# Chin abscess?



## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

I will be unable to check this later than this evening since I'll be heading back up to camp and won't have internet access until next weekend so if you have information/links for me, please post them as soon as possible. 

*Disclaimer: *This is one of the camp horses that I'm in charge of. We're renting these horses from an outfitter and our contract with the horse's owner does not include anything medical so we need their permission to get a vet out and they are refusing to grant us that permission. They are also being very hesitant to remove this horse from us (they have interesting ideas about medical care- as in, they thought one of their horses was foundering [visually diagnosed] and instead of allowing us to have a vet out, they just had us take her off grass and bute her up and just continue doing that for as long as necessary for her to be sound again, I later discovered pretty severe mudfever in her fetlock area that was causing the lameness which I'm now treating) and I refuse to have an injured horse in my care that I'm doing nothing for, so I need your help. If she were mine the vet would have been out as soon as I found this.

*The question: *The mare in question has a quarter sized abscess under her chin. It appears to have popped and is draining pus everyday. We've been treating it daily for the last three days (since I discovered it) and on the first day it smelled AWFUL but now it has hardly a smell at all, which I figure is a good sign.
I've been treating it by washing all the gunk off of it with a soft cloth, warm water, and an antibacterial shampoo for soap. Then, once all the gunk is gone and the hole is clean (for all intents and purposes, it looks like a huge zit/volcano), I've been smearing nitrofurazone on it and letting her out.
She's acting fine so I don't think she has an infection of anything...

Is there anything more I should/can be doing?

I really appreciate the help!

And so you know, I'm doing what I can about changing the horse situation. I've convinced the camp director to look into using a different outfitter for next year but it's a difficult process since the outfitter we're using is the main one in the area and since the camp director sees nothing wrong with just letting sick animals be until they die. But I'm doing what I can and trying to change that cycle of thought.


----------



## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Where, exactly on her chin is this wound located? Is it underneath and more toward her throatlatch or is it closer to the curb area?

The first thing that pops into my mind is strangles.


----------



## QHDragon (Mar 6, 2009)

I read the title and thought "sounds like a strangles question."

I hope that she is secluded from the other horses. Strangles is nasty business.


----------



## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

Oops, shoulda been more exact with where it is. When you're nearly exhausted from running around after horses, "chin area" seems pretty exact. hahaha

It's actually pretty much exactly in the area that a curb chain would be. I wondered about strangles too, but I figure with the placement of it and considering her age (21-ish), strangles seems unlikely, right?

She isn't separated from other horses because we have no ability to separate her, otherwise she would be.  Even if we could figure out a way to get her to stay somewhere (these horses are range horses and have no respect for anything less that a true fence or panels), the most she could be separated is just separated by a fence, with nose contact to other horses.

I will go research strangles just to be sure though!  *crossing fingers that it's not*


----------



## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

Abcessed lower tooth?


----------



## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

Saddlebag said:


> Abcessed lower tooth?



That's kinda what I'm thinking.
She seems to be eating fine but to have an abscess right there probably means it's coming from a tooth. 

If we say that it's a tooth abscess, should I just let it run it's course and keep cleaning it like I have been or should I try turning on "mean, demanding, scary Wallaby" to get permission to involve a vet? :lol:


----------



## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

LOL @ mean scary wallaby:wink:, it could be an abscessed tooth, she may have scraped her chin on something or gotten a splinter and developed an abscess around it. It couldn't hurt to ask permission to consult with a vet but if they won't allow it, I don't see anything wrong with what you're doing for treatment. So long as she's eating comfortably, isn't running a fever, and seems to be in good spirits, then I doubt there is anything terribly life-threatening about it.


----------

