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Discussion on Laceration on left hind heel horn.
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Member:
Suzeb
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Posted on Wednesday, Feb 9, 2005 - 5:58 pm:
Hello Dr.O and all,
My 15 year old gelding has managed to cut the horn on his left heel in the hind. We have been battling this problem for 6 weeks. Weather and snow conditions have not been very cooperative either. He is not lame on this leg. Vet was out to have a look see, probed the wound and could find no sensitivities or any other nasties. Advised to bandage and keep dry.
My horse has to live outdoors because of indoor sensitivities, so bandaging has been a real challenge. There have been times where it was better to leave the bandage off than on. Extreme cold -52°C, freezing rain, mild weather, then a huge snow dump have prevented me from going out everyday to change the bandage. Even if I could, this bugger builds up with snow and ice and he has ring around the pastern. I don't know what is the lesser of two evils, to bandage or not. It is now bleeding slightly again, but I don't want to bandage because of deep snow in his paddock. I do have him boarded out so any snow removal is out of the question.
Any ideas, suggestions, condolences would be appreciated. Thanks
Susan B.
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Member:
Quatro
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Posted on Wednesday, Feb 9, 2005 - 11:10 pm:
Hi susan, Levi cut the ball off of the heel of his front foot last year. It was sliced from the top to the bottom, just hanging there. I wrapped it to keep it dry so that it did not get infected. We finally just sliced off the meat that was hanging there. He healed nicely. To keep it clean, I put antibiotic cream on it, covered it with gauze and wrapped the hoof and the leg with vet wrap, and then the whole thing covered with duct tape. It kept it clean and dry for the day, but I changed the bandage daily.
Good luck, it is a very hard area to heal, because of the location. Levi was not lame either. Gives you good bonding time with your horse with the constant bandage changing
suz
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Thursday, Feb 10, 2005 - 8:23 am:
Unfortunately, not being able to view the situationa and wound, we too don't know whether it is better to bandage or not. The fact you are getting some bleeding by itself does not mean bandaging is essential. You have to judge: does the extra protection the bandage provides justify the trouble?
DrO
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Member:
Quatro
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Posted on Thursday, Feb 10, 2005 - 11:37 am:
Hi susan, also when we finally stopped using the bandaging, and just swathing that fluro something or other, yellow antibiotic goop on him, he healed up just fine. I think the rubbing of the bandage was keeping it from healing. Then we switched to the dry powder antibiotic to scab it. But his actual hoof was not cut, just a teeny corner of it.
good luck
suz
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Member:
Suzeb
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Posted on Thursday, Feb 10, 2005 - 12:24 pm:
Thank you both,
I will try and get a picture of this. I have been improving my photography skills.
On non bandaging days, I have been using Hibitane cream on this.
Suz, what was the antibiotic powder that you used?
I guess the trouble lies, in dealing with the snow and trying to keep a bandage on. It is also a difficult area to wrap. Duct tape does not stick very well in the cold and I am using the best 3M. I have also tried old socks. They would work great if I didn't have the snow to deal with.
Short of inventing a special boot for this kind of situation, I don't know what else to try.
A daily change might be in order, until it heals I guess.
Susan B.
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Member:
Tangoh
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Posted on Thursday, Feb 10, 2005 - 1:17 pm:
Hi Susan,
Like Dr. O says, hard to tell without seeing it what would be best. We had a similarly placed injury, a fairly good gash likely from pawing through all the ice we were blessed with after the rains. At least we're assuming that's how she got it. It was significant enough but no lameness and we watched it, but left it up to nature and it healed up nicely without any intervention on our part. Took a while though.
Your situation could be quite different.
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Member:
Brock
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Posted on Thursday, Feb 10, 2005 - 2:39 pm:
Susan: Whenever our horses get cut (one just recently) we leave it exposed to the air as much as possible. A good dose of peroxide on it once or twice a day is also helpful and easier on the pocketbook. Your horses's injury may be somewhat deeper than usual but we have found for the most part they are better off when we justlet nature take it's course.
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Member:
Quatro
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Posted on Thursday, Feb 10, 2005 - 6:15 pm:
Hi Pam, seems to me that when I was dealing with Levi's cut, I was told that peroxide was not a good thing to use, but I don't recall why. I just remember the vet telling me that was the worse thing I could do, Maybe Dr. O. could elaborate on this.
suz
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Member:
Suzeb
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Posted on Thursday, Feb 10, 2005 - 6:25 pm:
Thank you, thank you Sherri and Pam  .
The cut is just a tiny little thing really, about the size of a nickel. It is just in a bad spot. He does have underrun heels and this thing is always making ground contact. I do believe he did cut it on a piece of ice, frozen poop ball...whatever.
I am banking on (pardon the pun) that good clean snow will act as the bandage. It does do a nice job of keeping it clean. I do have peroxide in the "Kit" and have used that. I have found it is better to blot dry this with old clean towels than to rub and start bleeding again.
Spent most of the afternoon smoothing out the snow with a rake in the upsidedown position  and it did work pretty slick.
Thanks again guys !
Susan B.
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Member:
Tangoh
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Posted on Friday, Feb 11, 2005 - 7:40 am:
Susan,
Seems to me I read somewhere or someone told me that peroxide kills off the necessary bacteria (or something) that aids in healing some lacerations. Is this correct Dr. O, or am I mistaken?
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Friday, Feb 11, 2005 - 7:50 am:
Concerning hyDrOgen peroxide, its lack of antibacterial activity and tissue toxic properties make it a poor choice for a situation like this. Pam's injury healed "in spite of" and not "because of" such treatment. For more see the wound care articles.
DrO
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