one week ago my 15 yr old mare ripped the skin off her chest on the left side. vet stitched up and left drainage holes.
all was going as planned until 2 days ago she chewed the skin loose from about a 4 inch span on the upper side. need to know what can be done to save the wound stitches to keep healing correctly
Neck cradle. If you are not able to purchase immediately, it is possible to rig one out of dowel from local lumber yard.
Depending upon location of wound, can also consider a rubber bib attached to halter.
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A leather bib should take care of her not bothering with the site.
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Second the bib.
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Neck cradle. Well worth the investment.
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Bib or neck cradle to keep her away from the wound. Shoulder guard to hold wound dressings in place (if you need the wound dressed to keep flies away etc).
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As it heals it gets itchy. A muzzle the kind with wire also works.
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Mine broke 3 wood neck cradles, so i made her a bib. They are available in plastic these days, so you can probably order one. Someone told me they made one from a vinegar plastic bottle. Duct taped edges by horse face, tied it to the halter rings. Use most of the plastic bottle length, so lips can’t reach past the lower edge to pull tubes or stitches.
I just hand sewed 3 snaps on a wide, deep , thick piece of latigo leather I got in a scrap leather bundle from the farm store. They were snaps with springy flat metal, set to fit the halter rings. It worked well, took being dunked in the water buckets without curling up for a couple months. It did the job, covering the long wound when she tried to use her lips on it. She took a long tIme to heal. There was a big scar, with stitch marks,but hair grew back reducing the scar look to a thin line across her chest. No tenderness on the scar. Good because her second career was being a driving horse with breastcollar across her chest.
We had a gelding get cut last year, had trouble with skin sagging and skin filling in after stitches HAD to come out. None of my usual remedies were working. Vet suggested Manuka Honey. Regular honey won’t do it. I found the honey in my local Meijer big box store, not too pricey. They insisted they did not have Manuka Honey, but I found it near the various medical tapes. It is used on burn injuries. We used it on the wound, kept a rainsheet (slippery lining, not sticking to wound) on him stalled, so he could not chew on it. Have to say Manuka Honey improved healing very quickly! The wound filled in fast with twice a day applications. It is THE stickiest stuff, though being cold I could apply in dots, smooth fast before skin warmed it much.
Horse was EXTREMELY patient with stalling, being treated over a long period. Cut was on his ribcage, skin did sag with gravity as he healed, so there is a scar. It is visible as wrinkled hair, no bare skin. So i think he healed nicely considering that we started with an over a 10 inich slice across the outer rib curve. I could see bone. VET dId great with stitching, but gravity would not be denied, causing some gaping to be healed as stitches came out.
Best of luck with your girl!
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Yes, the wound is itching and pinching as it heals. Get some spray on Lanacane First Aid Spray 2in1 fast acting pain relief.
Spray 3-4 times per day. This stuff is fantastic for all kinds of things- injuries, bug bites, bee stings, etc.
every drug store has it and some supermarkets.
I agree with the bib suggestion. Will they not rub the muzzle along the stitches if they are itchy??
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Yes they could. It worked magically on a horse that was chewing his leg and you would think he would have been able to rub it on that as well. He did not, but that doesn’t mean that another horse wouldn’t.
I guess all one can do is try and see if it works on their horse. With the bib the eating wouldn’t be interrupted at all.
A muzzle, not a grazing muzzle. They can still eat grass and drink.
I like the post of the stuff above that takes away the itch and pain. Stop the chewing and if it still bothers them they can find something to rub it on instead.
Your right. the Lanacane is the way to go.
I just googled it. Here it looks like we can buy it from a chemist, not a produce as I was expecting.
I second a shoulder-guard, even if you have to make adjustments to it.
My friend’s mare was driven though a wooden fence (we think, we don’t know what happened). We only know that she ripped the skin off her chest and the fence was down (her neighbor was in her pasture). It looked awful - two quite large flaps of skin exposing most of the chest. My friend was distraught, but her vet said that skin wounds look awful but heal well. A year later, you wouldn’t notice scars unless you were looking for them.
She treated the wound topically (in addition to meds - obviously it was surgically closed), and the vet had a diaper taped on it as I recall with several layers to draw out infection for a while. To keep the horse from messing with the diaper in between diaper/bandages between changes, my friend sewed something like a shoulder guard for the horse. The horse wore this for MONTHS, couldn’t mess with the wound dressings, and all was well many months later.
CandyApple, are you referring to Lidocaine?
Thanks!
I have a mare in her 3rd trimester who got massively injured the day before new years her shoulder was layed wide open she was stiched up and in healing process however had to put face bib on her to keep her from opening sutures. Problem is she really won’t eat now but I cannot put a neck cradle on due to the size of the wound I am worried about her getting enough food and water for her baby any ideas with the nose bib? It is possible for her to eat with it on but she just won’t barely eat. Thank you to anyone willing to offer ideas pictures or how to videos I cannot seem to find anything. I know she is super stressed due to the ordeal and she is at vets place so she is also all by herself all day but this is best place for her to be until stitches come out next Friday I am caring for her morning noon and night to keeps everything as enticing as possible along with making sure I keep area on shoulder from blistering
I am just worried about baby not getting what it needs in this critical time.
