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  Discussion on Annual Abscess!!!
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Member:
mysi

Posted on Tuesday, Apr 12, 2011 - 9:00 pm:

Moose has got his third annual abscess. Same foot, front right...same area, right at the toe.

Last Friday (April 1st) I awoke to a three legged lame horse. That evening my farrier came opened it up, it drained really well and the next morning Moose was sound. I soaked daily and it drained well over the next day or two. I stopped soaking Wednesday, 5 days later and I kept him wrapped although he kept pulling it off everyday. Sunday I awoke to a three legged lame horse again. My farrier was out yesterday and parred away, the abscess appeared completely dry. Now the last two years Moose has had the same abscess, same place, same issue. The past two never drained well and popped out of his coronet band 7-10 days later. This time it drained well and appears dry yet he more lame than ever and no sign at the coronet band of it heading that way like the previous 2. My farrier says with these big horses with big feet that this is common. Is that true?

Moose is a Clyd/TB cross. He has great feet...except this. I know the cause is thrush although I religiously treat him with Thrush Buster (2 times a week) and keep his feet cleaned well. It always happens when spring begins and after a few days of yucky weather. I can't bear to lock him up in a stall for several days. I keep them in at night when its wet but they have free choice of being in their stalls or being outside otherwise.

Is their anything else I can to to get this abscess out??? My farrier says to soak and wrap and it will come out. And...is their anything else I can do to prevent this from reoccurring?
I was so proactive this year and got the same results!

Also, I have to give Moose bute when this occurs because he has ring bone in his left hind and it becomes very painful when he has to distribute the extra weight onto that leg. Does that prolong the abscess?
Member:
juliem

Posted on Tuesday, Apr 12, 2011 - 10:57 pm:

Melissa, I come down squarely on the side of having the abscess opened and drainage established. Each time you soak and wait for it to come on it's own, more damage is occuring inside that hoof capsule. My vet treats exactly as Dr. O describes in his article. I can't bear to see them lame like that and when it's opened, the relief is almost instant. In fact, they are about 75% better when then walk out of the vets and almost 100 percent the next day.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 13, 2011 - 12:30 am:

Hello Melissa,
Julie has a good point: by allowing the abscess to cook and gravel it's way out the coronet, more damage is done to the hoof and this may predispose to future problems. So your first step to getting this healed as quick as possible and preventing future problems is to find someone with the experience to find the abscess and drain it out the sole. This can be a challenge in a really big horse. Yes I think large breeds do have more foot problems including abscesses.

Note that treating the top of a deep pocket of thrush is not very effective. If thrush is causing the problem, besides the recommendations in the Abscess article see HorseAdvice.com » Diseases of Horses » Lameness » Diseases of the Hoof » Thrush for more.
DrO
Member:
mysi

Posted on Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 - 1:21 pm:

I tried posting yesterday but couldn't log on.

Initially the farrier did open the abscess and it drained and he was completely sound in hours, and was for a week. Then back it came. He came back and drilled into the hole as deep as he could and it was completely dry. There are no other areas of the foot of concern, he parred around everywhere. He said he cannot go any deeper, he's open pretty deep. So...I took your advice Julie and got my vet out and he said that we cannot go any deeper, that is where its coming from and that I will have to wait for it to come out the coronary band. He advised me to apply ichthimol or a poultice to the coronary band to draw it out that way since it wont seem to come back down. I've done this 3 times since yesterday morning with no results yet.

My vet said that giving him bute is prolonging the process and may make it take longer to come out. But because of his ring bone in the hind, he understands the dilemma and didn't want to advise me one way or the other on that because long term, if I don't give him the bute I am causing more inflammation to the ring bone, causing the probability of more bone development there...yet the longer the abscess is there the more damage to the hoof...kind of the damned if you do damned if you don't. Moose's ring bone is very advanced and I'm more concerned with that...but not sure if I'm making the right decision there or not??? Any thoughts on any of this???

And more advice would be appreciated.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Apr 15, 2011 - 7:51 am:

Hello Melissa,
We had a major crash yesterday related to high numbers of hits we have been getting in the last quarter. We have taken steps to prevent it and sorry for the inconvenience.

I disagree with your veterinarian, bute is not likely to prolong the process. Trying to extinguish the fires of inflamation from pocketed up infection with a NSAID is just not possible. As to there being no other places of concern, that is not true or the horse would still be healing up: there is infection pocketed up somewhere in the foot and if it cannot be localized and drained it will eventually gravel out at the top.
DrO
Member:
mysi

Posted on Friday, Apr 15, 2011 - 3:17 pm:

It's funny how much I depend on this site, when it was down I was in a panic! lol

Thanks for the advice on the bute. I have serious trust issues with my vet, I always feel like they are trying to sell me something I don't need. After telling me the bute would cause the abscess to be prolonged, he offered me a tube of Surpass for $100. I bought some.

Moose's abscess has reached his coronary band. There is a large bulge that I hope will open today. This poor boy goes through this every year and it is taking a serious toll on his ring bone every time. The abscess is in the EXACT same spot every time. It's almost like when the defect grows all the way out from the coronary band, one to two trimmings later its back, always at the beginning of spring after a few days of rain. I am going to read over your thrush article 100 times. If there is anything I should specifically focus on please let me know.

Thanks again Dr. O!
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Apr 16, 2011 - 8:26 am:

Ttreating the top of a deep pocket of thrush is not very effective.
DrO
Member:
mysi

Posted on Saturday, Apr 16, 2011 - 9:47 am:

The surpass was to treat the ringbone. He wanted me to inject the joint as well, but I did that last year with no real improvement.

The abscess is still bulging at the coronary band this morning with a little separation beginning. He is walking 50% better though. I'm thinking once it's out out the hoof area it must relieve it a little bit??????
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Saturday, Apr 16, 2011 - 3:54 pm:

It should relieve a lot, in my experience.

Then the trick is that is resolves without another flare up.
Member:
lsweeney

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 27, 2011 - 6:42 pm:

Re: Antibiotics and NSAID for abscesses. I had a very severe abscess several years back. Originally they thought it was a stifle injury. Here is the complete case with pictures:

https://www.horseadvice.com/horse/messages/4/66775.html

Anyway, my horse was prone in the stall, moaning. She wouldn't put any weight on the leg with the abscess and I started to worry about founder in the other feet. They had two separate vets work on her, and they wouldn't give her anything because they said that it would prolong the "cooking" process. They said that antibiotics wouldn't make it into the hoof.

It was way inside the foot, and they both dug around in the hoof, but in the end, nature took its course and it came up through the coronet band.

This horse was about 2 years old. She is 6 now, and has only had one other abscess.

However, the other Friesian that I have seems to get them annually or even more than once a year. So I was interested in this post. Her feet are pretty flat, and it seems like they usually come in the spring or changes in the seasons. I have written it off to the fact that she is heavy (16.1, 1,300 lbs) with these flat feet that may be prone to stone bruises (she is barefoot). They usually come out the heel area. Different feet, though.

She is on 3 acres, but they like to hang out around the same muddy area where I have thought that they pick up bacteria.

Anyway, I was curious if there are more abscesses when the hooves are dealing with going from wet to dry or dry to wet seasons.

She also likes to hang out in our pond, so maybe she has them more often when it gets hot, and she is venturing into the pond every day.

I need to start marking a calendar. All I know is that I have an Arab in the same environment, who doesn't like the pond, who has never had an abscess in the last 15 years, and a Friesian who seems to get one or more every year.
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 27, 2011 - 8:30 pm:

Trending from dry to wet season is when my horses have usually had abscesses show up.

Also, when conditions become wet the feet soften so that bruising is more likely, which seems to sometimes turn into an abscess?

It seems when conditions turn wet, bacteria manages to creep up into cracks that previously had not been infected.

After one of mine had laminitis and abscesses last year my veterinarian asked if my horse was on a hoof supplement, and if not, he recommended one, such as Farrier's Formula (double strength). I've been using it for over a year now and it does seem to result in a tougher foot.

One of my horses had not been on it while the others had been for many months. Then I began hand-walking my horses up and down my long, concrete drive for 30 - 60 minutes daily to toughen their feet.

Those on the supplement had very little wear to their feet while the one not on the supplement was self-trimming greatly more as a result of walking on the hard surface.

I've done a better job controlling overweight and have had no foot problems for almost a year.
Member:
lsweeney

Posted on Thursday, Apr 28, 2011 - 12:19 pm:

Thanks Vicki. They are not on a hoof supplement, but they do get a general vitamin supplement.

My pasture is rocky with decomposed granite, so it is the perfect environment to toughen feet, and wear hooves down. When I used to use a shoer, frequently he would come out and tell me that they didn't need to be done because they would wear themselves.

The Friesian that is getting the abscesses is not really overweight. The other Friesian is a balloon on a grass hay only, but she has not had a lot of abscess issues.

However, the pond is something that the Friesians will wade into every day when it gets warm. I'm guessing that this is where most of my abscesses come from.

I did notice that we didn't have as many issues when I went to hoof boots on the trail. Even though they were barefoot always, I think that the rocks on the trail may have created some stone bruises that wouldn't present themselves until I would get back home. (We camp a lot.)
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