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  Discussion on Hores kicked in Chest
Author Message
Member:
canter

Posted on Sunday, Sep 23, 2007 - 9:11 pm:

Hi All,

Went out to the barn tonight, looking forward to a ride and noticed on the left side of my mare's chest a scrape (did not penetrate the skin)and a pendulous edema or seranoma hanging down from the left side of her chest. It really looked like half her udder moved from the back to the front. The whole area was warm to the touch, the edema was soft feeling and it did not appear to bother my mare when I palpated it or the scrape (but she's very well mannered and quite stoic so if it hurt her, I may never know).

I cold hosed it for 15 minutes and gave her 1gm of bute. Before giving the bute, I wanted to see her move so put her on the lunge line. Not sure if she was being lazy but she didn't seem to want to pick up the trot. Not obviously lame at trot, but I'm not sure if I saw a slightly shortened stride or not (I tend to be paranoid and see things that aren't there - Unfortunately, didn't have another objective set of eyes to watch) Didn't want to push it so brought her back in, groomed her and turned her back out so she would move around.

So, my questions are:
*Is cold hosing 1x/day enough to help?
*Should I keep her on bute for a few days to help the swelling?
*Other than obvious lameness, what should I look for in terms of calling the vet out?
*Anything else I should be doing to help this resolve?

I know this is a fairly common injury, but after searching around, seems like these things can sometimes be difficult to resolve so want to make sure I do everything I can to help out.

Thanks in advance!
Fran
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Sep 24, 2007 - 7:25 am:

Hello FranC,
Without examining the wound we cannot answer questions directly about treatment of your horse. But we can discuss these type wounds in general
1) I don't know about your wound but I often recommend cold hosing wounds like this 3 or 4 times daily for the first 3 days.
2) Bute is logical treatment for wounds with swelling
3) Increased swelling and pain would be the most common signs of worsening disease. Worsening clinical signs of disease of any kind should be cause of concern.
4) If this does not begin to resolve soon I would consider having it drained surgically.
DrO
Member:
canter

Posted on Monday, Sep 24, 2007 - 7:50 am:

Thank you DrO.

I'll have to see if I can get help with the cold hosing - my daughter has been home from school for the past week with pneumonia and I can't leave her alone to run to the barn several times a day. Time to call in a few favors, I think.

One other question, since the horse is not obviously lame, would hand walking her around be of any benefit, or would it be best to treat her and just turn her back out & let her move around as she wants to?

Thanks!
Fran
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Sep 24, 2007 - 10:05 am:

As long as infection is not a problem exercise generally helps with picking up fluid. I do remember one that unexpectedly worsened with exercise so keep an eye on it.
DrO
Member:
canter

Posted on Monday, Sep 24, 2007 - 12:43 pm:

Thanks again, DrO. I did manage to run out to the barn this morning. The kick area (which really just looks like the hair has been scrapped off)looks the same, still just a tad warm. The edema itself has gone down since last night: Not as wide (reduced by 30% or so) but still hanging about as low off her chest. Cold hosed again (15 minutes), gave more bute and treated the scrape with an antibacterial. A friend promised to cold hose again this afternoon and I will go out again tonight to repeat with the addition of some handwalking as long as she appears comfortable. My horse seemed bright eyed and comfortable this morning and was happily munching her a.m. hay when I pulled her in - I will most definitely keep an eye on it.

DrO, you've provoked one more question: if the kick itself did not open the skin (there was no blood, no open wound, just hair scraped off and likely a bruise) can it still get infected?

Sorry to be a pest!

Thanks,
Fran
Member:
36541

Posted on Monday, Sep 24, 2007 - 8:45 pm:

Fran, I went through this exact scenario about a month ago. My two youngest mares, together since birth, decided to have a kickfest. We witnessed it - neither would budge an inch - and I had two with hematomas under slight abrasions. Both were up to date on routine vacs, so I cold-hosed them a couple days, then let them be as neither was lame. Riley's initial hematoma was the size of a half basketball at the junction of neck with shoulder. It went down over three weeks and now she has a six inch oblong depression at the original site. It is an inch deep. Unlucky Libby had her contusion/abrasion/hematoma to the right chest, roughly the same spot you describe. Initially it was only the size of a half grapefruit, and went down the first 5-6 days. At one week, she didn't come running in with the herd, the area was hot and greater than the initial insult and she had 104 temp. The next am, my vet was out to open it in two places, put in a drain that we tied into a circle, and started Bactrim by mouth. I cold-hosed it for five days, could only do it twice daily, then we pulled the drain and it closed uneventfully. Interestingly, no depression in the tissue.

Long story to short point - a soft tissue infection can occur a little later than you might think, and you might want to call in those favors so folks can keep an eye on her. Hoping for a speedy recovery for your daughter, and no complications for Sparkles! Good Luck, Stacy
Member:
canter

Posted on Tuesday, Sep 25, 2007 - 7:56 am:

Stacy,
Thanks...I think! You've given me more to worry about! Seriously, I do appreciate you taking the time to write of your experiences and you have definitely showed me what could possibly happen here so I will do my best to be extra diligent and watch this closely.

A friend did cold hose yesterday afternoon and I got out there last night to do it again + bute + some handwalking. Don't know if it was wishful thinking, but I think the swelling reduced even from that morning. It definitely moved from hanging off the meaty part of her chest down further, almost between the front legs. No heat at all. I do have to go out of town Thurs & Fri on business and that of course causes me great anxiety...

A friend will cold hose this morning (and call me if things look worse) and I'll run out at lunch and tonight.

Thank you also for the well wishes - my daughter has been fighting pneumonia for a week and a half. She turned 6 on Sunday and it was not a fun way for her to spend her birthday, but I think she is finally getting over it.
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