# Abcess taking an awfully long time to heal?



## JCnGrace (Apr 28, 2013)

I would contact the vet to get some antibiotics and I would pack the sole with drawing salve and keep it wrapped for at least 3 days to see if there's more to drain. If nothing comes out stop the packing & wrapping and if there is drainage I'd keep it up until it stopped. Full course (vet's directions) of the antibiotics no matter what.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

By all means have the vet back out and x-Ray the hoof.

Years and years ago (the 70"s), I had a mare pull up lame. After three rounds of antibiotics she would still go back to being lame.

In those days we had to borrow a trailer and haul her forty or so miles to the only vet who had an x-Ray machine (one of those BIG things where the horse got sedated and laid on a moving table.

The mare had stepped on something in the pasture and it had punctured the sole. *The infection had traveled within a breadth of the coffin bone.*. Had we not got her to the vet when we did, it would have been cookies for the horse as she would have permanently become a pasture pet; something we were not in a position to handle at that time.

That vet told us to go home and run garden rakes thru the pasture. We had bought part of an old cattle farm and sure enough, the rakes landed on broken T-posts of a very old fence line. 

So yes make the vet x-Ray that hoof as you are correct --- this has gone on too long.

Best wishes for a healthy healing


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

Thank you gals for the advice. I am definitely going to make another call to the vet. I thought he was getting better because he was running around and playing a bit and today realized he wasn't when I actually had him trot on cue.

I have the hole in the hoof packed with a cotton ball with Durasole at the moment (and when it was fresh, I was using a cotton ball with scarlet oil) and the hole hasn't appeared leaky since the day I first found it. I have a feeling that area sealed off early on, and that's why later it blew out at the coronet band. But I could certainly put some drawing salve in there and stick a boot on him. That wouldn't hurt to try.

And I think antibiotics are a great idea, I hope the vet thinks so too. I know early on they say not to use them because you want it to drain. But this hoof has drained twice and I think we need to try something other than "wait and see."


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

walkinthewalk said:


> By all means have the vet back out and x-Ray the hoof.
> 
> Years and years ago (the 70"s), I had a mare pull up lame. After three rounds of antibiotics she would still go back to being lame.
> 
> ...



So what ultimately cleared up her infection, do you know? Did the antibiotics finally work, or did she have to have some type of surgery or drainage? I'm not close to a large vet hospital and I'm not wealthy, so I hope it's something my my regular vet can take care of. We will do our best either way. He was my first and only foal and every time something happens with him I just get so emotional it really tears me up. I just want to live happily ever after with him! It seems like if there is a problem to be had, he will find it. 

When he was born he had a crooked leg, a leaky navel, infection after castration, training problems, punching his leg through the sheet metal of the barn, and now this. :icon_rolleyes:


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

I'd have the vet back out, and definitely xray to make sure there's nothing broken off up in the hoof. You can also put icthammol in the wound to draw anything out, but I'd also pack it with Pine Tar. Pine Tar is known for it's antiseptic properties and will help kill any organisms in the wound tract. It will also protect and keep the hoof pliable.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

trailhorserider said:


> So what ultimately cleared up her infection, do you know? Did the antibiotics finally work, or did she have to have some type of surgery or drainage? I'm not close to a large vet hospital and I'm not wealthy, so I hope it's something my my regular vet can take care of. We will do our best either way. He was my first and only foal and every time something happens with him I just get so emotional it really tears me up. I just want to live happily ever after with him! It seems like if there is a problem to be had, he will find it.
> 
> When he was born he had a crooked leg, a leaky navel, infection after castration, training problems, punching his leg through the sheet metal of the barn, and now this. :icon_rolleyes:


 That was 47 years ago and I'm trying to remember what the vet did:|:|

I know the hoof came home wrapped, so he must have done something to the hoof.

He has given her some sort of antibiotic injection at the his clinic and he gave us some sort of high octane antibiotic to give her as a follow up. 

We did not have to take her back. He said she was either going to heal up or she wasn't. Thankfully she became sound and stayed sound.

Ditto putting some Ickthamol or pine tar up in the hole to act as a drawing agent u til the vet can bring his x-Ray machine. If he doesn't have portable x-Ray equipment, hopefully you can find another vet who does. 

Some horses just seem to have a black cloud hanging over them and mind-boggling things happen to them that wouldn't happen to the next ten horses. Like that pointed piece of shaving stick I pulled out of Joker's collateral groove with the channel locks last week. That's the first time in my life something like that has ever happened with shavings:|


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## Boo Walker (Jul 25, 2012)

I've had a few that take a long time. Since your access drained from the bottom, then blew out of the top, you have an entire tunnel that has to rid itself from the infection, then heal and fill back in. I would ask your vet about an antibiotic.


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

Antibiotics have little effect on a hoof abscess. 

We treat abscesses differently in the UK, if the site of injury is found then that is enlarged and the pus allowed to drain out the bottom rather than let it blow out at the top. Foot will be soaked in Epsom salts and then poultice. Once all the pus is out then a plug of cotton will is put in the hole, usually with some Stockholm Tar on the plug. 

I would say that there is still pus forming because it has nowhere to escape.


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

Hey guys, I have another question. I just remembered something else the vet said. He said it was "gravel" and that literally a tiny piece of gravel has entered the white line and traveled up his hoof. (That's why he thought getting him trimmed and the flares under control was so important). I've heard of that before but..............I thought that was an old wives tale?


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

Foxhunter said:


> Antibiotics have little effect on a hoof abscess.
> 
> We treat abscesses differently in the UK, if the site of injury is found then that is enlarged and the pus allowed to drain out the bottom rather than let it blow out at the top. Foot will be soaked in Epsom salts and then poultice. Once all the pus is out then a plug of cotton will is put in the hole, usually with some Stockholm Tar on the plug.
> 
> I would say that there is still pus forming because it has nowhere to escape.



I don't think we treat them differently so much as I thought it had already drained out the bottom on it's own, and then when he got worse again I thought soaking it would re-open it. So I was surprised that it blew out the top. I guess I had just been treating it on my own at first and then when the vet looked at it, he thought it wasn't draining anymore either. But I think your treatment plan is a good one.


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## Dehda01 (Jul 25, 2013)

Absolutely time for an X-ray either to confirm a nasty abscess or look for another source such as a keratoma or other issue. 

Gravel or seedy toe is often referred to whenever there is an infection of the white line. It can be caused by a multitude of issues.


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

A natural drain hole is never big enough and will soon clog up. It might seem contradictory but the bigger the hole the faster it heals. The hole needs to be at least as big as the hole in paper for a ring binder.


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## Caledonian (Nov 27, 2016)

My gelding had one for months. At first, my vet diagnosed him as having a tendon injury and was treated accordingly. It meant months and months of varying degrees of lameness and thoughts that he might never heal; including a painful discussion with the vet about his future when he was unable to stand. 

Due to this, his abscess had time to travel and it blew out through his heel; taking the path of least resistance. When I found it, the vet opened it further, soaked, then poulticed it and gave him antibiotics. 

Looking back, I can see the pattern of lameness as the vet indirectly helped him with anti-inflammatories. If he had diagnosed it correctly from the start, it would’ve been far easier to create a hole in his sole, large enough to allow gravity to drain the dirt, than having it travel through his foot. 

He was barefoot and one of the many reasons, given by my new vet, was the possibility that something small could’ve entered, been sealed over and worked its way further in. 

If it’s not healing then maybe something’s still inside creating the pus or what’s there can’t escape.


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## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

trailhorserider said:


> Hey guys, I have another question. I just remembered something else the vet said. He said it was "gravel" and that literally a tiny piece of gravel has entered the white line and traveled up his hoof. (That's why he thought getting him trimmed and the flares under control was so important). I've heard of that before but..............I thought that was an old wives tale?


I do believe that is indeed an old wives tale. When they didn't know better, they assumed that was the cause of abscesses. If the feet are healthy with tight 'white lines' then it's impossible for gravel, no matter how sharp, to do this, let alone migrate right up to the coronary border. 

However, gravel/crud getting in may be a _result_ of weakness & exacerbate abscesses. If there is a separation or a lot of compromise to the hoof capsule, then it can get in - and the aussie name for wall infection - seedy toe - apparently came about because grass seeds have been found to dig in & grow inside soft, compromised wall material.

So... sorry to say but a simple abscess should indeed have been & gone by now, and if it were simply from a sole bruise - stepping on a sharp rock for eg, especially as it had already broken out at the sole, it wouldn't have then 'migrated' up to the coronary border. In fact, regardless if it burst, if it started at the sole & found the 'path of least resistance' all the way up there, that signifies some serious compromised hoof capsule already.

So I agree with getting a good vet to xray & otherwise check it out properly.

Oh re not trimming because you didn't want him pressure on soles - I get that, but to allow walls to overgrown will only overload them & cause them to distort, compromising strength & connective tissue further. Best always to keep feet well trimmed regardless what's going on & to instead boot with pads or such, if they need extra protection/cushion.


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## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

Caledonian said:


> Looking back, I can see the pattern of lameness as the vet indirectly helped him with anti-inflammatories. If he had diagnosed it correctly from the start, it would’ve been far easier to create a hole in his sole, large enough to allow gravity to drain the dirt, than having it travel through his foot.


I would first ask, what makes you think the abscess started elsewhere & hadn't been in his heel all along? If it were a solar abscess and brewed for months before blowing out the heel, it was a massive one and the horse would have likely lost a lot of his sole & frog after this(?).

You are correct however, that it may have gone for so long due in part to anti-inflammatories - thing about pus & inflammation, it's the body's way of forcing out the crap. If you suppress it with anti-inflams, it can just make it fester for longer, at a slightly lower grade. Same can go for antibiotics. Of course there's a balance to be had, if the horse is in great pain, but IMO best NOT to give bute etc for abscess pain where possible.

Contrary to popular belief, IF it's a straight, simple abscess, I do not believe they 'migrate'. *I'm not saying they can't/don't 'travel' along the 'path of least resistance' when there is already significant weakness, but under the sole, frog, heels, in otherwise healthy hooves, that path out is close to the abscess. Certainly, without significant separation already there(or causing trauma/abscess), a sole abscess will not 'migrate' up through the wall laminae to erupt at the coronary border. 

I do not catagorically disagree with opening up holes on the sole, but it is an open wound on the bottom of a horse's foot and needs to be treated carefully, kept ultra clean *without the use of antiseptics that can retard new growth, and needs to be protected from further insult until a significant amount of new sole can grow back. If you can't manage it properly, best to avoid doing it. I also don't find digging is generally necessary, and vets/farriers can often misdiagnose the actual spot and end up digging in the wrong spot.


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