Hi all,

My horse Skyler has an abscess on his front foot, the one that was most damaged after he foundered two years ago.  It came out of his coronary band after two weeks of extreme lameness.  He is walking find now but still lame at the trot.  His hoof and coronary band are carrying alot of heat still.  We did xrays and can't see any obvious abscess area.  I have been soaking his foot once a day for 30 minutes in epsom salt and vinegar, and putting epsom salt poultice on his foot before turning him out in boots each day.  

I am concerned that the abscess is only partially resolved given his foot is still so warm.  Is there anything else I should be doing to help him?  Is riding at the walk a good thing?  The other day after it burst I rode him at the walk and when I was done you could obviously see it pumped out some bloody fluid, which I was happy to see as it didn't appear to be draining even though you can see the lesion on his coronary band.

Is giving SMZ's helpful to resolve an abscess once it has burst?  

Heidi

Hi Heidi,

Sorry to hear Skyler is having an issue. As long as he is comfortable, light  movement to get any abscess collections to keep exiting is helpful. Keep soaking and applying the epsom salt poultice as long as you see drainage, feel heat

Oral antibiotics won't help as the concentration reaching the foot is severely limited to begin with. Plus, the abscess walls off from the surrounding tissue so you don't get penetration.

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Lavinia

Moderator/ECIR Support

How long it takes to drain an abscess depends on its size, whether it's just one pocket or multiple pockets, location, exit point in relation to the where the abscess is sequestered.

Sounds like Skyler's abscess is draining well as all his symptoms are steadily resolving.

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Lavinia

Moderator/ECIR Support