Post by LaLa on Dec 26, 2006 1:48:21 GMT -5
Hi!
I've been taking care of a friends 20+ yr old gelding at her house that got a really nasty barb wire cut 6 weeks ago. The cut is on his right lower hind leg, it starts at the inside of his ankle and wraps around the back and down to right above where the hoof and the skin meet in the middle of the hoof. It's about 7 inches long and was quite deep and in my opinion needed stiches. My friend couldn't afford to have the vet come out to treat it so we cleaned it with betadine solution, dressed it with Blu kote and nitrafurazone and bandaged with guaze and vetrap. The next day it was still ugly and it bled a little bit when I changed the bandage both times but there was no sign of infection. He was still putting some weight on it for the next couple days and then on the 4th day I went to change it and it was oozing pus, swollen, and hot and he wasn't putting any weight on it. I called the vet and explained the injury and she told me to get some penicillin and give him 2 shots a day for 5 days. The 5 days go by and he's better, walking on it, the infection had cleared and the cut was healing like it was supposed to. I started changing it once a day instead of twice and he was healing nicely(almost closed) until last week. I went to take care of him last Tuesday and he's back to not putting any weight on it and it's infected again, but now he's got a hole about an inch, inch and a half deep that goes in the fetlock about an inch above the cut and the side of his ankle is swollen from the cut down to his hoof, the back of his hoof(in the middle where the V is) looks strange also. Back to the penicillan shots and changing it twice a day. The cut itself is looking good, the hole isn't but it's not any worse either and the swelling is still there a week later. She still won't have the vet come out.
She doesn't have any kind of a shelter for her horses(she's got 4) except for the few pine trees in the pasture and there is no place that's dry for the injured horse, his name's Booger by the way, to be. I think standing in the snow/muck is what brought back the infection but I don't know what caused the hole. The actual cut itself isn't infected, it's the hole at least that's what it looks like.
My friend has only looked at him 2 or 3 times since it happend and hasn't done any of the bandaging. Here's the kicker. She
comes to me yesterday and tells me that shes either going to shoot him in the next couple of days or she's taking him to the canner and it's my fault because I didn't do my job. I feel that I did the best that I could given what I had to work with.
Now I don't know what to do I tried calling the vet to see what could have caused the hole but she's gone until the end of the week.
Granted Booger isn't in the best shape not counting his injury, he's about 150-200 lbs underweight due to the fact that he needs his teeth floated, but if that was all taken care of and he doesn't turn out lame after everythings healed he'd be a great kids horse. I just don't get why she wants to destroy him. I've been searching everything I can find online to give me some kind of answer about the hole, what it is why it's there etc... I'd appreciate any suggestions on what caused this
I've also been looking at rescue/retirement facilities(thats how I found this great site!)that could hopefully save Booger from going to the canner if she'll agree to it.
Thanks so much for you time.
Merry Christmas
LaLa
Sorry this is long winded
I'll try to get some pics of the cut up tomorrow
I've been taking care of a friends 20+ yr old gelding at her house that got a really nasty barb wire cut 6 weeks ago. The cut is on his right lower hind leg, it starts at the inside of his ankle and wraps around the back and down to right above where the hoof and the skin meet in the middle of the hoof. It's about 7 inches long and was quite deep and in my opinion needed stiches. My friend couldn't afford to have the vet come out to treat it so we cleaned it with betadine solution, dressed it with Blu kote and nitrafurazone and bandaged with guaze and vetrap. The next day it was still ugly and it bled a little bit when I changed the bandage both times but there was no sign of infection. He was still putting some weight on it for the next couple days and then on the 4th day I went to change it and it was oozing pus, swollen, and hot and he wasn't putting any weight on it. I called the vet and explained the injury and she told me to get some penicillin and give him 2 shots a day for 5 days. The 5 days go by and he's better, walking on it, the infection had cleared and the cut was healing like it was supposed to. I started changing it once a day instead of twice and he was healing nicely(almost closed) until last week. I went to take care of him last Tuesday and he's back to not putting any weight on it and it's infected again, but now he's got a hole about an inch, inch and a half deep that goes in the fetlock about an inch above the cut and the side of his ankle is swollen from the cut down to his hoof, the back of his hoof(in the middle where the V is) looks strange also. Back to the penicillan shots and changing it twice a day. The cut itself is looking good, the hole isn't but it's not any worse either and the swelling is still there a week later. She still won't have the vet come out.
She doesn't have any kind of a shelter for her horses(she's got 4) except for the few pine trees in the pasture and there is no place that's dry for the injured horse, his name's Booger by the way, to be. I think standing in the snow/muck is what brought back the infection but I don't know what caused the hole. The actual cut itself isn't infected, it's the hole at least that's what it looks like.
My friend has only looked at him 2 or 3 times since it happend and hasn't done any of the bandaging. Here's the kicker. She
comes to me yesterday and tells me that shes either going to shoot him in the next couple of days or she's taking him to the canner and it's my fault because I didn't do my job. I feel that I did the best that I could given what I had to work with.
Now I don't know what to do I tried calling the vet to see what could have caused the hole but she's gone until the end of the week.
Granted Booger isn't in the best shape not counting his injury, he's about 150-200 lbs underweight due to the fact that he needs his teeth floated, but if that was all taken care of and he doesn't turn out lame after everythings healed he'd be a great kids horse. I just don't get why she wants to destroy him. I've been searching everything I can find online to give me some kind of answer about the hole, what it is why it's there etc... I'd appreciate any suggestions on what caused this
I've also been looking at rescue/retirement facilities(thats how I found this great site!)that could hopefully save Booger from going to the canner if she'll agree to it.
Thanks so much for you time.
Merry Christmas
LaLa
Sorry this is long winded
I'll try to get some pics of the cut up tomorrow
