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  Discussion on Infection, Abscess, Swollen Prepuce
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Member:
Ramonah

Posted on Monday, Dec 6, 2004 - 6:05 pm:

I'm sorry, I didn't know where to put this...

I have a 10 year old quarter horse gelding who has been absolutely healthy for the eight years I've known him. About four weeks ago, my horse "Chubby" spooked in the cross-ties of the barn where he has been at for eight years. I heard the commotion, came out of the tack room to see "Chubby" sit completly down on his butt. The cross-ties held him for a moment. Then, his halter broke. The momentum back and to his left. He landed on his left side. He panicked and struggled to stand. He stood then took off out of the barn. He stopped right outside the barn and started munching on grass. I approached him to see what the damage was. (Let me mention that he has never spooked in the cross-ties before. We still don't know what triggered him.) He was very approachable, and didn't seem upset at all. I seemed to be the most traumatized. The only damage seemed to be a slight stiffness in his left hip. The vet was out on another call, and looked him over. Said to give him bute for two days, just to ease his soreness. Since then "Chubby" has been pretty spooky in the cross-ties. Then six days ago, when I pulled him out of his stall to turn him out, I noticed that his sheath area was extremely swollen. He didn't have a fever, but the prepuce was very hot to the touch. He also acted very tired and lethargic. The vet came out and checked him. While examining the sheath, pus started coming out. We decided to sedate him and clean his sheath. During the cleaning no bean was found and nothing that would explain the swelling. (Chubby did have his sheath cleaned, teeth cleaned, and shots in Sept.) Chubby is not turned out with any other horses, at any time. While sedated, Chubby's head began to swell. His lips, checks, and the sockets around his eyes were puffy. He has never done that while under sedation. The vet took a blood sample, and gave him a shot of anti-inflammatory and a steroid. He gave me a paste to give him that was a diuretic and steroid. The vet assumed that he developed an infection in the prepuce area. Everyday he seemed to start feeling better. On the third day, the vet called with the lab results. His red cell count was low, his white cell count was low, there was some acidity and toxins in his blood. But his organs seemed to be functioning normally. The vet said that Chubby was anemic and had an infection. He prescribed 500mg of Turoprin.By the fourth day, the swelling in the prepuce area was almost gone. On the sixth day, when I pulled him out of his stall, I was shocked. On the left side of his neck, right behind the cheek bone was an ugly mess. Other barn mates said it was an abscess that had blown already. The hair was completely gone, about the size of my hand. The wound (for lack of a better word) was about the size of my palm. There didn't seem to be any one hole, but three gashes that were red, but seemed to be scabbed over. How could this happen in less that 20 hours. I called my vet. He said that the area was the parotid salivary gland. That the two incidences were just a coinsidence. How could that be possible? This horse hasn't even had a big bug bite in the eight years I've known him. Could a systemic infection be the cause of all of this??? I also took pictures of the area if that would help.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Dec 7, 2004 - 6:02 pm:

Not only the salivary gland but there are also a lot of lmyph nodes there. It is possible there is a connection between it all but the nature of the mess behind the cheek is still unclear to me, what did your vet say about it and yes a photo might be helpful. The low WBC count and easy swelling may indicate a mild viral infection, like Equine Viral Arteritis but this does not explain the draining lesion behind the cheek. I think they sound like trauma so unrelated.
DrO
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