One more abcess question

[Shari]

Hey vet-ly inclined people.
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Wee difficult child's pony is finally standing firmly on all fours as of Saturday night. That is the first time since the abscess that he would let me pick up and hold the hoof opposite the abcessed one for a length of time. The limp has been gone for about a week.
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He is still on a low dose of antibiotics, and there is still a small hole in the heel bulb where it broke thru and drained. I am cleaning it daily with iodine.
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How long should I continue the iodine and antibiotic? This little guy has been stalled for 3+ weeks now, and now that he can walk without pain, he really wants to move out of there (and I would like him to!)

 

[Star*]

LET YOUR PONIES RUN FREEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeee........

 

[Shari]

I think I'll keep him fenced, thanks.

I see enough lawyers in my future without lawsuits from free ranging horses...

Thanks.

 

[crazymama30]

I can check with husband later, he used to be a farrier and dealth with this stuff all the time.

 

[Star*]

Actually he should have been okay to walk around in his paddock all this time. However - if it's drained....and you've still got him on the antibiotics? I'd let him out in the paddock so he could "mingle" and see how he does out there for a few days. If you the good fortune of having an in/out stall? Then open the back door inotherwords.

Just keep an eye on him. Now that it's drained you may want to get the farrier back out.

 

[Shari]

I lied. He's in an open stall with acess to a small turnout pen...I've never actually kept him locked in the stall, he's pretty much kept himself there.

In the past 3 weeks, we've had something like 8 inches of rain, so the pen is a mud bath. He's stayed in the stall by choice.

But now that he feels better, the past day or two, he's out and about and working the fence around his little pen. Seems like regardless of how well I wrap it, tho, the mud comes thru. I think he'd be better off out in the pasture so he can walk around without being in the mud, 'cause the hole is still "open". At least in the pasture he could walk around without worrying about packing it full of mud and poo.

We're going to the farrier later this week. Wee difficult child is excited he can finally ride the pony again.

 

[GoingNorth]

I'd ask your farrier, assuming s/he is up to date (not to get down on the amateur Amish and Mennonite shoers out there, but...) about how to cope with the wound.

You don't want it to close up too soon. I'd actually wonder about getting an EZ-BOOT for that foot.

They are sort of horse galoshes and they come up and over the bulb of the heel. People often use them over foot wounds.

I am assuming he is current on his tetanus vaccines? That's the big fear with these types of wounds. The tetanus bacterium lives normally in a horse's colon. It only causes problems when it winds up somewhere else.

This is why it is so important that horses and those who work with them have current tetanus vaccine status.

 

[GoingNorth]

Shari, one more thing. I am REALLY glad he is feeling and that the "gravel" broke through in sort of a long time.

When you have the farrier out, ask him/her about "white line" disease. It's a condition where the horny sole soft of seperates from the hoof wall.

"Gravel" usually comes from a foreign body or bacteria working it's way through that gap until it points at the heel bulb or rear quarter of the hoof. Unfortunately, it tends to recur.