To put it bluntly Sh!te :(

MrC

https://m.facebook.com/MrKiasLife/
Nov 10, 2014
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Kia’s been quiet the past few days and has dropped weight. Thought he was perhaps cold despite a 100g rug so popped a full neck on him with slightly more filling (150g) and brought him in over night to eat a few feeds and give him hay.

Came down tonight to bring him in and see this

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Not impressed to poultice is back on. Whilst poulticing I also notice two new holes in his sole so this abscess that we thought had drained and was done has now turned into a hydra and I think although not lame he has been feeling it. So he’s in tonight and tomorrow with it poulticed to see what comes out. I’ll assess him over the weekend.

Trying to poultice and treat a hoof when your backs out and you can’t bend over is no
Mean feat btw ;)
 
Sh!te indeed. Hope the damn thing is now going to drain completely and Kia feel better. Must have been bothering him when there’s so much to come out, poor fella.
 
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Poor boy :( and poor you, it's hard enough dealing with poultices when you feel ok but a million times worse if your back is buggered.
 
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I completely sympathise over over the bending to deal with horses' feet when one has a bad back. If you are bending your knees or kneeling to do this by suggestions is that if you are not already doing this, you wear a hard hat.
I have always worn my riding hat when working on the yard, in and out of boxes. No one else ever did - but there were accidents. Horses are big animals and they may accidentally knock one over. And one is less steady on one's feet when crouched down.
 
That's a good one, let's hope once it clears up he bounces back with a vengeance :) as its obviously a particularly nasty one maybe a cleantrax treatment might be helpful?
 
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That's a good one, let's hope once it clears up he bounces back with a vengeance :) as its obviously a particularly nasty one maybe a cleantrax treatment might be helpful?

I might order some. I’m going to check him tonight and if the poultice is clean I’ll flush all three holes and pack with antimicrobial hoof putty as apparently he’s driving himself crazy and has had to go in the sand paddock. So if he’s not eating then he will have to go back in the field. Can’t have him in hunger strike in the stable :(
 
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What a damn pain in the ass but I'm really glad he is sound and sending draining and eating vibes your way.
 
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He’s now lame again :( fetlock is puffy and holding some fluid, honestly!! Might be from him being in though.

I have a nice feed sack so. Going to leave him out over the weekend to try and walk it off if it’s no better then in he will Come to be poulticed and I’ll put the sack over it and he can go out in the sand paddock during the day with the poultice covered and in at night with a fresh one on.

Not sure what to do as he has the vets in the 19th so do I get the vet out for him not to be up to winter or do I see how he is then treat at the vets if he’s ok for winter.
 
How reasonable are your vets? If they tend to be the sensible sort who you can talk to & say that you think he's dropped off significantly at the same time as the foot problems and they'll allow for that then I'd be inclined to get them before the 19th so you can get their opinion on the foot & if needs be get him some pain relief for it. Otherwise I'd try to get the farrier out & see if he can locate an abscess & drain it, but I suspect it's deep seated so that may be easier said than done.

I'm thinking of you both xxx
 
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How comes he can't be out and poulticed?

It’s a 9.5 acre field and I’d be guaranteed the poultice would come off eithe that or one of the nosey youngsters would remove it for him :rolleyes: he let them too as he hates having boots etc on his hooves so I was glad when he transitioned without them lol

@carthorse I’m torn, sometimes vets can be reasonable sometimes they can’t I do think this abscess is deep hence why the new holes in the sole :( I’m going to speak to my farrier as he will charge me petrol money as he lives along the road near my house but if I call the vets they will charge me the full whack I think. Last call out cost me £180 for exam and medicines :confused: as we thought he had pelvic or hip problems. He was tender over those areas and showed pain response but it could have been how he was holding himself.

He is getting 1 sachet of bute a day and also devilsclaw, turmeric,cinnamon with glucosamine and MSM all mixed together and a joint lick to have a bash at as well. So trying to cover the bases :(
 
Truth told I have more faith in farriers with this sort of thing anyway, so if you can get hold of him then that's what I'd do. If he can find something then I'd be tempted to move the vet back a couple of weeks to see if he puts a bit of weight back on once he isn't hurting x
 
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Yep I’ve had vets take a knife to the sole and bring blood :confused: never had a farrier do that. Don’t know what hed so to the coronet band though, been trying to research digging things out of there and I can’t really find anything other than full blown ops so anyone whose had one dug out of there I’d be interested in the experience?

Honestly I’d rather not be taking him to the vets at all if I’m brutally honest about how I feel but I know I can’t keep going the way we are. I was feeding 4/5 feeds a day from November last year and I can’t go through it again, honestly had sleepless night, crying every time I took his rug off, the only reason I kept going was he still had his character, that’s starting to become less and less now he’s now just acting like an old horse disinterested in stuff, doesn’t come to call, walks really slowly, lip hanging and looking sedated. I think the cushings really is taking a hold of him and he can’t tolerate a higher dose :( :( :( rock and hard place. I need a time machine x
 
It's probably not an abscess at the coronet band though, more likely it's one that's deep in the hoof and so the coronet band is the easiest route out. If he could find where in the hoof it is & make an easier exit route then that's the way it would go instead.

When did you last try a higher dose of prascend? He may not have tolerated it if he didn't need it, but that might have changed. Of you could try feeding a good form of agnus castus / chastetree berry alongside the prascend to see if that helps. It had crossed my mind that recurring abscesses & weight loss might mean a higher dose was called for, but at the same time this year has been a hard one anyway so I didn't want to make 1+1=5.

It's always so hard to know what to do, and if I'm honest there are regrets whatever decisions you make. You know him so well, if your head & heart are both starting to agree then maybe it's getting close to time x
 
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Tried early summer and last autumn/winter as well. I get him to 1.75mg and he starts to stop eating as well and gets depressed. I persisted for 6weeks until eventually I couldn’t do it anymore. He tolerates 1.5mg but he doesn’t seem to tolerate anymore.

I was sure I read an article that @Jessey found saying prascend and Agnus castus worked against each other, I had been doing that at first and feeding cush care :)
 
He’s now lame again :( fetlock is puffy and holding some fluid, honestly!! Might be from him being in though.
I would be thinking that or an infection is taking hold and travelling up?
The hoof is compromised with whatever crap came out.
 
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