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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
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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....
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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
 (Boy b4 maggots.jpg)
 (Boy after maggots.jpg)
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 Boy b4 maggots.jpg (6KB - 184 downloads)
Boy after maggots.jpg (5KB - 198 downloads)
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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....
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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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