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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1119
 
| Sorry, this is kind of long....wanting to see if anyone has experience dealing with anything like this!
Last Friday night (17th), I came home from work to find one of my geldings standing way off by himself. As I walked up to him, a rotting smell hit me from 6-8 feet away. The right side of his withers and shoulders were covered in pus/drainage and I could tell he was in a lot of pain. I led him up to the trailer and immediately scrubbing using Dawn dish soap and warm water to try and figure out what I was dealing with. It took quite a while for me to find what looks like an abscess right on top of his withers, in his mane.
I called the vet, he advised a tetanus shot, penicillan, and keeping the area clean and open so it could continue draining. He also mentioned fistulous withers. I followed his advice for Friday night and then researched that night. Called him back Saturday morning and talked more about fistulous withers. He wanted me to follow his protocol and call him back later this week (planning to call today). I'm hoping it's not fistulous withers. It can be contagious to humans and other horses if caused by the brucella bacteria, but it can also be a nightmare to treat and seems to have a high rate of reoccurence, even once you think it's gone. Since the abscess is on top of his withers, I'm afraid getting it to drain completely will be difficult.
Yesterday I was feeling really good about how he was doing. He had went from being in obvious pain Friday to acting like his normal self. Running in the roundpen and having quite a bit of energy. Today, I feel like he may be having a setback. He had noticeably less energy and wasn't overly interested in his hay this moring. He did eat his grain (I've been giving him grain + Bute 2x daily). I have been hosing the abscess twice each day to remove any pus and scabs that are forming, and then squirting some hydrogen peroxide on it. He is getting 20cc of penicillan (he only weighs in the 8-900 lb range), and then he's getting two dosages of Bute each day (maximum daily dosage, per directions on tub).
Does anyone have any advice or experience dealing with something like this? I'll try to attach some pictures of how it looks. He originally had some swelling in the left side of his withers, but that seems to be gone now.
Edited by MissouriJen 2017-03-27 10:07 AM
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 You get what you give
Posts: 13030
  
Location: Texas | I would be going into a vet and i would have that cultured. Do you have any referral hospitals or universities around you? |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | MissouriJen - 2017-03-22 12:06 PM Sorry, this is kind of long....wanting to see if anyone has experience dealing with anything like this!
Last Friday night (17th), I came home from work to find one of my geldings standing way off by himself. As I walked up to him, a rotting smell hit me from 6-8 feet away. The right side of his withers and shoulders were covered in pus/drainage and I could tell he was in a lot of pain. I led him up to the trailer and immediately scrubbing using Dawn dish soap and warm water to try and figure out what I was dealing with. It took quite a while for me to find what looks like an abscess right on top of his withers, in his mane.
I called the vet, he advised a tetanus shot, penicillan, and keeping the area clean and open so it could continue draining. He also mentioned fistulous withers. I followed his advice for Friday night and then researched that night. Called him back Saturday morning and talked more about fistulous withers. He wanted me to follow his protocol and call him back later this week (planning to call today). I'm hoping it's not fistulous withers. It can be contagious to humans and other horses if caused by the brucella bacteria, but it can also be a nightmare to treat and seems to have a high rate of reoccurence, even once you think it's gone. Since the abscess is on top of his withers, I'm afraid getting it to drain completely will be difficult.
Yesterday I was feeling really good about how he was doing. He had went from being in obvious pain Friday to acting like his normal self. Running in the roundpen and having quite a bit of energy. Today, I feel like he may be having a setback. He had noticeably less energy and wasn't overly interested in his hay this moring. He did eat his grain (I've been giving him grain + Bute 2x daily). I have been hosing the abscess twice each day to remove any pus and scabs that are forming, and then squirting some hydrogen peroxide on it. He is getting 20cc of penicillan (he only weighs in the 8-900 lb range), and then he's getting two dosages of Bute each day (maximum daily dosage, per directions on tub).
Does anyone have any advice or experience dealing with something like this? I'll try to attach some pictures of how it looks. He originally had some swelling in the left side of his withers, but that seems to be gone now.
That looks really really bad, you really need to take this horse to a good vet, this is something that I would not be messing around with. |
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 Expert
Posts: 3815
Location: The best kept secret in TX | I agree with the above posts.
Also, HP eats away good and bad bacteria. I would be using a different cleaning solution such as Underwoods rather than HP.
TRAILER HIM TO A VET AND GET A CULTURE!!!
Oh, and hugs  |
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 Take a Picture
Posts: 12841
| We had a horse years ago that had fistula son her withers and up and down her neck. My dad took a bulb during and put iodine in it. They do get this from the brucellosis or bangs bacteria. I really thought that they had pretty much eliminated that in cattle anyway. If the horse bruised the area by running up under a low shed or rolling on a rock, the severe bruise could easily do this. I have not seen a real fistula on a horse in 40 years if that makes you feel any better. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1268
Location: North of Tulsa, Oklahoma | Any chance another horse reared up and pawed him?
Several years ago we had that happen to one (best we can figure) and it had actually knocked the caps off his vertebrae in his wither area. Went to vet thinking fistula, and x-rays showed the fractures. At the time they were in place and we chose to wait and see. 6 months later he required minor surgery to remove the shards/slivers that had reattached on the side and formed protective fat globules and abcesses around them. Simple standing surgery and he healed fine and was rideable, just mutton withered.
Edited by RoanyGoodPoni 2017-03-22 8:53 PM
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  Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | Id be taking him in to.. |
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Tried and True
Posts: 21185
Location: Where I am happiest | Do not use hydrogen peroxide. Wash with a good surgical scrub. I'd also be getting him in to a good vet asap. |
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Expert
Posts: 3815
Location: The best kept secret in TX | OP do you have any update for us?
Hopefully you've stopped use of the Hydrogen Peroxide at least. |
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 Half-Eaten Cookies
Posts: 2076
Location: Fort Worth / Springtown | Either what Roany said about rearing from another horse, that or what about saddle fit? Seems like 800-900 lbs with that high of a wither (from the pics) I hope the saddle wouldn't be causing it (too low on the spine).
I had a horse with something similar but on the side...I can't rember a lot of details, but at first it was thought it could be fistulous withers- it was about 18 years ago and my dad mostly spoke to vet.
As it began to heal, it began to move forward a little, out from under where the saddle was....and I began riding him again with the vet's perimisson, because it had formed a "grisel" over it, and did not show pain.
We never knew the sure cause.
Edited by txbredbr 2017-03-23 10:05 AM
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1119
| Thanks for all the input! I have stopped the hydrogen peroxide - that had been a recommendation from a Facebook friend. I've been hesitant to use anything like Underwoods (even though I typically use that for everything), because I didn't want to put anything on it that would "plug it up," so to speak.
I've got a few calls in to different vets and have sent pictures so they have an idea of what it looks like. He is an extremely narrow horse (he's a Tennessee Walker), with high withers. I haven't ridden him since last fall, so it wasn't caused by saddle fit issues, but he is constantly getting into trouble. Two days after I bought him he fell through the ice on the pond and it's been one crazy thing after another with him. As far as I know, he's never been around cattle, so I don't think he contracted brucellosis. My guess is that he rubbed on a tree or a fence and punctured himself. He's also the head honcho of my herd and always bickering with the other geldings, so it's possible one of them bit him or something along those lines. I'm hoping to get him into the vet in the next couple of days to get him checked out. He's definitely acting like his normal self, but it's still draining quite a bit so it's hard for me to know if it's healing or not. |
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 I Don't Brag
Posts: 6960
| Don't forget to give him pre/probiotics at least an hour after antibiotics. You are again killing off the good bacteria with the bad and may explain why he is acting puny. |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| My vet would say that 20 cc of penicillin is going to contribute to more problems and more antibiotic resistant organisms as the dose is ineffective.
My vet always gets me to give 60 cc twice a day for 3 days as this will get the blood levels up. Then he gets me to give 30cc twice a day for minimum of 7 days.
The half life of penicillin is 12 hours so by giving it every 24 hours you are not getting the blood levels up.
The long acting penicillin if you can even find it, I was allowed to start using that at day 5 |
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 Lived to tell about it and will never do it again
Posts: 5409
| Had a horse with this years ago. Pretty sure it was caused from rolling on a rock. His had to be cut out and it never did heal up. After awhile we were able to ride him again. He was a heading, heeling and barrel horse. After it was cut out the best thing that Mom found that worked on it was Cut N Heal. We would clean it out everyday and put that on it. Sometimes we just used a powder of some kind. He died about 6 years later from an unrelated thing with the hole still there. |
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 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| I appreciate that you're trying to help him but this is something that could develop into a very serious situation. If you have the capability I would get him to a vet. It is usually cheaper in the long run to get it treated correctly from the beginning. |
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Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | if it keeps opening there could be a piece of branch splinter in there , maybe he rubbed on a tree |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1119
| I have an appointment this afternoon with a (different) equine vet. They were in agreement with everything that had been done so far, but would have used a different antibiotic. Starting with an exam and a culture, but hopefully I'll have some more answers later today! |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 929
| HAVE IT X-RAYED!!!! This scares me... A LOT!!! Some history: I had a horse with what we thought was a fistula. Turns out it was what is called Degenerative Bone Disease. We treated for fistula but other spots started emerging, turns out it was portions of the wither bones that had decayed and were abscessing up through the back.
To make a long story short, we took the horse to surgery where the vet cut out the necrotic bone. Took about 6 months to heal...just to find that parts of the scapula were also starting to decay.
I hope this is not what's happening to your horse, but please get him x-rayed rather than spend a bunch for lots of treatments. Yes, the rads are an up front expense, but you can save yourself a lot of time, money, and heartache if you eliminate this from the equation first.
(My advice- if it is the bone disease, do NOT let your vet and equine surgeon talk you into surgery. It was hard on the horse and the "open wound" was HORRIFIC. And I was a veterinary technician at the time, so you know it was bad.)
Good luck to you and your horse. I will be praying that your situation is not the same as mine was. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1119
| Update: Took Finn to the vet on Friday. They did several x-rays and a very thorough exam. Diagnosis is that all signs point to fistulous withers. They gave me a small tube and betadine to flush the wound out with 2x daily. Once the cultures come back and we know what type of bacteria we may be dealing with, will likely start him on another round of antibiotics. Hopefully should know by Wednesday. He will definitely need surgery, and often more than one are needed to get out all of the infected tissue.
It's believed to have been caused by a trauma, although I have no idea what he did. The surgeon thought, IF we can get him healed, that he will be able to be ridden again. I'm counting him out for this year though. |
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Veteran
Posts: 279
Location: Louisiana | I have treated 3 different horses with this many years ago. A pony and two horses and not all of them belonged to us. We actually bought one of the horses for $150 because of the injury. All were due to some type of injury, bite from another horse, bruise, etc. I flushed out the wound with a diluted solution of pure lysol twice a day to keep it draining. Since it was so long ago, I don't remember if antibotics were given. I doubt it. We put an ointment to keep flies off and help healing. Cured all three with only s small scar. This is just what we did and it worked for us, many, many years ago. I know things have changed and new methods discovered. |
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Tried and True
Posts: 21185
Location: Where I am happiest | MissouriJen - 2017-03-27 10:05 AM Update: Took Finn to the vet on Friday. They did several x-rays and a very thorough exam. Diagnosis is that all signs point to fistulous withers. They gave me a small tube and betadine to flush the wound out with 2x daily. Once the cultures come back and we know what type of bacteria we may be dealing with, will likely start him on another round of antibiotics. Hopefully should know by Wednesday. He will definitely need surgery, and often more than one are needed to get out all of the infected tissue.
It's believed to have been caused by a trauma, although I have no idea what he did. The surgeon thought, IF we can get him healed, that he will be able to be ridden again. I'm counting him out for this year though.
Thank you so much for the update! Glad you got him in and seen by a good vet. Prayers for quick and complete healing. Please keep us posted on progress.  |
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Expert
Posts: 3815
Location: The best kept secret in TX | PRAYERS!!! Keep us updated! |
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Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| ThreeCorners - 2017-03-27 11:26 AM MissouriJen - 2017-03-27 10:05 AM Update: Took Finn to the vet on Friday. They did several x-rays and a very thorough exam. Diagnosis is that all signs point to fistulous withers. They gave me a small tube and betadine to flush the wound out with 2x daily. Once the cultures come back and we know what type of bacteria we may be dealing with, will likely start him on another round of antibiotics. Hopefully should know by Wednesday. He will definitely need surgery, and often more than one are needed to get out all of the infected tissue.
It's believed to have been caused by a trauma, although I have no idea what he did. The surgeon thought, IF we can get him healed, that he will be able to be ridden again. I'm counting him out for this year though. Thank you so much for the update! Glad you got him in and seen by a good vet. Prayers for quick and complete healing. Please keep us posted on progress.
Ditto. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1119
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Hey everyone! Thought I'd give another update on what we're planning for a treatment program.
My vet did a ton of research and came up with an option that may avoid surgery, which is typically the way that fistulous withers are treated, but has a very low success rate on the first try. So, we are going to try medical maggots, which absolutely grosses me out but is obviously much less invasive than surgery. I'm taking him in on Friday and he will stay at the vet's office for 4 days or so to let the maggots work their magic and hopefully eat all of the infected tissue.  She was able to find a few cases where this has worked successfully, so please keep your fingers crossed that it works for us! |
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A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | MissouriJen - 2017-04-05 12:09 PM
Hey everyone! Thought I'd give another update on what we're planning for a treatment program.
My vet did a ton of research and came up with an option that may avoid surgery, which is typically the way that fistulous withers are treated, but has a very low success rate on the first try. So, we are going to try medical maggots, which absolutely grosses me out but is obviously much less invasive than surgery. I'm taking him in on Friday and he will stay at the vet's office for 4 days or so to let the maggots work their magic and hopefully eat all of the infected tissue. She was able to find a few cases where this has worked successfully, so please keep your fingers crossed that it works for us!
Now this sounds very instersting, yes keep us updated I would like to hear how this all works out. |
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Take a Picture
Posts: 12841
| Maggots have actually been used for 100's of years. I think the main reason they fell out of favor is because they are gross. They are becoming pretty popular again. |
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Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| MissouriJen - 2017-04-05 12:09 PM
Hey everyone! Thought I'd give another update on what we're planning for a treatment program.
My vet did a ton of research and came up with an option that may avoid surgery, which is typically the way that fistulous withers are treated, but has a very low success rate on the first try. So, we are going to try medical maggots, which absolutely grosses me out but is obviously much less invasive than surgery. I'm taking him in on Friday and he will stay at the vet's office for 4 days or so to let the maggots work their magic and hopefully eat all of the infected tissue. She was able to find a few cases where this has worked successfully, so please keep your fingers crossed that it works for us!
Good luck!!! Hope it helps your big guy, I have read several cases where maggots did stop infection. |
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 Hog Tie My Mojo
Posts: 4847
Location: Opelousas, LA | Good luck! Thats awesome to have a vet willing to think outside of the box. My mom worked as a home health nurse in South Dallas many years ago, she pretty much did wound care in elderly housebound patients. Many of them did not live in the most hygenic conditions, most had no A/C, so she saw her share of wounds that got contaminated with maggots. She said it was amazing how much better the wounds healed post maggot infestation, just gross cleaning them out. |
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 Reaching for the stars....
Posts: 12708
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This injury was 3 shod footprints into a neck (horses fighting, this one fell and got run over). The wound was the grossest thing I've ever smelled when we first cut into it. When the vet, tech, and owner are all gagging and green it's really bad! We used the medical maggots on it and the wounds all healed so well that it actually grows hair. It is a big scar and bumpy, but the highest wound was almost spine deep and the deepest wound (shown) was over almost 2" deep. Medical maggots are wonderful once you have used them properly and see the results.
Edited by lonely va barrelxr 2017-04-05 1:40 PM
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A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | I know that they have been using maggots and leeches for generations for human medical reasons but didnt know that vets were using maggots for their medical needs now. How long have Vets been using maggots? |
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Expert
Posts: 3815
Location: The best kept secret in TX | Very interesting!! |
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Take a Picture
Posts: 12841
| I watch that show amazing stories of the ER. Some are pretty amazing. A homeless guy came in with a leg wound and it had gotten full of maggots. They said the maggots probably saved his leg. Nasty. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1119
| lonely va barrelxr - 2017-04-05 1:35 PM
This injury was 3 shod footprints into a neck (horses fighting, this one fell and got run over). The wound was the grossest thing I've ever smelled when we first cut into it. When the vet, tech, and owner are all gagging and green it's really bad! We used the medical maggots on it and the wounds all healed so well that it actually grows hair. It is a big scar and bumpy, but the highest wound was almost spine deep and the deepest wound (shown) was over almost 2" deep. Medical maggots are wonderful once you have used them properly and see the results.
Wow, that is incredible! I've been doing quite a bit of reading today about using maggots, and I've got some (tentatively) high hopes.
Obviously, my hope is that I can ride him in the future, but at the moment I honestly would be happy just getting him to a point where is comfortable and doesn't have to be in isolation. I've got a couple of pasture pets already, what's one more lol. If it gets to the point of needing surgery, as hard as it is to think this, I'm not sure I could justify the cost. I was quoted $5000+ for a single surgery, and it's very likely he would need multiple. |
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Tried and True
Posts: 21185
Location: Where I am happiest | Prayers it works!! It's all very interesting so please keep us posted on how it works and his progress. |
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 My Heart Be Happy
Posts: 9159
Location: Arkansas | MissouriJen - 2017-04-05 3:43 PM
lonely va barrelxr - 2017-04-05 1:35 PM
This injury was 3 shod footprints into a neck (horses fighting, this one fell and got run over). The wound was the grossest thing I've ever smelled when we first cut into it. When the vet, tech, and owner are all gagging and green it's really bad! We used the medical maggots on it and the wounds all healed so well that it actually grows hair. It is a big scar and bumpy, but the highest wound was almost spine deep and the deepest wound (shown) was over almost 2" deep. Medical maggots are wonderful once you have used them properly and see the results.
Wow, that is incredible! I've been doing quite a bit of reading today about using maggots, and I've got some (tentatively) high hopes.
Obviously, my hope is that I can ride him in the future, but at the moment I honestly would be happy just getting him to a point where is comfortable and doesn't have to be in isolation. I've got a couple of pasture pets already, what's one more lol. If it gets to the point of needing surgery, as hard as it is to think this, I'm not sure I could justify the cost. I was quoted $5000+ for a single surgery, and it's very likely he would need multiple.
Sending prayers that this works and no surgery is needed. Please keep us updated---this is very interesting and yucky!! |
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Industrial Srength Barrel Racer
Posts: 7268
| WOW - keep us posted. This is very interesting! |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1119
| Quick update! The original set of maggots (last Friday) all died. Possibly from a lack of air. So they cut some drainage holes out the side of his withers and then put new maggots in on Tuesday. Just got a call from the vet that they are done eating and have all worked their way out of the wound. She said it looks really good and healthy and that the hole seems to be getting smaller. I'm planning to pick him up in the morning. We've still got a long ways to go before he's healed, but things seem to be looking up!
Also, they re-cultured the wound to see if we could narrow down the bacteria and it came back as a bacteria that is often transmitted through horse bites. So, we're guessing that he was rough-housing with another horse and got bit. I've now become the pasture police making sure all my horses are keeping their teeth to themselves haha. |
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Reaching for the stars....
Posts: 12708
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Glad the maggots worked! My vet wrapped a very lightweight but fine mesh around Boy's wound to hold them in and still let them breathe. We also had to use two shipments because the first shipment got iced in at the Nashville airport on it's way to us. A few of the first shipment were still alive when they finally arrived so we had lots to spread through his wounds. It is a gross sounding treatment, but once you have a wound that they will work on, they work wonders! |
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Go Get Em!
Posts: 13503
Location: OH. IO | THANK YOU FOR THE UPDATE!!!!!! SO GLAD THINGS SEEM TO BE GOING HIS WAY NOW:)))) |
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A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | MissouriJen - 2017-04-14 3:21 PM Quick update! The original set of maggots (last Friday) all died. Possibly from a lack of air. So they cut some drainage holes out the side of his withers and then put new maggots in on Tuesday. Just got a call from the vet that they are done eating and have all worked their way out of the wound. She said it looks really good and healthy and that the hole seems to be getting smaller. I'm planning to pick him up in the morning. We've still got a long ways to go before he's healed, but things seem to be looking up!
Also, they re-cultured the wound to see if we could narrow down the bacteria and it came back as a bacteria that is often transmitted through horse bites. So, we're guessing that he was rough-housing with another horse and got bit. I've now become the pasture police making sure all my horses are keeping their teeth to themselves haha.
I never heard of the maggots dieing off like that, yuk about the maggots finished eating, but thats a good thing, lol.. |
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Expert
Posts: 3815
Location: The best kept secret in TX | I cringed when I read the update... LOL but I am glad they did their job!
Just curious, what does the vet do with the maggots once their job is finished?....  |
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A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | IRunOnFaith - 2017-04-14 3:38 PM I cringed when I read the update... LOL but I am glad they did their job!
Just curious, what does the vet do with the maggots once their job is finished?....
Stomp on them  , ewwwwwwwwww LOL  |
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 Quarter Horse HIstorian
Posts: 2878
Location: Aubrey, Texas | I once read about a famous calf roper (I believe it was Dean Oliver, when he broke his leg at the Madison Square Gardens rodeo) who got a bad infection. The doctors threatened to amputate his leg- he said "Nope," went home and used maggots to clean out the wound and save his leg. Those old guys were hard-core! |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1119
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I never in my life thought I'd be so interested in maggots lol. I think I've become desensitized to the grossness of it, but I try not to think about it too hard. I have no idea what the do with them, I'm sure they dispose of them somehow but I'm not at all interested in finding out how! |
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My Heart Be Happy
Posts: 9159
Location: Arkansas | So glad for the good update. Even if it about maggots. . . .  |
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Expert
Posts: 3815
Location: The best kept secret in TX | MissouriJen - 2017-04-14 6:46 PM I never in my life thought I'd be so interested in maggots lol. I think I've become desensitized to the grossness of it, but I try not to think about it too hard. I have no idea what the do with them, I'm sure they dispose of them somehow but I'm not at all interested in finding out how!
LOL Roxie!
I don't think I want to know either but I thought I'd ask.
PETA may get mad that we ask them to work so hard and then die. LOL   |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1119
| It's been about a month since the maggots worked their magic, so I thought I'd give a little update.
Finn is doing REALLY well and the original wound is almost completely healed. The vet had created 2 drainage holes on the side of his withers and one of them is completely closed now, so we're just waiting on the other to close. He doesn't seem to have any pain associated with the area anymore either. I'm supposed to take him back for another check up in another week or two, so I'm really hoping that things may be almost completely healed by then! I am so thankful that the vet chose to go this route rather than surgery. I thought for sure he would be out of commission all year, and at this rate I may be able to start riding him mid-summer!
I've also had him on a pretty intensive feed program since his injury because he had lost some weight in the last year. He's always been a very narrow/thin horse, but after he came back from the trainer last spring he was thinner than he had been. When I've put him on any grain in the past he has become a fire breathing dragon that was almost impossible to handle, so I had just kicked him out to pasture for a while and hoped he would gain the weight back. He never did. So when he got the injury, I began giving him 6 lbs of Utium Growth, 1 cup of Purina Super Sport, and 10 lbs of alfalfa cubes per day. While he was verrrry slowly gaining some weight, I started him on Forco about 3 weeks ago and the difference has been astounding. He's looking fantastic now! |
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Half-Eaten Cookies
Posts: 2076
Location: Fort Worth / Springtown | So glad you came back to update, and even happier it is a good one! 
You learn so much when you are faced with challenges, huh?!
Hope you have a wonderful Summer with Finn! |
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Location: Not Where I Want to Be | MissouriJen - 2017-05-10 1:33 PM It's been about a month since the maggots worked their magic, so I thought I'd give a little update.
Finn is doing REALLY well and the original wound is almost completely healed. The vet had created 2 drainage holes on the side of his withers and one of them is completely closed now, so we're just waiting on the other to close. He doesn't seem to have any pain associated with the area anymore either. I'm supposed to take him back for another check up in another week or two, so I'm really hoping that things may be almost completely healed by then! I am so thankful that the vet chose to go this route rather than surgery. I thought for sure he would be out of commission all year, and at this rate I may be able to start riding him mid-summer!
I've also had him on a pretty intensive feed program since his injury because he had lost some weight in the last year. He's always been a very narrow/thin horse, but after he came back from the trainer last spring he was thinner than he had been. When I've put him on any grain in the past he has become a fire breathing dragon that was almost impossible to handle, so I had just kicked him out to pasture for a while and hoped he would gain the weight back. He never did. So when he got the injury, I began giving him 6 lbs of Utium Growth, 1 cup of Purina Super Sport, and 10 lbs of alfalfa cubes per day. While he was verrrry slowly gaining some weight, I started him on Forco about 3 weeks ago and the difference has been astounding. He's looking fantastic now!
great news,
I must admit I had never seen this condition before you posted about it, and I read a bunch about it. Glad he's getting better |
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A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | MissouriJen - 2017-05-10 12:33 PM It's been about a month since the maggots worked their magic, so I thought I'd give a little update.
Finn is doing REALLY well and the original wound is almost completely healed. The vet had created 2 drainage holes on the side of his withers and one of them is completely closed now, so we're just waiting on the other to close. He doesn't seem to have any pain associated with the area anymore either. I'm supposed to take him back for another check up in another week or two, so I'm really hoping that things may be almost completely healed by then! I am so thankful that the vet chose to go this route rather than surgery. I thought for sure he would be out of commission all year, and at this rate I may be able to start riding him mid-summer!
I've also had him on a pretty intensive feed program since his injury because he had lost some weight in the last year. He's always been a very narrow/thin horse, but after he came back from the trainer last spring he was thinner than he had been. When I've put him on any grain in the past he has become a fire breathing dragon that was almost impossible to handle, so I had just kicked him out to pasture for a while and hoped he would gain the weight back. He never did. So when he got the injury, I began giving him 6 lbs of Utium Growth, 1 cup of Purina Super Sport, and 10 lbs of alfalfa cubes per day. While he was verrrry slowly gaining some weight, I started him on Forco about 3 weeks ago and the difference has been astounding. He's looking fantastic now!
Well this is a good update |
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 Expert
Posts: 2674
Location: Silver Lake, MN | This is so awesome I read all the updates and amazed at how that works. Please continue to update. I love vets that think outside of the box a little bit and give us owners some other options. |
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Reaching for the stars....
Posts: 12708
| Great news! |
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My Heart Be Happy
Posts: 9159
Location: Arkansas | So glad for a good update, and hope it keeps getting better! |
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Veteran
Posts: 234
| They are used often in human wound care and then are flushed down the toilet when they are to fat and have nothing else to digest.
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1119
| Thanks, everyone! I just can't tell you how happy I am with his progress.
I made this earlier today to show the progress he's made. The first pic is from a day or two after it originally happened, the second is from when I brought him home from the vet, and the third is from last night.
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 Go Your Own Way
Posts: 4947
Location: SE KS | MissouriJen - 2017-05-11 2:43 PM Thanks, everyone! I just can't tell you how happy I am with his progress.
I made this earlier today to show the progress he's made. The first pic is from a day or two after it originally happened, the second is from when I brought him home from the vet, and the third is from last night.
Edited by Dinero10 2017-05-11 3:58 PM
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Expert
Posts: 3815
Location: The best kept secret in TX | How exciting!!!! |
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 Expert
Posts: 3782
Location: Gainesville, TX | Awesome! |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1119
| Dinero10 - 2017-05-11 3:57 PM MissouriJen - 2017-05-11 2:43 PM Thanks, everyone! I just can't tell you how happy I am with his progress.
I made this earlier today to show the progress he's made. The first pic is from a day or two after it originally happened, the second is from when I brought him home from the vet, and the third is from last night.
How did this start? Very impressive healing - so happy for you.
Based on the bacteria that came back in the culture, we think it started because he was bit by one of my other horses. He's a bit ornery, so I'm sure he deserved it ;) |
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