The Horse Forum banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

Stubborn abscess

6K views 22 replies 6 participants last post by  madisonfriday 
#1 ·
Two weeks ago my horse came in very lame on his LF. I gave him few days and bute with no improvement so we had farrier out who supposedly found an abscess and a lot of stuff came out of it (I was at home with a newborn) I have been going out the past week soaking, and packing it with itchhamol. I noticed a slight purple color yesterday show up around the area I was told where the abcsess was (I can't see a hole) so maybe there is some bruising? This is all new to me since I've owned my guy for 7 years he's never had an issue with his feet.

Flash back two months ago a new farrier came off and took a lot of that foot and since then has been ouchy whenever that LF is in an inside circle. Wasn't concerned at the time since I was pregnant but now hoping it's not related...

Anyways how long can abcsess take to heal after they were drained? How long should i keep up the soaking/drain salve?

I feel like I'm going no where and might be time to call the vet but would hate to drop $$ if I just need patience. Today there was no heat and the bruise coloring seem to have gone away. I'm concern it's a different issue because he's worse in the ring sand vs pavement but could be sole pressure.

I attached the photo of what I thought was some bruising.

*mind my spelling and grammar as I'm on phone :!
 

Attachments

See less See more
1
#2 ·
Hi, need more pics, different angles, but it seems that heel & bar are a little high, and if it was substantially higher(farrier taking heaps off...), the bar overrunning the sole there, that can account for a lot of pressure on the solar corium there. Without more info(& pics of his fresh trim at least), I wouldn't jump to blame that farrier either. If that were the case, there could well have been necrotic tissue from constant pressure, which once he'd 'released' it with trimming, enabled blood to flow and the 'infection' to be expelled. Taking off a lot is not necessarily taking off too much.

Or it could be he took too much, could be a stone bruise that abscessed. Or it could be something else all together, that the abscess was unrelated or just a symptom of... Don't know without further info.

But of your basic question, if it's 'just' a minor abscess, as from a stone bruise or bash to the hoof, then this usually doesn't go on too long. Not for months. And if the abscess were completely drained, especially as it wasn't 'dug out', it should be done with special care within a week or 2.

So... for abscess care, before it's burst/cut, when the horse is in pain, I'd avoid bute, unless absolutely necessary, as being an anti inflammatory, it can suppress the infection & cause it to go on longer. I would be soaking his foot in a warm epsom salts solution. After the abscess/farrier, I would have continued to soak at least once daily in epsom for a few days, to try to draw any remaining rubbish. Then, given where it is, that it's not open or anything, I'd leave it. Expect it to be pretty much over with.

So... yeah, if it's been 2 weeks post farrier, he's been lame 2 months, I'd be considering the vet. You could always call the farrier & ask him first. I assume this one is different to the one 2 months ago?
 
#3 ·
Well I'm going to try get one of the local vets out this week he's showing no signs of improvement. It's really bad in the sand but he's sound on hard surfaces. He's foot does seem unbalanced to me. It's his clubbed foot and I think the farrier a couple months ago try making to much change to it at once. My previous farrier usually just let it be what it was.
 

Attachments

#5 ·
You need a different farrier to begin with----look how the hoof is flairing. You're also dealing with under-run heels and too long of a toe so the hoof is not balanced. Even when our horse was at his worst following blowing an abscess that would not completely drain, our vet said no bute. Soak the foot in Epsom salts for 20-30 minutes twice a day to draw out the infection. At this point, also call your vet to take a look, While rare, some horses do need an antibiotic to get over an abscessed hoof---ours did and he was the first one our vet had ever dealt with in a good 15 years of being a vet that needed an antibiotic to clear up the abscess.
 
#6 ·
Needs good hoofcare. I wouldn't just jump to 'needs a new farrier' without knowing the situation. We don't know how long this farrier has been attending the horse, how often, what state the hooves were in... etc. No time for more comments now...
 
#7 ·
Even though the farrier we'd had was lousy (I threw him off this place!), our ELPO farrier was able to address the flairs and under run heels on the first trim. A good farrier who know what and why she trims a certain way and understands the underlying bone structure can make a huge difference almost immediately. While it may take another trim or two to completely correct this issues, it should be apparent after the first trim.
 
#8 ·
OK, if you would like a proper critique, pardon that I don't say it every time, but check out the link in my signature line for what pic angles are necessary for most accuracy. Can't give you that much specific advice from those still.

So... hoof has always been 'clubby'. Correct then, for your farrier not to lower the heels to 'ideal' angles, at least without working in conjunction with a bodyworker & doing so gradually. But due to this 'conformation', the hoof needs to be managed differently elsewhere than the other fore(which from limited view, looks OK). It appears, from how much/how high the flaring is, that they have been not optimally managed, long term.

Even when the heels need to stay high, the bars shouldn't be allowed to overgrow to the extent of over running the sole - which appears is where the abscess was. Quarter walls shouldn't be allowed to overgrow either, should be kept level with the sole. That is likely the cause of the quarter flares. As the horse is more on his toe on that foot, there is more leverage there, hence the toe flaring, which needs to be managed in order that they aren't allowed to run forward as they have done, causing further weakness & mechanical strain.

If the horse is significantly high heeled, that the frog/heel doesn't get adequate ground support to function well, frog support padding *between* the heel walls may be advisable, esp if he's worked on hard ground. This 'confo' allows for the heels to become/remain weak, from lack of stimulation and obviously puts the horse more on his toe. As such, without careful management, can become a problem over time.

As you have mentioned, another significant thing I notice, and perhaps more relevant, if he has most problem on a circle to one direction, is the imbalance of his heels - one is significantly higher. As you wouldn't just cut a high heel down to 'ideal' parameters, likewise we're not all perfectly symmetrical side to side & it would be wrong to just prune the heels down to be even. BUT that also assumes it's a long standing imbalance he's had, not something recently caused by bad farriery. And whether or not it 'should' be changed, that imbalance will be creating a lot of joint tension too. So again, as with the high heels, it's very possible it's just reached a point of causing lameness - the recent farriery/abscess may well be a 'by the by', or a contributor, but I wouldn't assume that's all it is.

It also appears there's a fair bit of dead sole material, esp in the back half of the foot. Not that that necessarily should come off, and can't say, 2 months later, whether the farrier may have taken too much of that or some such. There's also that seedy spot on the outside toe corner - coincidentally the same side as the abscess - possible that has abscessed/caused pain too. I'd also be dealing assertively with the seedy - likely resecting/cutting it out. Certainly removing the excess & 'rolling' the wall there, to reduce further separation. Have you been advised to treat that topically.
 
#12 ·
Yep! that seedy spot is what she thinks is causing the issue but that spot wasn't there three weeks ago when he came in very lame so I'm assuming the spot is just now opening up but the inflection was always there? Vet spoke highly of the farrier checking him out on Monday. I'll address the issues with the uneven heal and the thin sole. Hopefully he'll have some suggestions to get him back on track.
 
#10 ·
when i wrap a foot for an abcess, i leave it on for the 2 - 3 days then pull off the wrap, clean the foot, and rewrap with hoof clay and cotton (or whatever product I have to pull out the abcess.) I usually only have to wrap it up twice before the abcess is pulled out. the best product I found is amnophyllogistine, not sure if that is the correct spelling, it was sold for people , it is hard to find. worked fantastic
 
#11 ·
Chiming back in. I had vet out today. She agrees hoof is off balance and he's pretty much been "rolling his ankle". Nerved blocked the hoof and seemed better again only speculated on the barn aisle where he isn't has lame as he is in sand. She mention white line infection (you actually can see the hole in the photos near toe) and dremeled out a area where there was gravel stuck up in there as well as some bruising. She said infection was all the way up to cornet band so she rasp a small area for it to blow out there as well. I'm guessing the farrier from two months ago made too much of a change hence the mildly lameness I noticed on the lunge couple weeks back and the wet weather recently just made it worse recently. I'm back to my old farrier but she didn't see any issues with his hoof after I pointed out the lameness so I'm switching again to a well known farrier most my new barn uses - he's the one who drained the random abscess for me. Also she said his sole on that club foot is very thin. Hopefully new farrier can give some input when becomes Monday.
 
#13 ·
Chiming back in. I had vet out today. She agrees hoof is off balance and he's pretty much been "rolling his ankle". Nerved blocked the hoof and seemed better again only speculated on the barn aisle where he isn't has lame as he is in sand.
Did she speculate about whether it's a long standing imbalance? It bugs me a bit that he's more sore on sand, if it's due to that imbalance only - it doesn't look like enough to make a difference on yielding footing. Of course, if it's longstanding, as I guess, damage/strain to joints could make it more painful on soft going tho.

She mention white line infection (you actually can see the hole in the photos near toe) and dremeled out a area where there was gravel stuck up in there as well as some bruising. She said infection was all the way up to cornet band so she rasp a small area for it to blow out there as well.
Check out Mayfield Barehoof Care Centre Home Page & look up 'seedy toe' - the Aus term for your 'WLD'. This is what I was talking about being assertive about. If the infection is right the way up, that's pretty serious & has gone untreated for a long time. If she dremelled from the bottom & opened it at the top, hopefully you will be able to pour a topical in there. It will need treating topically, as well as possibly full resecting by a knowledgeable farrier.
 
#16 ·
Animalintex pads (after soaking the hoof with Betadine) worked for me last Spring when one of my geldings developed 3 abscesses in succession. There is a generic Vet Wrap on Amazon that is much less expensive than the name brand.

I will say that the thing that stopped them altogether was a course of antibiotics which my vet refused to prescribe. I borrowed extras from a friend and the abscesses healed up very quickly and the horse has never gotten another one. One abscess is manageable but 3 was a nightmare!

In the past, I worked with a little mare that had never ending, chronic abscesses until a bad one popped out on her lower jawbone. She ended up finally being put on antibiotics, everything healed up and she never had another abscess anywhere. I don't know why vets are so against antibiotics. I truly believe that the "germ" for abscesses can get into the bloodstream and travel, not only to the other hooves but to any part of the body.
 
#18 ·
In the past, I worked with a little mare that had never ending, chronic abscesses until a bad one popped out on her lower jawbone. She ended up finally being put on antibiotics, everything healed up and she never had another abscess anywhere. I don't know why vets are so against antibiotics. I truly believe that the "germ" for abscesses can get into the bloodstream and travel, not only to the other hooves but to any part of the body.
That sounds like a novel one! & in her case, yeah, nasty, weird systemic infection seems likely! But hoof abscesses are generally confined to hooves. They do not 'migrate', let alone through the blood, throughout the body, except as blood poisoning/illness, if reaally bad.. And unless from big problems, they're very occasional & generally minor, short lived & localised in the area of the hoof too. If a horse is 'prone' to abscesses, or gets a run of them, or they don't resolve quickly, you can bet there are other issues going on.

They are injuries gone septic. Either from a bash or stone bruise, or from pressure damage, as in jammed bars, or tearing/separation damage &/or seedy infection. The damaged tissue becomes necrotic & the body creates inflammation and pus to push it out.

The problem with antibiotics, and anti inflams like bute is that they can *suppress* the infection without actually treating the problem, because reducing inflammation is reducing the body's way of expelling the gunk.
 
#20 ·
I think if you are dealing with WLD/Seedy Toe, you should be soaking. A good soak will help treat the abscess too.

I would be very leery about using hoof boots with an infection like WLD. It just seems like it would be a breeding ground for those nasty little bugs.

If your horse can stand well for about 90 minutes, try a clean trax soak. It's a powder that you buy, and you mix it with a gallon of water. You can pour that into a reinforced plastic bag (or special boot) and tape it up with duct tape and vet wrap. Then you let it soak for about 45 minutes. After that, you dump the liquid and put the bag back on and seal it all up so that no air can get in or out and do a "vapor" soak for another 45 minutes or so.

I feel your pain...I've been battling WLD for a year now. Thought I had it gone, but it's come back rather aggressively. Since it's an aggressive infection, you have to treat it aggressively as well.
 
#22 · (Edited)
The soft spot on cornet band is directly above the WLD spot on the bottom. She didn't really say if it's the disease or just maybe an abscess trying to come out there. Didn't look like anything drained from it when I rewrapped this evening and looks like it closed up where she created a small whole with the rasp. The WLD area had some jelly puss.

Someone asked what was wrong and said they dealt with this but no local vet or farrier helped and had to be treated at a clinic where they took entire hoof wall out. Really hope that's not my case!!

Here's what invoice stated


Hoof Trim/Debridement - LF lateral quarter has very distorted and separated hoof wall junction/WLD, lateral heel 1/4 inch longer than medial, some bruising and seedy toe, flat sole soft and yields to digital pressure, soft spot lateral coronet band, clip and rasped coronet
 

Attachments

#23 ·
Update. Farrier came out yesterday. He's still not showing any improvement but the vet didn't do much beside dig into the WLD area. Farrier doesn't think the WLD area is bad just some separation. He thinks the lameness is more conformational and from the way that leg is standing is making something else going on. He doesn't think the heel on the outside is correct and causing it to jam. He put shoes on for now with a pad, but wants him barefoot eventually so that club foot can wear naturally. Still trotted out lame on the soft ground. I'm still hoping nothing more serious is going on but he def was more sound when I was wrapping his foot w a pad so it has be a foot issue.

If he's not showing improvement by end of week farrier wants X-rays.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top