[RC] abcesses that take a long time to heal. - LTYearwood
Yes, the epsom salts definitely draw. And as the vets, including Heidi have said, they also dry.
So I have been using a clay that draws but does not dry, at least I hope, not as much as the Epsom salts.
I bought it at the health food store. I asked the vet about it beforehand and she said it was a great idea.
And yes, this abcess is rare in the fact of how long it has lasted.
Obviously, this is a big abcess. In fact the three vets who have now examined Sunny all said they thought the probelm probably included more than just one abcess.
My understanding -- and I am just learning this -- is that there are several pardigms in which people view abcesses. One of those paradigms goes something like this:
* Abcesses are caused by outside forces (such as a puncture) and abcesses are caused by an internal infection from which the cause is not always known.
The other paradigm goes like this:
* Abcesses can be caused by any of the above -- or, as might be Sunny's case -- caused by the damage of shoes. The hoofcare specialists I rely upon -- and who total more than 30 years in their experience with horses' feet -- traditionally find that when they remove the shoes, it takes about 4-5 months for the damage of the hoofs to make itself fully seen/felt.
That seems to be where Sunny, given his past history of bad shoeing, is at. Wen his shoes were removed 4 months ago his heels were so underslung that the heelpoints reached the midpoint of his frogs.
