Vet comes back again
luckypony71
Posts: 399 Member
Dr G is coming to visit next week. Going to work on that proud flesh on Chico again. I told him I want a do over. The Equiade works but slowly and is very expensive. I have switched to meat tenderizer. Spoke to Dr G about that yesterday. I am going to continue with that until he comes out. He said to keep it away from the edges.
The therapy worked to reduce the spot to half the size, but I swear it has grown since he has been home. They are good at the rehab barn but I cannot keep him there for 3 or 4 months to make it heal completely.
We are going to try an allergy shot and steroid cream or powder, I don't remember which. He gave me a powder last time.
I tried talking to him about wrapping it more than I did last time. Unfortunately he called me while I was at work, I was really busy and my phone was ringing off the hook. So I will have to talk to him more next week when I have nothing interrupting me. I told him that I was wrapping it in the day time and no bandage at night. I think the flies irritate him and that is what makes him chew on this spot.
It is very frustrating because he has had 2 other summer sores since this one and both have healed nicely, just like all the ones he had before. I don't know why I have been fighting this spot since February and it just keeps growing proud flesh.
Okay - I am done venting. Sorry, just frustrated and worried about my boy.
What I have learned. I have a very strong stomach and I could of gone into the medical field. I have to scrub off a wound that smells like rotting flesh daily and not puke. Yep, I am stronger than I thought I was.
On a good note, I am going to talk to him about Scout too. I want to know how his legs are doing so that we might be able to start some serious saddle work.
The therapy worked to reduce the spot to half the size, but I swear it has grown since he has been home. They are good at the rehab barn but I cannot keep him there for 3 or 4 months to make it heal completely.
We are going to try an allergy shot and steroid cream or powder, I don't remember which. He gave me a powder last time.
I tried talking to him about wrapping it more than I did last time. Unfortunately he called me while I was at work, I was really busy and my phone was ringing off the hook. So I will have to talk to him more next week when I have nothing interrupting me. I told him that I was wrapping it in the day time and no bandage at night. I think the flies irritate him and that is what makes him chew on this spot.
It is very frustrating because he has had 2 other summer sores since this one and both have healed nicely, just like all the ones he had before. I don't know why I have been fighting this spot since February and it just keeps growing proud flesh.
Okay - I am done venting. Sorry, just frustrated and worried about my boy.
What I have learned. I have a very strong stomach and I could of gone into the medical field. I have to scrub off a wound that smells like rotting flesh daily and not puke. Yep, I am stronger than I thought I was.
On a good note, I am going to talk to him about Scout too. I want to know how his legs are doing so that we might be able to start some serious saddle work.
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Replies
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Eek sorry to hear! Thats big in FL huh? I feel like everyone who comes back (all the lucky ones here in new England travel to Wellington or Ocala for the winter) sais their horse always gets a bout of scratches, rain rot, scurf, or some other fungus down there... must be the humidity?
Equiaid was what I was going to suggest.... I always keep some on hand...but it is so damn expensive for such a little bottle! I've heard of meat tenderizer too - just be careful!
Yay for serious saddle work on Scout!0 -
I agree, it's our nasty humidity. Chico gets all kinds of crud every year.
The Equiade was great for the smaller sores. This one is huge.I go through a jar in just 2 weeks.
I know my English saddle fits Scout good. It fits him better than it does Chico. So I may have to buy Jessica a new one and confiscate this one. I have not ridden him in the saddle yet. Just bareback. I have lost 4 more pounds since I have started riding Scout. Getting my bottom smaller so it will fit better in the saddle. LOL. I can't wait. I really would love to do some flat classes with him next show season.0 -
Are these true summer sores due to the parasite habronema, or are they non healing wounds he gets in the summer?
I worked in habronema hell for a couple of years and those suckers take some serious intervention (usually me debriding the snot out of them every week until they were almost healed) And we had some weird "magic potion" that had scarlet oil, dmso and some other stuff I can't remember in it that we had owners use.
Sorry it's not all going away fast enough. I hate when horses decide to screw up our summer plans like that.
Pip0 -
Are these true summer sores due to the parasite habronema, or are they non healing wounds he gets in the summer?
I worked in habronema hell for a couple of years and those suckers take some serious intervention (usually me debriding the snot out of them every week until they were almost healed) And we had some weird "magic potion" that had scarlet oil, dmso and some other stuff I can't remember in it that we had owners use.
Sorry it's not all going away fast enough. I hate when horses decide to screw up our summer plans like that.
Pip
Most are true summer sores with the habronema virus. This one I am not sure about. All others have healed with me cleaning and treating with the ivermectin dmso combo the vet gave me. This one also popped up in February, which is very unusual. They never start when it's cold out.
This one had no larva in it when the vet removed it last time, it just grew a huge chunk of proud flesh. He cut it off and it grew back. I feel like I am making progress, but it needs so much cleaning and scrubbing. I make my daughter want to pass out with all the flesh I remove every evening. My poor boy is a real trooper. I scrub away and my daughter just gives him cookies.
I am now giving him a weekly does of paste wormer to help prevent future sores this summer. Hope it works. He is such a problem I wish I could just find someone that could take him away from this tropical climate and still give him the care he needs. He is also a non sweater in the summer. So he has a big fan and the paddock that has all the shade.
I have scarlet oil in the tack room. I read that it could cause burns on legs so I have never tried it on his proud flesh. It has worked on other areas though.0 -
Uggg, I hate habronema! I was glad to move back to the northeast and escape it. It makes me rethink my desire during the ridiculously cold winter we had to move south again.
Scarlet oil can certainly burn normal skin so when you apply it (and only do this if your vet concurs because I hated some "friend who was a vet who suggested x" ) make sure it only gets onto the granulation tissue. I want to say I also injected a fair number of those lesions directly with steroid.
Good luck. Some horses really do seem more sensitive to the habronema than others. Where I was it seemed like the damn flies loved to lay their eggs by the eye and the corner of the mouth mostly.0 -
thanks Pip
I will be asking my vet on Wed.0 -
Well my vet visit didn't go so well. He was not happy with the look of Chico's leg. I wish I could put a picture of the wound while he was cutting away. Pretty gross. The granular tissue is pushing the skin out and away. it grew in a way that made it difficult to cut off. He did the best he could. Now we need to pray that the skin will grow over the wound. I have to keep cleaning it and he will be back in 2 weeks to look at it.
If we can't get this to heal I may just have to euthanize him. I have not told this to my daughter yet. I will be working hard on this wound to keep the proud flesh from growing back and hope the skin will cover it. Big sigh, I am not too happy right now.
I was so worried about Chico that I forgot to ask the vet about Scout.0 -
Get a biopsy before you make a final decision please! Is there a pond or any water that Chico could have gotten into in his pasture? Where in the country are you located? ( Never mind, I see it's Florida). Has your vet ever mentioned or thought of pythiosis?
Pip0 -
we talked about pythosis and the possibility of something caused from standing water I can't remember what it was called. I am lucky that I do not have standing water on my property and it drains fairly well. The ground will get muddy under the grass but the horses paddocks are sand and drain good.
He spoke of other treatments. Things I cannot afford to do. Plus they would involve a stay across the state at the University0 -
This sounds aweful and really stressful - Im sending positive vibes and pony love your way
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Pythiosis is from the water and it's evil beyond compare to my memory. Good luck. I know it is really so hard. I would have a tough time with that kind of a choice. I hope he gets better. And if he does, I would be using ivermectin on him every week of summer sore season and try to make it not happen again.
Sending good thoughts your way.
Pip0 -
Thank you ladies. I have already started the Ivermectin every week. We started that in June. It is our way of trying to prevent any new ones while we work on this one bad one.
Dr. G said not to take off the pressure bandage for 3 days. So I guess I will have to wait until Saturday to see if it looks good still. Then I will be keeping it wrapped all of the time for the next 2 weeks until he comes back.
I didn't sleep good last night worrying about him.0 -
I am late seeing this due to the holiday--so sorry the visit did not go better. I hope that it clears up without having to take drastic measures. Please keep us posted.0
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thank you. I hope to get a better check up when he comes back on the 17th0
