Pigeon Fever! Need Opinions (Pics Added)

[JumpingForJoy]

Need some COTH wisdom here...

So about a month ago my yearling got Pigeon Fever. The swelling has been contained mostly to his left chest. It has swelled about 2 times and burst each time on the underside of his chest.

Well, this is the 3rd time it has swollen but I am really starting to get concerned about the size. It is about the size of a cantaloupe right now, which is far bigger than the other times it has swelled.

I had called the vet when I first noticed the onset of Pigeon Fever and he basically told me to just let it ride the course. But I am wondering if it would be better to just get it lanced or...? My poor boy has been a trooper during this whole thing but now he is getting to the point where you can tell it really hurts for him to walk around.

I can try to post pictures tomorrow if that would help but right now it's too dark. Any suggestions on what the best thing to do is?

[JumpingForJoy]

I just was able to grab some quick pics...

http://pets.webshots.com/album/575109313ulFpJO?vhost=pets

[ambar]

The thing about lancing it is that you may be setting him up for a fourth round of abcessing. Pigeon fever is icky and no fun, but I think I'd follow your vet's advice. (Although it sounds like your vet may not have actually seen the horse? In this case, I might get the vet out just so he can lay eyes on the situation.)

[eventer@heart]

If this were my horse, at this point, I'd absolutely have the vet out to lance. Once it gets that large & painful, I think it's the right course of action.

I dealt with a horrible case of strangles and one particular abscess got nearly that large, hot & uncomfortable - my vet lanced that one.

Can you e-mail your vet a few of these pics?

Good luck.

[Watermark Farm]

Hi, I'm not a vet but have dealt with PF a lot.

You don't want to lance the abscess until it's ripe and ready. You can tell it's ready when the center of the abscess gets very soft and fluid-y, like a waterbed. When you can kind of tap it with your finger and it jiggles, it's ready to drain. The skin in the center gets very thin, in preparation for tearing open. You can either wait for it to open up on its own, or lance it. With belly abscesses, I usually let them open up on their own because they drain well due to gravity. With a chest abscess, it's lanced as low as possible to encourage good drainage. If the abscess is truly ready, it's very easy to pop open yourself. I flush the abscess daily with a dilute betadine solution, and keep the abscess open and draining. Of course, all this done with the oversight and blessing of my vet ;)

From the pics I'd say it's getting close, but these can take a long time to mature. You have to FEEL it to know. Don't let an eager vet come out and pop it open too soon. I've done that as well and it didn't seem to drain and heal up as quickly.

Good luck, and don't forget to do general immune system support as well, and to contain the drainage as best you can.

[JumpingForJoy]

Thanks everybody. Based on Watermark's response, I guess it's not quite ready yet to be lanced. Bummer... I really just want to get this over with for my boy's sake! :no: