramblings from a horse owner re: Abscess

3K views 25 replies 6 participants last post by  Light 
#1 ·
I awoke this morning to a call from the ranch that my horse was down. I asked for them to see if she would get up and as I was on the phone heard the frantic "SHE NO WALK!!!" I live 30 minutes away and made it there in 20.


She was up and non weight bearing on her right rear foot. Heat at the heal region. Called farrier and he will be out this afternoon.
Vitals HR 70 (yes 70) temp 100.4 RR 40 Gut sounds all sides MM pink and moist, CRT 1.5 s.
I gave 1 to 2 lbs alfalfa as she had not eaten much from the night before. Soaked Bermuda pellets with electrolytes.
Medications given: Ranitadine 3000mg, Phenylbutazone 2 gr.
She has glue on shoes in the rear feet so soaking couldn't be done till shoe is removed.
Great appetite since the bute.


It has just rained here really hard over the last two days and I contemplated putting her in a barn stall but didn't. She lives in a dry lot pasture. Or pastureless pasture so to speak. I had about 8 tractor scoops of DG put in to prevent having her stand on mud. I raised the ground below her shelter and put stall mats down and then shavings to try to keep her as dry as possible.


I don't know what I could have done to have prevented this other than stalling her. She doesn't do well in stalls and will kick etc. Well she wouldn't be able to now.


I am going to do hoof radiographs in about a month. I just can't right now or I would.
I would get pictures but I don't have anything to take pictures with right now. No phone. No camera. If I can borrow one I will.


This is my same 23yr Andy/TBH mare that recently had her teethe floated etc.


Any advice would be appreciated. I know it will be limited without pics. Should I just start putting her in a stall when it rains to avoid this. She was so painful this morning. Will hardly weight the foot at all and if she does she jabs her to into the ground to do it and kind of hops.


If it isn't an abscess..........I don't know then but pretty sure it is due to the acute onset (we rode yesterday just fine).
Thank you.
 
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#3 ·
Which glue on shoe are you using? I guess it covers the entire bottom of the hoof? How long has it been on?

I'll be interested to hear what your farrier says.

If the shoe is covering the entire bottom my first wild guess would be a build up of infection (thrush) under the shoe that is causing pain.
 
#4 ·
Hi. Shoe has been on about 3 1/2 weeks. She is due to have them redone on Monday. We do her feet every 4 weeks or sooner if needed. Usually every 4. He does a copper sulfate treatment to the bottom of the hoof before he applies the dental impression material after the shoe is glued on. She wears the Easy Shoe NG's.


He came out and she was walking around just fine. Even trotted. He said since she was on an upward trajectory that he felt we should leave as is for now. And if there is any other problem to call him and he will take the shoe off. He doesn't want her foot to be unprotected if at all possible. Even though we could do the duct tape bandage etc it isn't as good as what she is wearing. She lives in a pasture. He felt that it was an abscess and that somehow it relieved itself and that is why she was no longer lame.


Thank you for the reply.
 
#5 ·
Strange that she could get an abscess with an easy shoe on.

Maybe someone else will come on here but with easyshoes it doesn't seem that a stone bruise could be the cause so as far as I know the only other source of an abscess is entry from an external infection including whiteline.

I used Vettec Copper Sulfate in Hondo's Ground Controls and after 4 weeks all the CS had turned loose and he had quite a bit of infection. It had been wet. So it just makes me wonder if just one spot could have gotten infected enough to gain entry to the sol.

If you learn anymore when he pulls the shoe to reshoe I'd appreciate anything learned. Just curios about lame and then not lame.
 
#6 ·
Hi,
At the ranch this morning she was okay. Just hand walked to groom etc. Fed, mucked etc. She was okay. A little quiet for her but nothing to remarkable. Came back a few hours late and fed again, same as earlier.


Came back in the late afternoon and walked her to the cross ties. She was a little slow. Didn't want to leave her pasture, but that is not all that unusual for her. While in the cross ties she started shifting weight from right to left rear foot. She became very stressed out looking. I hand walked and she was toe stabbing the left rear. Definitely lame but when standing shifting weight off and on rear feet.
Temp 100.1, HR 70, RR 50, MM pink, CRT 1.5 sec. No gut sounds right side, diminished on the left.
I called the Vet and she wanted me to hand walk her. I did and she went down. I truly thought that was it. Because she dropped so fast and went down so far, then realized she had stepped into a huge 2 foot deep gopher hole. That shook her up a bit and then she was lame on the left front and still having trouble with both rear feet.


Vet arrived 90 minutes later and examined her. By then the HR was down to 50 and RR 12. The Vet sedated, gave Torbugesic, and Bannamine IV. She floated her incisor teethe as she felt this was the reason for the dropping of feed and undigested hay in manure. She tubed her and got 1/2 gallon of mineral oil and water.


The Vet thinks that the shoes aren't working because the heel bulbs are extending beyond the back of the shoe and this is putting pressure on the heel bulbs. I do see what she is talking about. When the shoes are first done they fit great and support the heel well. Problem is that when she grows, she grows so far forward that the heels come off the back of the shoe.


I will try to get a hold of my farrier tomorrow to remove both rear shoes for now, and I will see if I can either wrap rear feet with pads, or find some boots with pads to make her comfortable without her shoes.


Vet did not think this was an abscess.


When I left tonight she was feeling much better, hungry, and seemed bright and alert. I will check on her later tonight.


Will let you know what happens. Thank you for the interest.
 
#8 ·
Problem is that when she grows, she grows so far forward that the heels come off the back of the shoe.
Hiya, that is something that will happen to a horse who has been left too long, but shouldn't be happening after 4 weeks. I'm guessing then the farrier is placing the shoe too far forward & maintaining too much pressure on the toe.
 
#9 ·
It looks like she has slipped and fell when it rained. Found the hoof skid marks. She also has multiple areas where it looks like she had trouble getting up. She is painful all down the spine especially near the tail. I think the shifting is to try to get comfortable and she can't. She has heat on the left side of hip.


Trying to get her chiropractor out ASAP and have an her body work person coming out tomorrow.
As unstable as she is I can't risk my farrier getting under her right now. Really don't think it is feet this time.
She also hasn't been able to eat hay since her float and that has led to weight loss and one impaction colic. On only soaked pellets and senior right now. Will probably have to move her into the barn if it rains again but for now would rather she can walk around which she does all the time.
 
#10 ·
Hi. Had to move her into the barn. It is an inside stall with padded floors. She rests her backside up against a wall and stands there with ears back. occasionally she looks back to her hid quarter area, could also be gut, and really flattens her ears.


Physio massage person coming out tomorrow and chiropractor on Monday.


I give her bute for the pain and can tell when it wears off.


I have to feed her only soaked pellets. Her appetite is excellent.


Does anyone know of a way to slow down the soaked pellet consumption? She is always very hungry and will eat until all food is gone. So, with her hay, I could slow net it etc. With pellets I don't know what to do. She just eats them soaked in water and consumes it so quick. I am afraid to leave more than 2lbs at a time because I think she will eat till she colics again. Any ideas?
 
#11 ·
I made a slow feeder for pellets once using a disc of plastic with 2 inch holes placed in the bottom of a plastic tub.

Worked pretty well with dry pellets but not sure how it would work with soaked pellets. Probably not well.

Why do you prefer pellets over hay? Maybe that would be best under the circumstances.

Poor horse. Hope you find the cause and remedy soon.
 
#12 ·
The only thing I've seen people do with both soaked and unsoaked pellets is put large rocks in the pan with them, so they have to work around to get the grain and can't just "hoover" it up. But I think it's probably going to slow the eating minimally, not like a slow feeder haynet would with hay.

I've been following along and hope you get to a solution for your mare- must be very stressful for you!
 
#13 ·
Thank you for the reply. This just sucks so bad. I have been spending as much time as I can with her feeding her one to two lbs of pellets at a time, but she is starving.


She is in a barn stall with a very soft floor and it does look like she is laying down as she had shavings in her mane. Waiting on the body work person to come out this afternoon and I will see what she says.


Hondo: She cannot eat hay because she cannot chew since her float 2 weeks ago. She cannot digest her hay and she gets impacted.
 
#16 ·
Hi, I will see about putting the rocks in her feeder.


The physio-kinetic-body massage person came out today and worked on her for about 90 minutes. She also taped her back. What she said was that she has extreme muscle wasting on the top line and on the rump. Her spine is protruding and the muscles are just gone from her hind end. Her tail was really tight? Her right hamstring was very tight. She has a pretty big dip in her back right after her withers. She showed me ways to get her to lift her upper, middle, and lower back to help her stretch in those areas. And stretches for her legs etc.


She thinks she may be out in her SI joint. She said it felt locked up. Her TMJ was fine but her hyoid?? attached to the tongue was very tight and she released that. She does have pain in her mouth, especially the left side.


She felt that the back is sore and she was also very thin and has muscle atrophy.


My horse was much brighter and alert when she left. Her appetite is great for the pellets (soaked) but she does still have problems with trying to chew them, or clearing them out of her mouth when she is done. She also will turn her head sideways and stretch her neck out. That she has never done before.


The chiropractor is coming to see her tomorrow. The farrier will be out Tuesday.


It is hard to get enough food into her without using hay.
 
#18 ·
Hi, Chiropractor canceled yesterday and is coming out today. Farrier rescheduled to Weds. She is still in the barn with the padded floors. Still feeding her the mash and added rice bran. Will try to add beet pulp today. She still points rear toes into the shavings. She is not herself but brighter than she has been. She is off bute for now. She is eating very well and I am hand walking down the barn isle. I am able to get #25lbs of soaked pellets into her a day, and she weighed about 900lbs when all this started. Will tape her today and see. Maybe I will try a little hay with her today and see if she can chew.
 
#19 ·
Chiropractor came out today and was shocked at how much weight she had lost and how she was walking. She is swinging the rear feet as if on a tight rope.


She said she is really weak and sore in her lumbar hip and pelvic region. This could have been due to a fall or something else. Her TMJ is fine. I am to keep her in the stall for now. Hand walk several times a day and continue with the pellet feeding.


She looked a little off again tonight. Good appetite, but yawning allot and making weird mouth movements. Vitals were good and good gut sounds. Excellent appetite. My trainer/friend is going to check on her later on and feed her again.
 
#21 ·
I'm confused by the date timeline of your posts. When was the float done? On the 25th or 2 weeks ago?
Either way I would be having the vet out who did her teeth & have her checked out? Maybe even a different vet because 2 weeks is way too long to be sore after a float. Really shouldn't be sore at all. Was it a power float?

Can you feed her alfalfa fines?
 
#22 ·
Float was done on the 12th of this month. The same vet came out on the following Friday the 18th and then saw her again on the 24th for colic. The Chiropractor had not seen her in about 6 weeks and just saw her yesterday. The vet did the incisors on the 24th while she was under for the NG tube for the colic. The vet felt that maybe she was not chewing due to her incisors being to long.


I have tried giving her just the fine alfalfa pieces and she seems to eat them without chewing.


I cannot get another vet out at this time. It just isn't possible. I will as soon as I can but I don't have the money right now.
 
#25 ·
Hi Hondo,
Still about the same. I started a thread in the nutrition forum to get advice on feed.


Farrier is coming out Monday to try to do something with her back feet. She is very overdue for her glue on shoes. Depending on how stable she is or if she can stand that long, he may have to remove them and then we can boot her. I would rather her be in her glue ons but with her back soreness and unsteadiness I don't want her to struggle or fall on him etc. So will have to see.
 
#26 ·
Vet out
Neurologic exam showed weakness in hind end
Sedated rectal exam found impaction
Tubed given oil and water, no regurge
Dental exam with speculum = teeth very short. fractured upper molar, cupping both sides, but teeth very short. Inscisors do not meet and to short. May or may not resolve with time due to age of mare.
Lab work= CBC CHEM Cushings panel
Ulcergard and Bute dispensed.
no food till oil passes
 
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