Thanks for your answer. I was just curious, no need for me to bother a vet. 
Thank-you for your posts! I’ve been dealing with a horrific abscess for almost 6 weeks. Horse has been at the hospital for the last 2 and is currently very sore AGAIN. He was set to come home tomorrow…Anyway it is of some comfort that these horrible ones can take months to fully heal. We’ve also done all the tests (ultrasound, xray AND MRI). These have shown a tear in the superficial digital flexor tendon which wasn’t ever diagnosed. So, it’s been a long and sometimes complicated journey this far. And we’re not nearly done!
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I’m curious if any of you dealing with these abscesses from HELL have had swelling up the leg? I’ve had 2 cases where the leg swelled like a stove pipe and vets diagnosed cellulitis versus abscess. Current case vet suspects damage to suspensory because they’re enlarged and sore to palpation. Horse is “abscess lame” but vet thinks it’s a soft tissue injury. If vet is correct, then it’s going to be BAD. If it’s an abscess, my aching heart can have some hope lol!
I did not with this one, but I have had an abscess cause cellulitis up all the way to mid cannon. The vet had me put her in smzs and cold hose and it did go away. I think she was sensitive to the touch, but I can’t imagine not being with a lot of swelling!
Yes, I had one with an abscess that got massive stovepipe swellling clear above the hock. She had been to the vet and his conclusion was a sprained fetlock (mild lameness and a little swelling on the medial side of the fetlock. So then she got 3 days of bute, improved then 2 days later she developed the stovepipe swelling. Thankfully, the abscess broke over night and the healing could begin.
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Oh what a relief that must have been! I learned my lesson early on when I saw someone else’s horse 3 legged lame, on it’s hind toe, huge swollen leg. I thought he must’ve broken his leg and was so concerned because my older, and much wiser, friends weren’t calling the vet out ASAP. Sure enough, it was an abscess. It’s an image burned into my brain.
My OTTB did this 2 years in a row - swollen leg and very lame. The first time I called vet and she found the abscess. The next year I called my farrier. This year I got shoes on her before she got an abscess.
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