The abscess that will not burst, Update last page, jingles needed!

[Puddin Pie]

We are now 4 weeks of lame, variying from slight head bob to full on 3 legged lame and back. 4 vets have seen horse (3 at very very good vet center, on 2 occassions and our regular vet). Lots of xrays, blocked foot. No breaks, cracks, navicular changes. Poultice and soak, small paddock turn out so horse doesn't go insane, heat that has moved around on foot. I am so frustrated and don't know what else to do, so just looking for sympathy for my poor horse. Has anyone else have an abscess or gravel that has seemed to float around forever? If so, how long did it take to resolve? ACKKK!

[ImJumpin]

Does the abscess show up on the xrays?

Is there a certain part of the foot that is more senstive to hoof testers?

Have you ruled out a soft tissue injury? You said you blocked foot-- did horse show up at 100% sound with the hoof block?

[unclewiggly]

More than 1X and if it is truely an abcess, T/O and moving on it is the best thing to get it to pop.
My vet even suggests a trailer ride to get horse to shift weight onto foot and make pressure push abcess out.
Are they sure its an abcess? does horse have plenty of sole and wall, or is it a case of really short feet and noo growth w/ winter. Possible deep bruise growing out?
Have you done Sugar/iodine poultice, or the animal intex. I leave my poultices on for 48 hours minimum to ensure it sets up and has a chance to work
On a reverse thought have you tried reducine on coronary band w/ soft tooth brush to stimulate his blood flow foot growth and move it on that way. Also while not scientific what about anti-biotics.
Have you tried a course of Banamine and bute to relieve inflamatio?

[CoolMeadows]

I had one of those... did the usual for weeks and weeks and it wouldn't burst. My vet used thermography to pinpoint the abcess which was very deep and then used a small drill to open a drainage path.

[Lilykoi]

I had one of those... did the usual for weeks and weeks and it wouldn't burst. My vet used thermography to pinpoint the abcess which was very deep and then used a small drill to open a drainage path.

My vet wasn't that brave but my farrier was! I brought my mare home from the clinic with a diagnosis of navicular, even though it didn't show on xrays. They just went with that because of her age. Got her home and my shoer (my new hero) got brave with a knife and a little power drill. Success!!!

[Im Natives Last]

I had one last spring that took 3 MONTHS to bust out. She would get better, then worse, over and over. It was very frustrating!!!

[BornToRide]

Yes, movement is key, as much as the horse will tolerate. Is he on bute also? If so, that can delay the abscess from coming out. Keep soaking. Perhaps try ichtamol too, if you are not already.

[Leather]

I had a TB with hard as nails feet that abscessed and was 3 legged lame for over a month. I had farriers and vets come and try to dig the thing out to no avail.

Finally I took him in to the local university where they did a partial hoof resection to get to the stupid thing.

[LDavis104]

Did they only block the foot or did they block further up the leg, i.e. to check for a ligament injury? Was he sound after the foot blocked?

I ask because my horse was on and off lame for a couple of weeks, and I felt heat in the opposite hoof. I was sure it had to be an abscess since I felt that heat, but farrier said no abscess. Vet came out and we ended up with a diagnosis of a suspensory tear. Have no idea where the heat came from except if he was bearing more weight on that leg or something, compensating for the injured opposite leg.

Just something to think about if they aren't positive it's an abscess.

[QM2]

I would put a soaking bandage on her and turn her out. It helps if they move around on it and a soaking bandage will keep it soft 24/7.

Also, is there a digital pulse?

Good luck.

[fourmares]

Go to the healthfood store, or other store that has homopathic treatments. Get a bottle of Calic. Floricea. Give 5 tablets 3 times per day until horse is sound. You can either dilute the tablets in water and syringe it into the horses mouth, or toss them in grain. The tablets need to touch mucus membrane to be effective.

I had a horse that had recurrent abcesses an finally tried this even though I wasn't a believer in homeopathy... I've used it dozens of times since and had it work again and again.

[PNWjumper]

My mare had an abcess last year that lasted for 6 weeks and she went back and forth between 3-legged lame and totally sound in that time many many times. We finally x-rayed her foot (6 weeks into it) and my vet drained the large abcess that was in her toe (she never had a pulse nor was her foot ever hot). She was fine after that.

Are the x-rays not showing anything?

[Puddin Pie]

The 2 sets of xrays are not showing anything. When the heel was blocked, he was 70% sound, when the toe was blocked, 100% sound. He was only buted for a day and 1/2 last week (at vet's ok) in the hopes he would bear enough weight to do the other 3 feet-no such luck. The other shoes are still tight, but the toes are growing. The heat seems to move around some. The thermal imaging seems like a good idea. I will have to inquire about it.
We have him in a small paddock so he can go out, but if he looses his boot, we have a chance of finding it. I am poulticing foot and coronary band 2x a day with animalintex (we had been doing epsom salt poultice from the jar). Vet says do the animalintex and no more bute and keep checking back with them.

[ImJumpin]

Try magic cushion instead of the animalintex.

I'd be inclined to rule out soft tissue, just because I went through a similar situation (well, I am going through, I shoud say) and it turned out to be soft tissue. If I'd figured that out before 8 weeks had passed, recovery time would have been less.

Good luck!

[FLeckenAwesome]

Oh, I feel for you and your horse!!! Seriously... I was looking for this post on Tuesday! My horse was 10 days into a lameness at this point. I had been soaking and wrapping for 10 days.. vet had come out, farrier had come out.... Finally dug out one hellacious bruise. Or hematoma really. It was almost his whole toe! He was super sore for the first 2-3 days but today seems to be feeling much better!

I hope you figure out what it is. The not knowing is almost the worst part!! You keep imaging horrible things and envisioning your horse forever lame... Meanwhile your poor horse is still lame...and not giving him bute is hard too! Even though with Fleck the bute didn't really help. And then the soakings get to be really annoying for both you and the horse! It's just soooo much better knowing and getting an answer.

So... sending hugs and good luck wishes your way that something happens soon and you find out it's just one stubborn abscess or a bruise! Something good and easy :)

[fox]

I had a horse that abcessed and it seemed like it was forever waiting for it to pop. The thing that seemed to do the trick was a nifty little poultice that I read about somewhere (can't remember now where it was) but you get the thermacare heat packs they sell in drugstores...make an epsom salt and water paste and pack it in the foot, then place a washcloth soaked in hot water overtop...then put the thermacare pack on top of that and vetwrap the whole thing. The thermacare pack keeps everything warm for 6-8 hours. Worked wonders with my guy.

[Puddin Pie]

Still nothing, I am about to load the thermos with hot water and head out in the rain to the barn to soak and repoultice again. When I showed up yesterday evening to poultice, the vet truck was there. So the thought of "oh gosh, what is wrong, well they would have called me if there was a problem" ran through my head. But then I walk in the barn and they have him in the cross ties and the vet is looking at him. Talk about heart stopper. Turns out she was out for someone else but when she pulled up, my guy was backing, jumping and doing piroettes in the paddock-like he had gotten shocked by the fence initially (possible) with the mares doing airs above ground, running and bucking next to him. She was just going down the line feeling legs on everyone, since all these mid 20 year olds seemed to have thought they were 2. His legs were fine, still some heat on the foot, still lame. She is leaning towards a deep bruise, but says, keep soaking and poulticing.

[leakyb]

Sounds like you are doing the right course of action. I would think the radiographs would have showed the pus pocket if an abscess? A deep bruise is going to take a long time to heal if that is what really is going on.

My mare twice has had a very, very deep abscess in her right front hoof which pocketed along and at the tip of her coffin bone. She was crippled with pain but the abscess would not come to the surface no matter what I did with soaking.

I had to get a vet/podistrist to come and after radiographs which showed exactly where the pocket was...he cut all the way to the corium at the tip of her frog (coffin bone) and all this pus came gushing out. It was gross. She had a silver dollar sized hole, which required lots of wound care to not get infected. It healed up just fine. She was lame and stall/paddock bound all summer in each instance. (The first one did finally burst, the 2nd time she needed hoof surgery).

This horse now has slight rotation of the coffin bone due to damaged laminae from these episodes. She's now 16 and only hacked/jumped lightly and is 100% sound for what I ask of her.

I know what you are going through! I went through so much cotton, duct tape, vet wrap, animalintex, etc that it was ridiculous. I now have this huge hoof bucket filled with all those supplies for whenevr needed! You feel so bad for them when they obviously in pain.

[Boomer]

My mare had an abcess like that in 2007. It took 2 months to come out.

Initially, farrier tested and found an area but couldn't reach it to drain it. So we soaked and I let her keep going out - since if it's an abcess, movement would help it come out, right? Well...still lame at the end of the month.

Took her to local vet for x-rays. Thought we saw something, tried to get there to drain it. Never found it but mare seemed better for about 1 week. Then too lame to keep up with the herd. Moved her to a small paddock.

Took her to vet school after another week or so. Digital x-rays, lots of jogging on concrete and blocking. Saw one small area they thought "might" be something, but couldn't really tell. Mare was soooo lame when I brought her home. Never seen her so grateful to get to her stall.

Two days later, I noticed a lot of flys collecting on the foot. Fly sprayed like crazy after not finding a boo-boo. A few days after that I was greeted with terrible stench in the barn. The abcess finally blew out the coronet - a stink like you wouldn't believe.

Never seen an abcess like it. Hope I don't again.

[Puddin Pie]

Well, trip 3 to the vet finally showed changes on the films. It is not an abscess, but some sort of trauma to the coffin joint and tendon. Boy did it present like an abscess, but went on way too long. At least our conservative treatment probably did not aggrivate it, but he is now on stall or 12 x 12 grass paddock rest, bar shoes, lots of ACE, we can finally bute for pain. No idea how he did it. No infection in the joint (at least one good thing). Possibly will be making a trip for an MRI in the near future. I have not asked for jingles before, but we need them now. He is such a good boy and I can't bear to see him in pain. Hugs would be appreciated too!

[luvmywalkers]

Sending both your way!

[Noctis]

Sending HUGE jingles for your brave guy. And lots of *hugs* for you too!

[QM2]

Are you going to inject the coffin joint?

My horse chipped a small bit off of the end of the coffin bone and after we gave the bone time to reabsorb, we injected and he did well.

[FairWeather]

oh man, sorry to hear that. I'm in the same (previous) boat, with a 3 month abscess that wouldn't go away. i think I'm in the clear now, but it was frustrating all winter.

[Puddin Pie]

We are injecting on Monday. He is walking a bit better now that we have bute on board (thank goodness, I felt like such a horrid horse mommy not able to give him anything for pain). So far he is handling life in his 12x12 grass paddock with a wiggly maze to another 12x12 grass paddock and in at night. A little ace for good measure. Probably in all weekend with the rain coming through, but everyone else is in too. This stinks, but at least we have an answer and a plan. I got him a jolly ball to play with and give him a black rubber feed pan. So far, he picks up the pan and swings it around like a dog and puts it in his water tub! Silly boy.

[dwblover]

Jingles and Hugs! I'm am very glad that you now know what you are dealing with. I hate, hate, hate having a horse in pain and not being able to figure out what is going on. Now you are at least on the road back to recovery, and I'll send best wishes that it is a smooth, easy road back.

[Quinn]

Mega jingles and big hugs to you. Kudos to you for sticking by him and being so diligent.

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