To Bandage Or Not.....

talullah

My mare caught her front right hoof in a small trailer last wednesday and ended up ripping the back of her pastern/heel open. The vet was out, cleaned and bandaged it and told me to leave the bandage on for 5 days and then leave it in the open, washing twice a day and basically to keep it clean.

I took the bandage off today, nearly afraid of what i'd find, and well the picture will show you what i found....

I washed it with Botanica antiseptic wash and then covered it in Botanica Herbal Cream then left it unbandaged. Took the shavings from her stable so she just had her rubber matting. I washed and creamed it again this evening and then decided to bandage it just in case, but intend to leave it unbandaged tomorrow again.

Anyone got any advice or experience with a wound like this?? I'm not looking for veterinary advice but opinions or ideas please or is what i'm doing enough??

Ave Sodalis

Ouch!!

If it was me (and just going by my own thoughts), I would keep that bandaged. It's not exactly just a scrape which the open air would do good, that looks as though it would attract a lot of infection.

Maybe ring the vet again and get another opinion on the process?

convert

I'd second going back to your vet (or getting another one) and asking them to take another look at it. It's always better to be safe than sorry.

I know everyone here will probably recommend something different, but I'll just give you my experience here: I had a mare years ago who caught her leg in a gate and had a huge hole in it, which couldn't be stitched. The vet recommended using multiderm (I used the spray and powder, but you can also get a cream), which I was a bit skeptical of, but it worked really well (follow the instructions on the tin/tub) and the leg healed with no scar and the hair grew back. I didn't bandage her leg, but then I was lucky enough that she didn't really go at the wound while it was healing.

talullah

Thanks for the replies. Washed and creamed it this morning and it looks like it's starting to heal in the inner bits of it, well fingers crossed it is. She doesn't mind me cleaning it and doesn't poke or lick at it herself which is good. Left it unbandaged for the day so being careful it keeps clean.

MDFM

Something similar pretty much happened to my yearling earlier this year..if i can find the pics I'll post them. Got v same recommendation from my vet - removed the bandage after 4 days..It looked horrendous! Anyhow, we left the bandage off, as recommended by the vet and to date (6 months on) the scarring is well healed.
If you can ensure your horse is kept in a clean area you should be ok as regards avoiding infection. Talk to your vet though again sooner rather than later as regards further treatment from now onwards to help it to heal..

fits

Be careful with that one. I'd probably be getting the vet to monitor things very closely to be honest. Could be very serious if infection sets in. Call the vet out again perhaps?

On another note, whats up with her feet?

talullah

MDFM wrote: »

Something similar pretty much happened to my yearling earlier this year..if i can find the pics I'll post them. Got v same recommendation from my vet - removed the bandage after 4 days..It looked horrendous! Anyhow, we left the bandage off, as recommended by the vet and to date (6 months on) the scarring is well healed.
If you can ensure your horse is kept in a clean area you should be ok as regards avoiding infection. Talk to your vet though again sooner rather than later as regards further treatment from now onwards to help it to heal..

Thanks MDFM...it's reassuring that someone else was in a similar situation and came out ok. if you can find the pics please post, i'd be very greatful as i've been trying to google pics of similar wounds but they're hard to find.

It's looking a bit more healed to this evening, not just quite as open.

fits wrote: »

Be careful with that one. I'd probably be getting the vet to monitor things very closely to be honest. Could be very serious if infection sets in. Call the vet out again perhaps?

On another note, whats up with her feet?

Haha, yes her foot looks very odd in that picture. It's actually normal in real life, there was some of the white sticky still on the hoof, makes it look kind of bent out or something wierd.

byhookorbycrook

Manuka honey is great for cuts, they heal with very little scarring. Go for the highest "activity" you can afford.

ordinary star

no i would not keep this bandaged. What you are looking at here is proud flesh, this will keep growing if it is kept bandaged.
you are doing a good job and the only thing now is to give it time.

After the wound has closed over on the inside, and you are left with just the proud flesh, I would pour undiluted milton onto the wound once a day. This keeps it disinfected and will reduce this proud flesh. This needs to be done in the stage where the wound is fully closed over but the proud flesh is still very pink.

the other thing i would reccommend is a strong aloe vera gel, use this is the stage where the wound is still closing. It will get it to close faster.

talullah

ordinary star wrote: »

no i would not keep this bandaged. What you are looking at here is proud flesh, this will keep growing if it is kept bandaged.
you are doing a good job and the only thing now is to give it time.

After the wound has closed over on the inside, and you are left with just the proud flesh, I would pour undiluted milton onto the wound once a day. This keeps it disinfected and will reduce this proud flesh. This needs to be done in the stage where the wound is fully closed over but the proud flesh is still very pink.

the other thing i would reccommend is a strong aloe vera gel, use this is the stage where the wound is still closing. It will get it to close faster.

Thank you, never heard of using milton on proud flesh before. I'd have thought bandaging would help control proud flesh but since that developed whilst being bandaged, maybe it doesn't.

VMur

Honey is amazing for this sort of a wound. There is a lot of proud flesh occurring in this case, has the horse been on a course of penicillin?