Need advice

[NORTH FLORIDA]

I have a 3yr QH that got into a barbwire fence. He has about a ten inch laceration from his frog up. The Vet sutured it and put a cast on to keep the sutures from pulling out. The cast has been on for 10days and is really starting to stink. I found some drainage from his wound on his hoof(small amount). He's on oral antibiotics once a day. My question is should I take the cast off to check for and treat infection and risk him busting it back open or should I rely on the oral antibiotics and wait longer?

 

[circlet]

what does your vet say?

if it's draining, i'd guess that's probably a good sign, but it's impossible for anyone on this forum to really know what's going on cause only you can see it. when i cut myself, i've always had the attitude that having the wound to the open air is good for it. however, i've never had a wound on my foot/leg where i've left it open and wandered around barefoot in manure all day.

if you're that concerned about the smell and possible infection ask the vet to take the cast off and examine it. he/she can then determine if you need a more powerful antibiotic and/or new cast.

 

[DrumRunner728]

My vet tells me that any wound below the shoulder level on a horse has about a 70% chance of breaking open before it's fully healed. I've found him to be right on the money so far with any injuries we've had.

If you kept the stitches in for a week or better, you've done a good job. If you're getting a peculiar odor, I'd first check with my vet IMMEDIATELY, but my inclination would be to remove the cast and bandages and get that wound cleaned up. The odor just doesn't sound good to me.

JMO

 

[NORTH FLORIDA]

How many days does it take for a laceration this size to heal?

 

[3MR]

I just had a horse get through some barbwire a few months ago. Very very nasty wounds on both back legs.

Are you calling an ace bandage a cast or do you have an actual hard cast?

I wont go through everything I did as you are past all that and the vet came out anyway but.....

I cut the soft cast/bandage off when it started to smell and replaced it. If I replaced it right away I didnt notice any negative effect.

Twice at the advice of a vet I didnt replace it and left it open . Both time she went down and couldnt get back up a few hours later. After I replaced the bandage she was able to get up within a few hours. The vet said to leave the bandages after that.

My advice would be to cut the bandage off if you do decide to remeove it, dont pull or unwind it. Clean the wound to your satisfaction and rebandage right away.

We also put her through a complete series of penn.

 

[3MR]

How many days does it take for a laceration this size to heal?

Long time! Especially on a leg.

 

[flaboy?]

I agree with both DrumRunner and 3MR. First see what the vet says. Actually I don't care what the vet says, at ten days the stitches should be in good shape. The stink is what I worry about. Stink equals infection. It needs to be cleaned IMHO regardless of what the vet says.

 

[NORTH FLORIDA]

He has on a hard cast(fiberglass) and I'm not sure if the stink is just cast on a horse in 98 degree weather or if its infection. If its had enough time, I would like to cut the cast off myself and look for infection. If it busts back open then I'm back to square one.

 

[Alan]

He has on a hard cast(fiberglass) and I'm not sure if the stink is just cast on a horse in 98 degree weather or if its infection. If its had enough time, I would like to cut the cast off myself and look for infection. If it busts back open then I'm back to square one.

Why not call your vet? Are you worried about the money? If you take the cast off and no problems then what? call the vet and try to explain why you cut off teh cast and didn't talk to him/her? A phone call is free.

Just questions to think about.
Alan

 

[3MR]

Yeah, I would call the vet.

 

[NORTH FLORIDA]

I will call my Vet first, but I respect the advice I get on this board. Vet's aren't psychic and will need to look at him. Then I will have to take off work, take a trip, and pay more. I have a $100 horse with a $500 cast. I will do what I need to, but some things I can do myself. Thanks for the advice.

 

[3MR]

I dont know that I would drag him into the vet. I would just call him and see what he says. Im guessing he/she is going to tell you one of two things. Cut the cast off and bandage or leave it on a few more days, then cut it off and bandage.

Continuing the antibiotics either way.

Course you may have one of those vets that dont want to tell the owner anything without looking at the animal. I dont know if they are just being safe or if they have dollar signs in their eyes.

 

[DrumRunner728]

North Florida, I have a 2 year old QH filly that had cosmetic surgery Monday morning on her left front leg - below the knee. She just could NOT stay out of the fences when she was little. The vet removed the knot that was there and also removed the scar tissue. She probably has stitches about 4" long. We were told to stall her or limit her activity - nothing larger than a round pen - for a week to 10 days. We are supposed to change the bandages every day. The vet said he would be surprised if she managed to keep the stitches in for the 2 weeks she needed to have them in - again because the injury was below the shoulder.

My barrel horse managed to cut the fool out of his upper right front leg about 3 weeks ago (Lord only knows on what). Same drill with the stitches. He managed to keep them in for about a week before he tore the incision open. One good thing - the vet says that by the time this happens there is usually enough healing tissue in place that you don't have to suture it again. He's healing well though - almost completely closed up now. The Doc did a good job of sewing him up!

I would really, really, really (I can't emphasize this enough) be worried about infection. Please check that for the sake of the horse.

 

[NORTH FLORIDA]

Well, 3mr you were right he said leave it on until Sat. Then cut it off. Thanks for sharing your experiences. I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[myvinnie]

Call your vet and have him look at your horse and see what he suggests cuz afterall he is the expert .

 

[chippie]

The stink is normal. It is from the wound's drainage. Call your vet and see if he/she needs to see it sooner.

Good luck with it.

 

[jersey lilly]

I agree with the stink being normal. I've just went thru 3 bad cuts on 2 different horses in the last six months. One was down to the bone, the others not. Only one was able to stitch closed, and at 10 days vet advised us to remove the stitches, and leave unwrapped. (was wrapped every day with new bandage those 10 days)
The cut that wasn't stitchable, was wrapped with what my vet called casting, which was lots of soft cotton battin lookin stuff, then vet wrap, then tape to be left on for three days, then changed (went thru this bandage changin for 5 months......every time it was removed it stunk like somethin dead. He's completely healed up now, and only had the rounds of antibiotics that were given at the equine hospital the first 10 days.
I'd still advise you to call your vet, since you say it's a hard cast. Not a whole lot you can do with that without his/her help.

 

[flaboy?]

The stink is normal. It is from the wound's drainage. Call your vet and see if he/she needs to see it sooner.

Good luck with it.

Ya lost me here partner. If stink is normal, why call the vet to see if he needs to see it sooner. :?:

Stink is normal for infection, which is why it needs to be cleaned.

 

[chippie]

Sorry if I was confusing. Sometimes the vet will want to change the cast sooner.

The stink is not due to infection, but due to the normal seepage from the wound. It is trapped inside the cast and thus stinks. The same thing happens if you leave a bandage on for a couple of days.

You pull off a stinky bandage and the wound looks good.

The stink does not necessarily mean that the wound is infected. I worked for Equine / mixed practice and am a Vet Tech for over 12 years.

It always surprises the owner to have a foul smelling wrap removed and have the injury healing well.

 

[Penridergirl]

Everyone is giving VERY sound advice.

An odor of any kind is something to check out. Of course, a hard cast will begin to stink even if there is no open wound under it due to the sloughing of hair, skin cells, dirt, sweat, etc. (Any one with a broken limb will tell you that fiberglass casts STINK!)

However, where your horse has an open wound under the cast that is foul smelling, I would definately get the horse back to the vet. The pus and drainage could be trapped under that cast along with the debris that is collecting there anyway. That combination could equal a greater problem than you already have.

What did your vet say about the possiblities of infections or proud flesh? Didn't the vet give you a time frame for the removal of the stitches and/or cast? If it were my horse I would be finding a second opinion if I wasn't satisfied with what the first vet had done or said. ;-)