Monday, September 14, 2009

continuing sound

appears to be the case. hurray! i still intend to give her the rest of the week before starting to do anything with her but so far so good. at least she seems hapy to go back out again after her evening massage and tea, whcih is a good sign!

and new neighbour has a barefoot trimmer rather than a farrier; didnt' know there was one in the area. i shall investigate....costs more than farrier for a trim ...

why, for interest, do vets dig holes in horses feet when they are brewing an abcess? surely that just lets more muck in even if it does get the infection out?

7 comments:

Jean said...

Good for Molly!

Unfortunately, digging around for an abscess is often the only way to find it. Another concern is that if the abscess is not found and does not find a "shortcut" through the bottom of the hoof, it will then migrate to the top, infecting tissue along the way in order to blow out through the coronary band...which often takes much longer. So, paring away the sole usually allows for a faster resolution. (But not always.)

It is relatively easy to pack a hoof hole with medication and cotton, keeping out further debris. And the sole actually does grow back pretty fast.

Anonymous said...

I'm a fan of soaking with Epsom salts so the abscess comes out on its own. Digging around may damage healthy tissue and I only have it done as a last resort. Yes, it takes longer for the abscess to resolve, but I'm willing to wait.

photogchic said...

Yeah Molly! Hope she is on the mend.

Claire said...

thanks.

i asked as a new horse on the yard, next to molly, has had that done ... but keeping it clean etc is proving interesting, a process that will now be improved as i supplied some disposable nappies for wrapping up with!

Cabruze said...

Great that Molly's sound! I'm afraid I've seen vets do great damage to feet digging for abcesses! Literally digging into soft tissue!! So I'm very assertive and will ensure that any paring away of sole is very conservative. Like Kate unless it's obvious I prefer to poultice and it's not a huge problem if the abcess exits through the coronary band although it does look gross! Soon heals. There's one of the best trimmers in the UK in your area Claire. Think he's actually a farrier too.

Claire said...

that's the chap in northumberland, jane?

Cabruze said...

Yes Claire. I've heard very good things about him. In fact my friend Cora lived in Northumberland for a couple of years and he took Gunner out of shoes.