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Discussion on Can there be a hoof abscess without heat?
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Member:
Aewheele
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Posted on Tuesday, Aug 17, 2004 - 3:56 pm:
My horse came out of his stall the other morning not being able to stand on his right hind. His loin area was all sweaty from holding his leg up. He had a small scrape on his hip and so we all thought that he may have cast himself in his stall and pulled something. As per the vet's instructions, we cold hosed his leg & gave him 2 grams of bute twice a day for 2 days. He's still off. The scrape is all but gone now, and it always seemed to be too innocuous a wound to be the cause of such lameness. A friend of mine watched my horse walk last night and thinks that he has an abscess. I told her that I have not felt any heat in the hoof.
Can a horse have an abscess and not be radiating heat from his hoof?
Additional details - he was shod over two weeks ago, so I don't think the problem relates to that. He had been in his stall all night, and had been fine the prior day after turnout. When he walks, he gingerly places his toe down first and then slowly lowers his heel. When I first saw him, he was sweaty around the loin, but he dried off quickly even though he still wasn't able to put any weight on his foot.
Vet is scheduled to come tomorrow, so hopefully the mystery will be solved.
Could it be an abscess?
Thanks all.
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Member:
Annes
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Posted on Tuesday, Aug 17, 2004 - 6:09 pm:
Two of my horses have had an abscess and neither one had any heat in his foot/hoof that could be detected. One of them was barely lame and the other one was almost 3-legged lame - both cases were front hoofs. I hope all goes well tomorrow with the vet.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Tuesday, Aug 17, 2004 - 6:54 pm:
Actually I would say, "no" but the problem becomes one of experience and maybe even differences in people being able to detect temperature differences in hooves. I often see clients briefly touch a horses foot and say "feels OK to me" (or more often say "it feels hot to me") but when I make them slow down and really take the time and concentrate and compare with other feet they say, "OH YEAH I feel it now". So could it be(?) yes but then again maybe something else.
DrO
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Member:
Aewheele
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Posted on Thursday, Aug 19, 2004 - 8:42 am:
The vet came yesterday. He performed a nerve block on foot, and determined that it probably was an abscess. He pulled the shoe, dug around a little but didn't find any holes (other then nail holes from shoes) or pus. The vet didn't really feel any heat, but my horse was sensitive to the hoof tester. He did mention that my horse may have white line disease. He didn't like the overall condition of the hoof but he wasn't particularly worried. Told me to treat the abscess and then we'll treat the White Line disease. And so it goes...
Thanks Dr. O for your response. I tend to think that there probably was some heat, just not enough to really register with hands.
I'll keep you posted. Now I have to read about White Line Disease. If anyone has any info about that, I'd appreciate your comments.
Thanks again.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Thursday, Aug 19, 2004 - 9:37 pm:
This is not sensible. A nerve block does not diagnose a foot abscess. Foot abscesses are hot and very painful, easy to localize. They do not require nerve blocks to localize to the foot. Generally when blocks are required there is another problem.
DrO
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Member:
Aewheele
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Posted on Friday, Aug 20, 2004 - 8:39 am:
I don't know what to say. When the vet first looked at my horse, he found some tenderness in a lower leg tendon of the same leg. He performed the nerve block to help determine whether the lameness was coming from the tendon or the foot. Once the block took affect, my horse put weight on his foot for the first time in 3 days. There wasn't a lot of heat, and the vet did not find any signs of abscess when he checked the bottom of my horse's foot. He did find that the hoof wall was very thin and crumbly near the heel. He mentioned the possiblility of White Line Disease, but told me to soak and poultice through the weekend and he'd check again Monday. My horse seemed better yesteday after 2 soakings and one night in poultice. He also may be improved because his shoe has been removed. I just don't know.
Is there anything you would suggest I do at this time?
Who knows, considering my horse is on stall rest because he can't go out with a poultice on his foot his condition may improve regardless as to whether there is an abscess.
Thank you Dr. O for the heads up and for your obvious concern. I will be very diligent over the next few days and let you know what happens.
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Member:
Mrose
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Posted on Friday, Aug 20, 2004 - 11:47 am:
Just curiously following this. Did your vet make any comments re: the tendon and why it might be tender?
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Friday, Aug 20, 2004 - 3:22 pm:
Perhaps my post was not clear, wheras the hoof block localized it to the foot, this is rarely (ever?) necessary to diagnose a abscess. It is like trying to decide if there is an elephant in the room with you by examining the scat present. Does this make sense? Occasionally you see an abscess that already is draining from a hole that is not quite so acute but then you have the drainage hole and the horse is still very ouchy to the hoof testers. I quess I am saying this does not sound much like an abscess though it obviously is a lameness in the foot. We have an article that further defines the various causes of lameness in the foot, just back up to the lameness topic and follow the appropriate menus.
DrO
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Member:
Aewheele
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Posted on Friday, Aug 20, 2004 - 3:31 pm:
No he did not. I'm sure he would have commented had the nerve block not worked. Considering that my horse had been in his stall all night and had been fine the previous day, we originally thought he may have cast himself. When my friend saw him walk, she was convinced that he had an abscess. The vet indicated that the type of acute lameness that my horse was exhibiting is usually the result of a very traumatic injury, which would have probably been obvious during examination, or due to an abscess. I didn't ask about the tendon because I thought that his leg soreness may have been a result of holding it off the ground for so long and I didn't think to pursue that line of questioning after the nerve block took affect and my horse finally rested weight on the bad leg. The vet indicated that my horse probably would not have been able to rest his leg if the tendon was the cause of his pain.
I just don't know. I hope it's just an abscess. Maybe our collective wishful thinking kept us from being more thorough. We'll see over the next few days.
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Member:
Aewheele
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Posted on Friday, Aug 20, 2004 - 3:37 pm:
Thanks Dr. O for your comments. I'll review the article and keep you posted.
Andrea
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Member:
Aewheele
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Posted on Tuesday, Aug 31, 2004 - 11:20 am:
After almost two weeks of poulticing & soaking, it looks like my horse is back to his old self. When I took him out of his stall the other day he almost ran me over (he is always a gentleman, but I think we have both had enough!). To say that he had 'cabin fever' would be an understatement. The farrier came last night to put his shoe back on. Found a little residual abscess, cut it out, put the shoe back on and thinks my horse should be fine. I'll find out tonight. I feel like I haven't ridden in a month!  .
Anyway, thanks again to all of you. I don't know what I would do without access to this site!!!
Andrea
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