Abscesses Abound

Holy freaking hell, people. I am not making this up. Speedy went back to Bakersfield Large Animal Hospital (BLAH) again on Monday to figure out why his abscess hadn't healed after more than a week. This makes three visits for abscesses.

Dr. Tolley checking for a digital pulse.

I was on the phone every day last week consulting with Dr. Gonzalez about Speedy's abscess. While Speedy never got better, he did show some improvement. Dr. Gonzalez explained that abscesses in the horse's bar can be particularly painful and slow to heal. When I got back from the CDS Annual Meeting and saw that Speedy was no better, I put in a quick call to BLAH asking if I could bring Speedy back in. This time it was Dr. Tolley who was on duty.

Checking out the first drainage hole.

When I asked Dr. Tolley where exactly the "bar" was, he was quick to drag his finger alongside the frog. Showing my lack of knowledge here, but I had always thought the bar was the edge of the hoof where the below diagram shows the quarter. Oops, glad Dr. Tolley cleared that up for me. This is why I love him; he's always happy to teach me something new.

Image borrowed from the internet.

Dr. Tolley went on to explain that the sole wraps around onto itself forming a layer called the bar. Abscesses form in that spot because there is the possibility for something to squeeze between the layers.

After putting the hoof testers on and getting a loud OUCH! from Speedy, Dr. Tolley knew the abscess was still festering. He pulled out a special set of knives (they were really cool) and slowly started paring away at Speedy's sole.

I am always so fascinated by this stuff. I just wish it were happening to someone else's horse.

In no time at all, liquid poured out of the hole in a volume that I've never seen in an abscess. Not that my data sample is particularly large. In fact, it's actually quite small, but still, a lot of fluid came pouring out.

The red is from Betadine, not blood. If you look closely, you can see the fluid dripping off Speedy's toe.

Dr. Tolley scraped away layer after layer of sole, allowing fluid to drain out after every cut. No wonder Speedy has been so sore. That abscess was filled with liquid that was putting a ton of pressure on the internal structures of the hoof.

The original drainage hold is that bright red spot to the right of the frog.

In the above photo you can see how deep the new hole is. Dr. Tolley referred to it as a subsolar abscess because the pocket of pus was well beneath the sole. Speedy's treatment will continue to include every-other-day wrapping for a week. Dr. Tolley felt confident that Speedy should be back to work in less than two weeks.

I certainly hope so. More important than riding is that Speedy start to feel better. It has to be pretty discouraging to wake up day after day with a pounding "headache" in your foot. Keep your fingers crossed that we finally have this problem beat!