Pus in Foot

[LouiseS]

I have got an incidence of this and everyone seems to have different views. It showed up on Wednesday morning as lameness in near hind and the vet came out. She made a quite small hole, put on a dressing and encased the foot in a plastic bag. Her advice was to change the dressing everyday, not bother with poulticing as it seemed to be draining and he would be alright in a week - oh and cancel the farrier who was due the next day.

I duly rang the farrier and left a message with his wife and when he got in he rang me back and said he should come anyway and take a look. He duly came the next morning, removed the dressing, took off the show, dug out a complete channel showing me where he thought the infection had run, washed and sprayed the area with purple spray, packed the channel with cotton wool, put a leather pad on under the shoe and said he's fine now and can be ridden (no lameness left). Furhter said the pad could stay on until he came again in 6 weeks but it it 'balled out' at all with matter underneath he would pop out and redo it.

Both farrier and vet said leave him as that is what he is used to.

My neighbour then tells me about when one of her ponies had this togehter with a horse belonging to someone else she knows and how terrible it was - they had to dose them up with loads of anti-biotics - had to keep them in, every time they turned them out it reoccured etc etc.

Mine is out on a grassy field that is a bit wet around the trough and has some poaching outside the field shelter - I don't want this to be major problem and the farrier sounded confident about his treatment but I would just like to know other people's experience and whether it has been as bad as my neighbour.

Thanks

Louise

 

[Tramp]

I had a horse that developed an abcess in the sole of his foot and it was a lot like you described. We had the vet out and he carved a hole in the sole of the foot to let the pus drain. We then had to keep the horse on a clean wooden floor. I made a canvas boot to go over the foot to help keep it clean. We had soak the foot in a Furacin solution once a day. The horse was also on a course of antibiotics. The reason for the antibiotics is that infection could move up into the hoof through the hole in the sole. The vet said that if the abcess was not allowed to drain, pressure would build up and it could rupture through the coronary band and cause a real mess. The horse turned out fine. It was several years ago but I think that we kept him inside for about 3 weeks. I think that he spent the first week or so inside and then with the protection of the boot that I had made he was allowed to be hand exercised. I would think that those boots that clip on to replace a lost horse shoe would work to keep the dirt out of the hoof. They can be disinfected also.
Hope that your horse gets better and that this shed some light on your situation.
Tramp

 

[Wally]

Anti biotics sometimes (mostly) have little effect on an abscess. The infection has been encapsulated by the body so there is no blood supply to get the antibiotics to the infection. Clearing out the puss is the only way to really treat it.

I have seen puss in the foot treated lots of ways. I have seen it track right up into the hoof and "vent" through the coronet. Mostly once you have opened it up, nature will do the rest. Don't worry it's such a common problem. If your farrier is confident then really don't worry.

 

[ros]

Some horses never seem to get abcesses, and some seem to be prone to them. My big horse Frank has had more than his share over the years (no-one seems to know why - I suspect it's quality of hoof) and I don't get excited about them any more.

As Wally says, antibiotics don't really do much, and most foot infections will run their course. The main thing is to open up the track and allow the pus to drain. If the positioning or depth of the abcess makes it difficult to open it up sufficiently you may need to poultice as well; I usually use Animalintex for two or three days - just a little bit plugged into the hole with a bandage to keep it in place if necessary, and some of that nice silver "duck tape" from the DIY store over the top which is very strong and waterproof.

 

[ponyvet]

penetrating injuries to the foot cause abscesses, these then become painful as they swell because the soft tissues of the foot are encased in the hoof. Providing the abscess has a drainage channel and they can drain freely they will get better. Antibiotics will not work as they cannot penetrate the thick capsule which forms around the abscess (as the body's way of sealing it off).

I think that perhaps your vet may have been able to dig deeper and make a bigger hole, as you always have to go further than you think with these but it's a judgement call!! As long as your horse is sound and you are regularly changing the dressing, I see no reason why you can't turn him out and treat him as usual. your farrer will have seen loads of these so trust him, and if your horse falls lame, call the vet out to check that there has been no further development of the abscess, but I reckon you'll be fine!

A horse which has had to be kept on a wooden floor has probably had a deeper infection, and may have been suspected of having pedal bone involvement. This sounds likely for your horse Tramp.