I have had pigeon fever on my place several times (over 15
years) and never any complications from it. If that is what you are
seeing, it can help to ripen and abcess by putting a very warm, wet towel
against the swollen part to soften the skin and give an exit hole for the
abcess....you can hold it in place with a circingle or ace bandage...always
worked for me....and seems to give the horse some relief.
Well, I won't know for sure for a few days, but I believe Lexy has
this pigeon fever, also known as dryland strangles. She has a swelling about
the size of a paper plate on her abdomen, right behind where her cinch would
go, with a smaller swelling, about the size of my fist, extending up on the
right side of it. She's also mopey and Abby is hovering over her like a mother
hen. Spoke with the vet this afternoon and she said that is one place the
abscess can occur, though it is less frequent than the pectoral swelling. She
has no other explanation for such a swelling, which wasn't there yesterday. So
we're proceeding as if it is. Give her a gram of bute twice a day to keep her
more comfortable and see if the swelling "ripens" and develops a soft spot.
Hopefully a "head" can be determined before it ruptures, so a vet can come and
lance it and the abscess liquid can be caught and disposed of. If not, I will
try to determine where she was when it drained and sterilize the ground
(keeping her in one corral). No point in separating the girls - some get it,
some don't. Abby's been just as exposed (presumably by flies) as Lexy, so
she'll either get it or she won't. If she does have it, the belly is the best
place as it drains better than the chest. The internal abscesses are the
dangerous ones and usually the horse dies, but they aren't known to get them
externally and internally at the same time, so should just be a pain for a few
days. Sigh.....
