About a week ago my horse had an abscess burst at her coronary band, there is a good hole that keeps draining blood or puss. I have been soaking in epsom salts once a day. I have also been putting a layer of rebound hoof pack over it, which i know isn’t entirely the intended use for it but it is supposed to help draw out abscesses and im hoping it is helping keep some crap out of the wound. I dont have anything else to put on it atm.
So two questions. How can i keep the wound clean? The temperature suddenly went up and now she has a ton of mud especially around her shelter. I also cannot soak it anymore because i cannot get her hoof clean enough to not turn the water brown and i dont want to soak her hoof in dirt.
Also, is it normal for an abscess to take this long to drain? Its been draining probably 6 days now, she is no longer limping but there is still some swelling in her leg and a large puffy area around the hole which im assuming is more abscess that needs to come out.
Please don’t assume the puffiness is abcess material.
Get your vet out.
I lost a lovely WB to anaerobic infection that began as an abcess at the coronary & ended up affecting the entire foot so the hoof capsule was sloughing. Even perfused ABX at veterinary hospital (Perdue) were not stopping the infection progressing.
My vet was involved every step of the way, including a clean (no infection) CBC done just a week before the foot blew up.
I have had more abscess experience than I like to admit to.
If I had a hole that was still oozing six days after it opened up I would contacting my vet for their thoughts and that would probably lead to an appointment.
I am planning on getting one out but it’s going to take some time so need to keep it clean and stuff until then. I do not like the local vet here.
I did some looking up online and everywhere says its normal to take a couple weeks ?
Its draining very slowly only a tiny bit coming out every day. I did have someone much more knowledgeable about abscesses than me look at it before it burst, and they figured the puffiness that came up was the abscess about to burst, and it did the next day in that exact spot and has been going down slowly so that is why i assumed it just wasn’t finished draining.
But like i said, will have a vet out but need to wait for one to come down from the city over from us. Just need ways to keep treating it and keeping it clean until then.
Look up Quittor.
When I had an abscess burst at the coronary band it had no swelling prior to the burst - and afterwards it really just looked like a clean wound - no swelling in the leg or above the hoof. I would definitely be getting the vet out to evaluate.
As for keeping it clean - I’d probably keep the horse in a clean, bedded stall until the vet can look. Maybe a light bandage over it with carefully applied (not tight) vet wrap?
I would maybe flush it and not cover it up with goupy stuff. They are supposed to be open to drain fully.
Had vet out, the day he came out all the swelling was gone and there is now a little crack below the abscess hole that is also draining. Vet had zero concerns and didnt even want to come look at it but did, and took an xray. Haven’t gotten it back yet. Said keep doing what im doing, doesn’t look infected but left uniprim incase that changes. It is still slowly draining, only ever a few drops on her hoof when i see her. No more swelling. Farrier thinks it was a piece of gravel. Im still concerned that it is still draining and its been over 2 weeks.
Haven’t gotten it back yet? What are they doing with the X-rays?
Two weeks is a long time for something like this to keep draining (in my experience).
What did your farrier think a good plan of action was?
He has an old school machine. He wrote my email down wrong so that is why i didnt get them. Got them today, cannot see anything from the abscess in them, and today it looked scabbed over. Farrier was not concerned when i mentioned it to him either. He said the soaking was good and he would come have a look next time he is down.
However turns out she does have some laminitis in the foot that has the abscess, which he thinks is probably the cause, so now we have to treat that. Hopefully we caught it early enough that she will recover. She is currently not lame unless the ground freezes then is a little ouchy.
Also should point out that its pretty old fashioned to make the mistake of thinking that a “gravel” refers to an actual piece of rock that has moved all the way up the hoof.
I think I would want some more up to date eyes on this if it was mine.
Sorry that was my bad. I misunderstood what he meant. I just googled it and clearly i had the wrong idea lol.
How was the laminitis diagnosed (by xray, hoof testers, pulse?) What did the vet think was the cause of the laminitis?
Horses with underlying metabolic issues can sometimes be more prone to hoof abscesses. In general, laminitis is something that usually has a cause - either mechanical or metabolic.
OP, Don’t soak an abscess that has opened up. You are just standing your horse in a cesspool of dirty stuff. Even if it looks clean. Epsom salts are not antibiotic and actually irritate the site - haven’t you heard of “rubbing salt in the wound?” And the hoof is DIRTY even if you pick it out and wash it. You want to clean up the abscess, but soaking it is counterproductive.
Animalintex is good to use when you don’t want to soak the whole hoof. I’d put it over where the abscess burst and bandage the hoof. Duct tape will make the bandage last longer.
I think keeping him out of the mud is the most important, but other than that I wouldn’t soak it. I would leave it alone to heal. But I’ve never had one draining for six days (although I have had them brewing for 6+ days before bursting).
