long final on mare's abcess

["Janet Benke" <qhjanet@hotmail.com>]

Many of you wrote with suggestions on treating my mare's abcess.  It has 
taken months for the abcess to clear up.  In the process, that right front 
hoof seems to be constricting.  She will not be going long distances, and, 
probably not much hard riding at all.  Now that she is moving out nicely, I 
thought I'd share my treatment techniques with everyone.  I used a couple, 
taking all suggestions to heart.

She was soaked twice a day the first couple of weeks, with a betadine soaked 
coton plug in the small hole dug out by the first vet.  Tried adding bute to 
grain, but China does not eat bute.

Two weeks later, after taking her to my regular vet (not the first one), the 
procedure changed for two reasons:  One, he carved out a broad drainage area 
which would not hold a plug; and two, he recommended a different approach, 
that of using a poultice.   At first I'd change it every day (took vacation 
to be home); then twice on the weekends, and then, once on the weekend, and 
then, she lost the easy boot which ended the poultice application.  By then, 
she was well on her way to renewed hoof health.  The poultice technique:

Assemble the following:  Soaking bucket with 8 qts hot water and appropriate 
amount of epsom salts; empty bucket for gauze pads, vet wrap, duct tape, 
razor or other device for cutting quickly, hoof pick, screw driver, easy 
boot, betadine, syringe (20 ccs), spoon, or other applicator, jar of 
poultice (recipe: Mix one jar of DMSO gel into one jar of nitrofurazine); 
towel.  Two or three leafs of hay, maybe some grain.

Catch up horse.  Offer feed.  Soak foot for the 20 minutes.  While she eats 
and soaks open gauze package, dab on poultice.  Cut duct tape strips.  long 
enough to go around hoof, around easy boot, and over and under hoof.  Open 
vet wrap package.  (Use side of bucket for sticking duct tape end - only the 
end!)  Fill syringe with betadine.  She will of course not step out of the 
bucket during this time.

Now you are ready to apply poultice.

Dry her hoof with towel.  Throuw towel down, hang onto hoof.  You have 
syringe in teeth, now squirt betadine in hole.  Slap a dab of poultice into 
hole with applicator covered in goop.  Grab gauze pack, slap over hole.  
Wrap with vet wrap before she jerks hoof away, from between your legs so 
that the whole thing comes off and now is full of hay.  (When that happens:  
Go back to Betadine step, start over.)  As you do this you become more adept 
and quicker so that she is bandaged before she jerks her hoof away, and it 
stays on.  No matter if hay is on the outside now.  Apply duct tape around 
vet wrap.  Place easy boot on.  Use duct tape to keep the boot on the hoof, 
and to prevent dirt from entering it.  Tape the "snap" down.  Be careful not 
to cover coronet band, however. Keep her out of wet pasture for several 
weeks.  After a few weeks, no more soaking, just rinsing out the drainage 
hole with betadine and applying the bandage and easyboot.

Eventually the abcess opens and drains.  Eventually the heat dissipates.  
This abcess was unlike any I've had to treat in the past.  A week of soaking 
and that was about it with other horses.  I don't wish this experience on 
anyone.

thanks for the advice.  Hope you find some of the information helpful should 
you need to treat an abcess.

janetb



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