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Discussion on Skin sloughing off on inside of hock joint
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Member:
pbarlow
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Posted on Friday, Oct 10, 2008 - 9:37 pm:
One of the donkeys started limping the other day. The first day it was just noticeable, but over the last three days it has gotten much worse. Yesterday I realized that one of his legs was swollen above and below the hock, like a spavin. Then today the hide started sloughing off on the front side of the hock joint.
I am trying to make arrangements for him to go to the vets, but that will take days. What should I do meanwhile? The old horse manuals I have say cold water.
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Member:
pbarlow
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Posted on Friday, Oct 10, 2008 - 9:41 pm:
I forgot to mention that his leg doesn't feel hot and I haven't found a sore spot by probing, instead it seems that he wants me to rub his leg.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Friday, Oct 10, 2008 - 10:56 pm:
Hello Patricia,
If the skin is truly sloughing off the leg you are going to need professional help and you are going to need it quickly. The question is why is this happening and proper treatment until that is determined is hit or miss.
When there are large amounts of dead tissue forming in a wound you usually start with thorough debridement of the dead tissue and bandaging with appropriate antimicrobial topicals suitable for treating open wounds, for more on this see Diseases of Horses » Skin Diseases, Wounds, and Swellings » Wounds / Burns » Long Term Deep Wound Care. Systemic antibiotics are started and if clostridia is suspected penicillin is a good first choice.
DrO
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Member:
pbarlow
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Posted on Saturday, Oct 11, 2008 - 4:10 pm:
I got some better ideas by scrubbing the hair area and running cold water over it all. I think it looks like blunt trauma now. The day it started, the herd had been running around and playing hard.
I scrubbed the hairless places with a mild soap, debrided it with hyDrOgen peroxide solution, scrubbed it again with betadine, rinsed it with warm water, then dried it and put triple antibiotic on it.
I would take him to the vet, but that is just not an option today. I should have a vehicle on Monday. I don't even have a way to drive to town and get antibiotics if I didn't have to take him. When you live in the middle of nowhere, you have to deal with things on your own sometimes. I will call someone and see if I can get some penicillin, but it's a giant favor to ask.
It has not gotten worse since yesterday. He is putting a bit of weight on it, which is an improvement.
Thanks for your reply, I will do my best.
Yrs,
Patricia
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Member:
pbarlow
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Posted on Saturday, Nov 1, 2008 - 6:18 pm:
Just a follow up to report that we never made it to a vet. What ever it was just opened up and drained above the coronet band on the posterior side of the leg. It drained and the lameness went away. He still has the scabby patches where the hair fell off, but he did just fine and was walking normally within a few days.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Sunday, Nov 2, 2008 - 10:03 am:
Patricia, in the first post it was sloughing off the front of the hock and in the last post it is draining from the coronet. Was the first post in error?
DrO
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