Hoof abscess after a month? Could it be something else?

[sistersnooze]

So to be brief, here’s what we have been dealing with (and vet is coming in the morning for x-rays):

10/6/18 - both Vet and Farrier come out as horse was limping - both agreed it was an abscess and the farrier claimed to have cut it out, said no soaking needed and we should be ok.

10/20/18 - Farrier comes back out as horse still limping and we feel it is worse than before. Vet comes out and cuts hoof again, tells us to keep it as clean and dry as we can (we are in South Louisiana and it has been muddy (like biblical proportions in rain). We start wrapping the hoof for about 4 days. Horse hates the wrapped hoof, but she deals with it.

11/3/18 - Horse still limping, text photo of hoof to farrier and he says it looks good.

11/10/18 - horse limping so bad we are crying and wondering what we re doing wrong…we were going to keep our horses outside 24/7 on our property and had not built out a barn yet, as they have a run in that stays dry, and although we get them in there with hay and feed, they still wander out. We talk to the vet who is now coming out tomorrow morning for X-rays. There is a bit of swelling but no heat and the swelling is primarily just above the pastern.

I feel like if the vet says anything other than give it more time, I need to look into moving her to a boarding situation until it clears up so she can have true stall rest (not a run in deal).

I would like to keep her at home and not move her as she is pretty attached to our other horses, and they do not seem to be affected by the crazy wet weather we have had.

What questions do I need to be asking the vet tomorrow? We have a crazy amount of mud and with our humidity around here, when we have her hoof wrapped, it does not really ever dry out (even with a dry poultice).

[brody]

I’m wondering if there is thrush in there now too and she’s sensitive. My farrier said yesterday he’s getting daily lame horse calls for thrush. If it is an abscess ( or a series) my vets have always wanted them able to move and on soft ground so your set up may be fine.
Hang in there. I’d ask the vet what they’d like to see you doing for and with her.

[PNWjumper]

I have a mare who had an abscess in her toe that led to on-again-off-again lameness for 6 weeks before we finally x-rayed her foot. There was never any heat or swelling, she wasn’t sensitive to hoof testers, and there was never a pulse. The abscess was large enough that it was easily visible on x-ray (which is not always the case). It was in a place that looked like it would have just happily sat forever. My farrier ended up drilling into her foot and she had to live in a hospital plate for a shoeing cycle. She lived in a paddock that had quite a bit of mud and I let her stay there throughout the whole thing on the belief that movement is a good thing both for helping keep an abscess draining and for speeding up healing time/hoof growth time through use of the foot. I wonder if your horse has a big abscess pocket somewhere deeper than where your farrier cut to?

But short answer, an abscess can definitely go on for a lo-ong time.

As for the wrap - same mare caught a puncture wound to her frog this year. It was muddy springtime when it happened and I couldn’t keep her completely out of the mud. I did bring her in to a smaller paddock, but that was mostly so that she wouldn’t be out with the herd while still sore. I bought this boot: https://www.smartpakequine.com/pt/woof-wear-medical-boot-14225 and was pretty darn impressed with how well it kept the foot clean and held up. I think she wore it for 3 or 4 weeks straight. By the end of that time it was starting to wear through on the foot, but given that she had a shoe on the foot and was standing/walking on cement, I was surprised it held up as long as it did.

Also, you don’t have to keep the foot dry as long as you’ve got something in there to help keep thrush at bay. I’ll often wrap with an Epsom Salt Paste (Magna Paste, or whatever the green stuff is called), which also helps draw stuff out of the foot. That’s what I kept my mare wrapped in during the puncture incident.

[4LeafCloverFarm]

Hoof abscesses can be a real bugger to clear up at times. However, swelling above her pastern is something else (perhaps she is stocking up because she isn’t able to walk and put weight on that leg).

Can you put up some coral panels in your run-in to make a stall area to keep her dry and comfortable? That way she isn’t stressed being away from her buddies, but she will be out of the mud and muck. She might enjoy some personal pampering! But if that stresses her out (like she doesn’t want to be out of sight of her buddies) I’d just leave her as she is. the bandage just might not last as long under wet, muddy conditions.

It may just be that the abscess needs to be opened up again. Or she may have had more than one abscess to begin with. Or as stated above, it just may be in a place where its not draining all the way. I’m sure the vet will check the hoof using a few different methods. Abscesses can be very frustrating and sneaky little buggers!

Some like soaking in epsom salts or other product prior to applying a poltice and wrapping it up. I always did, until I had a new farrier that thought it was an extra step I could leave out. Keeping the drain hole clean and packed with something like ichthamol to keep anything from getting into the hole, then applying a poultice pad like animalintex or absorbent padding, like a diaper, and finally wrapping and weather proofing with duct tape are essential. And then letting your hard work do its job. Only repeat the process when your bandage starts to get loose or leak or come off. And patience - lots of patience!

Oh, and I find Gorilla brand duct tape is the best for the bottom/base of the wrap. Its extra thick and strong and lasts much loner that regular duct tape.

[aascvt]

X-rays… if this is truly just an abscess - it should be visible on radiographs. There are other more concerning things that can present this way (keratomas, coffin bone fractures). Whatever it is… you should have some answers tomorrow. Good luck!

[khall]

I second panels in the run in if you need to. Radiographs of the hoof and I hope (jingle) that it is an abscess and it heals soon.

[sistersnooze]

Thanks all, I’ve boarded for years and we finally moved to the country and brought her home. It’s been a non stop mud event here in Louisiana since June and it’s wearing on us (and my non-horsey husband who suggested we send her back to boarding to heal).

[trubandloki]

Jingles for a good answer with the vet this morning.

Without getting into a long story I will just say that everyone else nailed it, an abscess can be a jerk sometimes. It truly can just be an abscess. X-rays are the perfect next step.

There are lots of options out there for keeping the hoof protected. If you have not mastered the duct tape boot then look into buying something that slips on and off between treatments.

[JB]

Do you have a picture? I worry that all the cutting that went on has made the sole wound so sore now. Rarely should an abscess be “cut out”, because rarely can its location be accurately determined unless it’s getting ready to burst anyway and you can find that really soft spot.

You’re wrapping, but is it also being packed with anything?

Have you seen evidence of drainage?

[islgrl]

I haven’t read all the responses but I once dealt with an abcess for NINE weeks. It never blew, but finally resorbed. We could see the track on xray so we know that’s what it was.

[MoonWitch]

I would second the x-rays. Do they know if the bone has been infected? Without knowing how close the abscess is to the bone, it’s hard to tell if there is something else going on up there. How hold is your mare? Is there any other underlying condition that could be adding to the problem? Cushings?

I’m in SEPA and the rain has been in biblical proportions this year (raining as we speak). Between the mud, abscesses and rain rot, I’m so done with it all!!

[JBD]

As others have said, yes an abscess can last that long or recur after you think it’s done. The environment is probably keeping it from healing as wet and muddy are the opposite of what’s needed. See what your vet says but I’m guessing he will want to wrap it at a minimum. I have one of those slipper boots for my abscess prone horse but it wouldn’t stand up to serious mud.

[2DogsFarm]

Another vote for rads of the foot.
Better to put out the cost now & determine WTH is going on.

I have had to treat 2 Abscesses From H-E-Doublehockeysticks:

TB who gave me 8 Months of Soak-Clean-Wrap 2X daily for an abscess that resulted from a bruised heel, traveled the length of the foot & caused him to slough 1/2 the sole.
Trust me, you do not want your vet to say on examining it: “Wow, looks like he did his own resection!” :disgust:
We did xrays & no bone involvement, just wicked long abscess track.
Horse returned to full use after above therapy + 2 rounds of - Cha-Ching$ - glue-on shoes.

WB who drained what seemed like a simple abscess at the coronet, but then went on & off lame, never seemed 100% for the next 3mos.
Not so happy an outcome, as once identified, the source was an anaerobic infection deep in the hoof capsule.
I ended up having him put down as 2 days of perfused ABX at the Vet Hospital were not abating the cause, he was 19 & no way I’d put him though losing the hoof & going through the painful year or so it would have taken to regrow.

[gumtree]

@JB

Do you have a picture? I worry that all the cutting that went on has made the sole wound so sore now. Rarely should an abscess be “cut out”, because rarely can its location be accurately determined unless it’s getting ready to burst anyway and you can find that really soft spot.

You’re wrapping, but is it also being packed with anything?

Have you seen evidence of drainage?

“Rarely should an abscess be “cut out”, because rarely can its location be accurately determined unless it’s getting ready to burst anyway and you can find that really soft spot.”

What???

Only on the VERY odd occasion I have found this to be true. When working with the number of horses I had on my farm. A competent farrier should always know when and where to open an abscess. We don’t go around digging for it. It’s not that hard most of the time to identify the location and the depth. “cutting out” is just a figure of speech.

I’m with others, IME some abscesses can take weeks and weeks to resolve. Esp ones that go up instead of down. Had two horses this past abnormally wet season that took 2 months for fully resolve. Talking with others and farriers it has been a epic, Guinness book record season for abscesses.

[JB]

None of the abscesses I have dealt with had any particular spot on the sole that tested sore, not precise enough to be dug into, until they were already close to the surface, which is what I stated. And at that point, they were close to coming out anyway, so it was just a light paring to facilitate drainage. And if that’s the case, it’s usual a “one and done” situation. Or, it would have burst on its own in a few days or so.

The fact that the horse was still lame 2 weeks later, “having” to be cut open again, is telling. And the fact that he’s STILL lame and even worse, is more telling. Either neither digs were the right spot, or too much was dug out in an effort to get to it no matter how deep, or it was the right-ish location but the abscess was already traveling up or sideways, or there never was an abscess.

So IME it is often hard to find out where it’s going to come out on the sole. And who says the closest exit point IS the sole? It’s been my experience, not just with my abscesses but others, that more often than not, digging creates more problems than it resolves. And yes, sometimes that’s because the farrier DIGS, instead of just facilitates, leading to a too-large wound in the sole that hurts and takes many weeks to start filling in well.

I do agree that some abscess just take a long time to resolve, which is in itself a problem if that means it’s traveling around, doing more and more damage.

I also agree that it’s time for xrays and more investigation. My last “abscess” turned out to be a 1 1/4" stick jammed horizontally into the frog - xrays didn’t find that, doing some paring (by the vet) at the area of the frog where pus was oozing didn’t find it, it was all presumed to be an abscess under the frog area somewhere, and was treated as such. It wasn’t found until enough pressure and movement made it back out just enough for me to finally see it and pull it out. Then more xrays with a barium injection to see where that thing had been, which fortunately was nowhere of importance.

[pologirl27]

My horse has not handled the transition from being largely inside in a race barn to being out 24/7 in a year you sagely describe as a ‘mud event’. We’ve had a half dozen spring abscesses, a summer event where she had a sub solar abscess and her whole hind sole fell off.

Recently she went lame with a hot coronary band. After 5 days it cleared up, then after 4? 5? days of soundness she went very lame for 7 more days. I finally got the vet out, he dug an abscess out of her toe. She was still a little sore the next morning, but by the following night (24 hours after toe abscess) another abscess popped out of her coronary band!

TL;DR an abscess can last for a while. Keeping her feet dry once the abscess comes out will make the healing process smoother.

[findeight]

Waiting for an update…

[sistersnooze]

Meant to post an update earlier, but the day got away from me…dogs and horses need attention you know!

so the vet showed me where abscesses had already burst out of the heel. I was pretty sure if that already, but could not understand the continued limping.

well, she has two more abscesses that need to come out.

he has us doing the epsom salt soak and I am to call him later this week to give him an update. She is not crazy about the soaking, but she is dealing with it.

[4LeafCloverFarm]

Sorry she had two more abscesses, but on the bright side, at least its not something worse! Abscesses can be a PITA - I know this well. Let me know if you want my method of making a gorilla tape “boot” to go over the wrap. They really are fairly indestructible and keep their hoof from going right through the wrap and the hoof coming in contact with dirt/mud/manure on the ground.

[stressgirl37]

I have not tried these but have heard about them on COTH: [h=1]Animalintex Poultice Pad- might make the process easier. Maybe someone can speak from experience. I wish I had known about them when I had to soak a mare who was a PITA!![/h]