Small cut fat leg

[sara78]

So, my kamikaze horse came in from pasture 6 days ago with a tiny cut on his cannon bone, i cleaned it désinfected and looked fine. The day After he had a fat leg so walked him 30 minutes and Cold hosed for 10 and iced for another 10 twice a day.
Horse is not lame, not bothered when i touch it. The problem is that After 6 days it is not going down, i called a vet and he was not too concerned. My question is how long (in your expérience) it takes normally for a swelling to go down? And how do you treat?IMG20240730141222|375x500

First picture is the day he scraped his leg, the second After a couple of days and the third Yesterday (After 5 days)
Thank you for your help.

[JB]

My TB mare does this, hyper-reaction to small cuts on her leg. As long as she’s not lame, no real heat, the swelling doesn’t impede movement, and it improves over a few days, I don’t worry about it

Obvious heat, lameness, doesn’t improve in a few days OR gets worse, warrants a vet call, as that could indicate a puncture rather than just a small cut/scrape

[GraceLikeRain]

My late mare did this several times. My vet recommended a furacin wrap. I think there are likely better sweating products out there but we did standing wraps in 12 hour intervals for maybe 48-72 hours and then switched to an open poultice avoiding the cut. It would take about a week of focused care to resolve. I never let it just play out to know if it expedited the timeline but the sweating did seem to pull out a lot of fluid.

[sara78]

Sorry what IS puncture? That a foreign object IS stuck inside? Sorry might seem a stupid question but i am french native😅

[luvmyhackney]

With puncture wounds and swelling my vet always ultrasounds to make sure no foreign bodies.

Sometimes antibiotics if it doesn’t resolve in a couple days. If horse is lame, automatic antibiotics and a steroid.

[sara78]

How many days? Like 2? Or more kind of a week ?

[ndirish07]

My horse has gotten cellulitis like this from some small scrapes. The vet will usually agree via a text photo and drop off antibiotics and sometimes a diuretic like Naquasone to reduce the fluid build up. Vet will check his vitals when she drops off the meds just to make sure she doesn’t suspect anything else. I don’t wait for my horse’s leg to come back down though and call the vet if it still looks swollen after a day. I don’t have any luck when it comes to owning horses so I know I’ll need the vet so I just go ahead and accept it.

[JB]

@sara78

Sorry what IS puncture? That a foreign object IS stuck inside?

Something poked into the leg, leaving a tunnel of some length, as opposed to scraping or cutting down, leaving a gash/cut. Punctures can be dangerous because they tend to be small in diameter, which means the can heal on the outside, trapping infection inside. Sometimes something gets stuck in there, sometimes not

@sara78

How many days? Like 2? Or more kind of a week ?

3 days is sort of my go-to. It not at least starting to get better by then, consider a vet, especially if it’s getting warm or hot, and/or there’s lameness developing. It may take longer than that for an over-reactive swelling, but if it’s just over-reactive, there shouldn’t be (much) heat, or any lameness

[OzarksRider]

@JB

Punctures can be dangerous because they tend to be small in diameter, which means the can heal on the outside, trapping infection inside.

Punctures are also dangerous because they provide an environment where anaerobic bacteria can grow. (Anaerobic bacteria require an environment without oxygen.) Clostridium, which causes gas gangrene, is an example of an anaerobic bacterium.

[sara78]

Yes, There IS no heat and no lameness AT the moment, it IS going down maybe a tiny bit but not so much. Is cellulitis Always painful?

[dmveventer]

Is he spending time in a stall? I just went through this with mine - minor cut, no lameness, puffy leg. The swelling would increase in his stall and go down when I rode or while he was out moving around in his field. It took almost a week for the leg to stay normal in his stall. I debated finding a way to leave him out all day but it’s been really hot here, and since it didn’t seem to be bothering him I went with the wait and see approach.

[Simkie]

Are you wrapping? I’d get him into a standing wrap at least half the day. Sometimes this stuff is just persistent, especially when it’s warm, and they need some support to move the fluid out.

[Dressagelvr]

After 6 days, it’s time for the vet.

[sara78]

Yes i left him in the stable and it s puffy when i first take him out, i called the vet showed the pictures and described thé situation and he was not worried hé told me to call back if it worsens hé was pretty sure that at this point it s not cellulitis. I also was worried about a possible splint Bone fracture.

[islgrl]

yes, cellulitis is always very painful…

[dmveventer]

I would get him moving. Put him out in the field or take him for a long walk and see what you have afterwards. If the swelling goes down with movement then you probably just need to give it time to heal on its own. If moving around makes it worse then you can go back to your vet.

[Displaced_Yankee]

My hot house flower is like this with small bumps and cuts. I do 12 hours wrapped, 12 hours unwrapped, preferably wrapped when stalled if barn scheduling allows.

When possible I will hand walk or do an easy tack walk as well.

[RedHorses]

With no heat, no pain swelling I polo wrap and ride. It’s usually reduced afterwards. I might also wrap with a Back on Track no-bow or BoT Quicks wraps (depending on mud).

I’d wrap overnight, and if there’s no change tomorrow then I’d get the vet to look at it.

[sara78]

Today After many hours of stall rest it s getting better After a week

[Pippigirl]

I’ve always (so far…) had good results with the “Incrediwear” products to bring down swelling. Wet them and then I put them on. I like the Hoof Sock the best. For me it’s the most versatile.