My mare was run through a wooden fence by a dominant horse last
Wednesday evening. That night, she had two scraped knees (her left
knee as more of a gash, but not so deep as to need stitches) and that
was it. She was not (and still isn't) lame. So, we applied
antiobitic ointment to the scrapes and cuts and moved her to the lower
pasture away from the aggressive horse.
By morning, her left knee was quite swollen. About the size of a
grapefruit. However, she still was not lame. Walked out just fine and
was trotting around on it. So, we gave her some bute for the swelling,
cold hosed it, reapplied the antibiotic cream and turned her back out.
By Friday, the knee was a little more swollen, and also a little bit
above the knee (lower forearm). Still not lame. Eating and acting
normally, no temperature.
Gave her more bute, and turned her back out.
It is now Saturday afternoon, and her knee is about the same. No
worse, no better. Still swollen. She is still traveling sound.
I read somewhere that with a leg injury, if swelling hasn't gone down
after 3 days, to have a vet look at it. As of tonight, it will be 3
full days.
The fact that she is not lame keeps me encouraged, but is it possible
for her to have something broken and still appear sound? Has anybody
had a knee injury like this that just took longer than 3 days to go
down in size? I'm also thinking that maybe she has a piece of the
fence embedded, although I saw no sign of anything like that...but if
she did have something in there causing infection, I would think she'd
have a fever and begin to go off feed, and be lame.
I just had a $600 vet bill for my dog last week, so am trying to keep a
level head and not panic like I usually do and have the vet out
prematurely....but at this stage, 3 days later, I'm starting to
worry. Any advice or similar experiences out there?
