Abcess help please?

My vet came out Saturday morning and opened an abcess on the bottom of my mares hoof. She has had two days of epsom salt soaks with ickthamal (sp?) wraps and today and tomorrow will be epsom salt soaks and sugardine wraps. I was told to let her out starting tomorrow, but Wednesday it is supposed to rain, and Thursday will be her first day out without a wrap. Will she be ok if she walks in mud with that opening in her hoof? She will spend most of her time in grass, but will have to cross in and out of mud to get there. Also, the opening will be exposed to broken down pelleted bedding in her stall at night. This is my first abcess experience so any help/thoughts/suggestions are truly appreciated.

Thanks!
Steph

Getting air will help it, make sure when she comes it you clean it out and let it soak really good.

Diamonds,

I would recommend keeping a dry, protective wrap on the foot for 7 - 10 days. A inexpensive bandage consists of a size 1 disposable baby diaper and a duct tape pad. These need to be replaced every 24 hours as the horse will wear through them. You might also consider using a horse boot that your horse can wear to prevent mud, dirt, debris from packing into the defect. These wont wear through, but I recommend resetting them every 24 hours. Yes, there is the potential to precipitate the hoof abscess if mud, manure, ect packs into that defect. Depending on the size of the defect, it may take 5 days to 3 weeks to seal itself.

^ I agree, but we have a horse at my barn who had a pesky abscess that wouldn't go away for the life of him. After a few weeks/month(s) of wrapping and soaking it wasn't getting her anywhere so she finally decided to let it air out and that's what happened, the air dried the abscess and made it split open. About two weeks later it looked like nothing ever happened.

A inexpensive bandage consists of a size 1 disposable baby diaper and a duct tape pad.

That's exactly what Im using so Im very glad to hear that. Should I wrap it dry or keep using the sugardine? I was told to quit soaking after tomorrow. Does that sound ok? Thanks so much for your help!

Yep, all depends on the abscess. Anything that opens out along the coronary band needs to be kept open. If you have a large defect in the sole that was created, you need to keep it protected until the body can seal the area off, at least 5-7 days usually. Sometimes these areas will act like a 1-way valve, where as debris packs into it, the more the horse moves around, the more that pack in and under the sole. But either-way, ask your veterinarians opinion and have him explain the reasoning, as treatment will vary depending on the abscess.

I would quit soaking when your vet recommended.

I stuff the abscess area with Gauze soaked in Iodine it stops infection coming back and drys the area out, then wrap in vet wrap then a diaper covered in a lot of the Tape that electricians use ' it has almost a cloth netting in it (prob not the best discription sorry) so it holds up alot longer than duct tape.
I had to redo this every morning as my gelding runs around like there isn't a thing wrong.. He got an abscess every time he dropped a shoe it drove me insane.
Good luck!

Honestly, I would leave it open. My gelding blew an abcess out of his heel last summer. Our paddocks get really muddy, FTR. I cleaned it once and left it alone. He healed within a week or so and I was back riding him in a week and a half. Mud won't hurt it or decrease the healing time.