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Post by risingrainbow on May 9, 2007 13:14:35 GMT -5
I have a mess here and I'm at my wits end on how to deal with it. I have a beautiful yearling filly that somehow managed to get a huge cut to her upper front leg. I think the wound had over 40 stitches to start with. Luckily the tendons and ligaments were only badly bruised. But I can't keep this filly from picking at her wound. I have tried everything I can think of and now she has almost all of the stitches ripped out and has done more damage to the wound besides.
She is only a yearling so a neck cradle or one of those muzzle things that allows them to eat and drink through it are just way too big for her. I have tried putting jeans on her but she gets them off and does damage the the wound in the process. The same is true for keeping it wrapped. She gets the dressing off and tears the wound while doing it. I have tried the spray on icky tasting stuff, she just doesn't care.
I need to get something figured out. If I can't keep this clean and SAFE from more damage this filly could end up nothing more than a pasture ornament, or worse, she could get infected and even die with this kind of interference from her. I am beside myself.
I have yet another call into the vet to clean up the damage she's done overnight. I know he's getting as frustrated about this as I am. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
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Post by coloredarab on May 9, 2007 14:28:27 GMT -5
MiKael, they make grazing muzzles in pony and mini sizes. I know Valley Vet has them. And they overnight too. (Not the cheapest thing to do, but you may have no choice) Good luck. I hope your filly is OK.
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Post by risingrainbow on May 9, 2007 16:12:33 GMT -5
MiKael, they make grazing muzzles in pony and mini sizes. I know Valley Vet has them. And they overnight too. (Not the cheapest thing to do, but you may have no choice) Good luck. I hope your filly is OK. Thanks for the information. I didn't know that. The vet just left. He had to cut off over half of the flap from the wound because she had trashed it so bad. So now she has a big open wound that covers about half of the top from of her leg. She's rubbing it against the walls and stuff so a grazing muzzle and a cradle both won't work. It looks like we're going to have to cross tie her and sedate her. She'll have to be monitored all the time she is down to eat and drink and hand walked several times a day to keep her gut working properly. This time last year I was doing intensive care with the twins, now it looks like I'm going to be doing it with this filly. Sure hope she comes through as well as they have.
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Post by coloredarab on May 9, 2007 20:08:56 GMT -5
Oh, that's too bad! It must be itchy and irritated so she's rubbing it on stuff. I hope she has a speedy and full recovery and you can keep your sanity through it all! Sometimes no matter what we do to keep them safe, they find ways to foil our plans and good efforts. Certainly been there, done that! Best of luck to you both.
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kitcat0601
Outhouse Monitor
Smooth Flyin' Jet AKA: "Rocky"
Posts: 249
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Post by kitcat0601 on May 10, 2007 8:09:28 GMT -5
Do you have vetwrap on it? Im surprised she can chew through that stuff. I have a hard time cutting it. Also, if you start getting proudflesh there is somthing called Equiaid that is great. Its an anitbacterial agent as well.
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Post by Blacklabs on May 10, 2007 10:20:27 GMT -5
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Post by risingrainbow on May 10, 2007 14:22:41 GMT -5
Do you have vetwrap on it? Im surprised she can chew through that stuff. I have a hard time cutting it. Also, if you start getting proudflesh there is somthing called Equiaid that is great. Its an anitbacterial agent as well. It doesn't have vetwrap on it, it has elasticon which is just as tough if not tougher than vetwrap and she still manages to rub it off the wound and in the process destroy the tissue and tear stictches. She doesn't get it totally off her leg but gets it rubbed down past the entire wound. The dressing ends up around her ankle and then she continues to rub on the wound. We are using the Equi-Aid on the wound three times a day hoping to help with the proud flesh and alleviate the itching. But it takes two able bodied and knowledgable horse people to put it on. It's kind of wierd, if you ask me, she's trashing the thing all to heck and she's ok with that but if we even make it tingle a little she's throwing an ever loving fit. Baby horses.....you just never know. I'm hoping she gets better as we go along, in the meantime, I feel like I've been wrestling with a gorilla. Labs the sheet won't work for a couple of reasons. She's not chewing on her wound, she's rubbing it against things. And the wound is on the upper part of her leg below the sheet edge. I had thought I could put an extension on a sheet until we figured out she wasn't chewing but rubbing it against the walls. door edges, buckets, you name it, she used it..... She did ok in the cross ties last night. I let her down to eat and drink and sit and monitor the whole time she is down. I'm also taking her out and hwalking her once an hour so we can be sure her gut continues to be stimulated. Standing for that much time could otherwise cause problems. I've only sedated her once when I first put her into the cross ties. She was fine with the door open but got really stressed when we closed the doors. She's doing good with it now though. If she continues to be so naughty for the application of the equi- aid I may have to sedate her to do that, but I'd rather not if at all possible. In the meantime cross your fingers and pray. What worries me the most about this is the possibility of septicemia, young horses seem to be more susceptible than older ones and with this much interence in the healing process, she's a prime candidate for something to go wrong. The longer this takes to heal the more rish there is and we should be halfway to healed and instead we've gone backwards.
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Post by pjpasture on May 10, 2007 15:39:41 GMT -5
Sorry to hear about your filly! I had a yearling filly with a very deep wound from the top of her leg to her knee well over 100 stitches and staples! The vet wanted her kept in a stall for weeks... no matter what we tried she would rub and bite at her wound and had a lot of the stitches pulled out . About 4 days into it I figured what could it possibly hurt to just turn her out... she is killing herself in the stall... so I turned her out.. and guess what she left it alone. She was on an antibiotic and my vet had me run very warm water over her wound as many times a day as I could . It was July so it was warm out and she learned quickly to enjoy the bath a couple times a day. The filly healed and you could not even see her scar unless you were right up close looking for it! I truly believe the warm water therapy was the trick! My vet is still amazed she even lived let alone healed so nice. Animals have an amazing ability to heal. I will keep your filly in my prayers for a fast recovery!
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kitcat0601
Outhouse Monitor
Smooth Flyin' Jet AKA: "Rocky"
Posts: 249
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Post by kitcat0601 on May 11, 2007 7:49:40 GMT -5
My foal has had this would since birth, so when I change the bandage he picks his leg up and holds it there for me. Its like a part of his life. Its strange how he accepts it. I bet when its trimming time that will be the leg he wont hold up for the farrier,lol. Its almost like you need to wrap the leg in bubble wrap Good luck with her, I know its a tireing and frustrating thing to deal with especially when she doesnt cooperate.
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Post by msbuster on May 11, 2007 15:51:24 GMT -5
Not knowing where this wound is located I am going to suggest what we did with a mare here that wouldn't leave a torn heal alone. We took an old leather boot and cut the lower part of the boot off. You then lace up the boot around the leg. It is something they cannot remove and keeps the area covered so the bandage can do its job.
Good luck with your filly. They can be so frustrating when they keep sabotaging them selves!
Shawn
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Post by mutantatoms on May 11, 2007 19:32:09 GMT -5
We had a mare with a similar injury (if I'm thinking the right area) and we rigged a hockey shin guard with some scrap leather and a part of a martingale. It was an interesting contraption but it kept it from sliding down or turning. Plus any rubbing just slid off the plastic. Watch for rubbing where the martingale goes around the neck, but it already sounds like you have a labor intensive wound! Good luck.
Ellen
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Post by sassy1 on May 11, 2007 23:37:39 GMT -5
Have you tried sticking a wrap of elastoplast around the leg as an anchor for the vetwrap? I.E. above the wound area and then vetwrap? This may be of interest for you to look at some of the results that people here in Australia have had with Equaide www.eques.com.au/discus/messages/38/57575.html?1146631340Good Luck with you filly.
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Post by risingrainbow on May 13, 2007 12:13:24 GMT -5
thanks for all the input everyone, I really appreciate it. You've been a huge help.
The wound begins right at the top of her right forearm so it's really been tough to keep the dressing in place. I think she has pretty much trashed all of the stitches now and it's mostly an open wound. It has become infected. It's been so frustrating and I pray we don't lose her over this.
Yesterday, I got shin guards and have jury rigged that with a couple of cotton reins tying it up and over her back and around her stomach (did this over the top of a sheet to protect her from rubs) so far this seems to be keeping the dressing in place. We're keeping our fingers crossed.
I'm going to try and do daily dressing changes if she will let me. She's really had enough and it takes two people and a twitch to even sedate her to attempt dressing changes. (I've never had to resort to these kinds of tactics with my horses, so it's breaking my heart to manhandle her) and am planning to put hot compresses on the wound while the dressing is off.
If all else fails, I would be willing to just throw her outside to see if that would work but she badly bruised the ligaments and tendons. I'm really worried about further damage to them so that will have to be an absolute last resort.
Thanks again for all your suggestions. It has sure help me come up with some options.
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Post by Blacklabs on May 13, 2007 13:16:18 GMT -5
Once you have got the device in place to stabilize.What do you use for the wound? I sold Wound Care dressing to hospitals and nurse homes and can give suggestions.Of course nothing approved on horses but works on humans including infected wounds.
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Post by seawaif on May 13, 2007 13:42:41 GMT -5
Sounds as if she needs something like fishing waders that can be slipped up around the entire forearm and attached around the girth and neck with suspenders. Then she could rub away and not dislodge the dang thing.
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