My horse has a puncture wound

[animallover505]

How's she doing?

 

[Sass]

punctures in the joint are a very dangerous thing, and sometimes hard to predict how they will turn out, but it sounds like you got it early if shes still weight bearing, if the bacteria get in the joint, its very hard to treat a horse at the barn, usually its a clinic or nothing.. I hope shes doing ok though, and that you lucked out ! I have 12 horses, and do training, worked with an equine vet and dental specialist.. keep her on the antibiotics, hopefully she will be fine, best of luck!

 

[DelcoChix]

Updates? Hope she's doing better...sounds like a lovely mare.
Curious...is there a reason not to turn her out to promote circulation and drainage or did your vet recommend stall rest for a certain period of time until she was well on her way to healing? Just wondering. I can relate to keeping them stalled for any period of time...drives my girls nuts, especially when the rest are outside. I had a serious laminitis episode five years ago with my homebred 12 year old mare....LOTS of ground up pills, shots, and tlc for 3 months...but totally worth it as she's totally sound with no side effects and is taking my dd through her third year of 4-H...Best of luck. Sounds like you are doing everything you can.

 

[HudokFarm]

Thank you for the thoughts everyone!

She has been doing well. Her last antibiotic shots were yesterday. She has been turned out in our small paddock today and yesterday and is very much enjoying being outside again. The vet was concerned about turnout too soon after the injury as he did not want her moving much on the leg based on her lameness early on. These past few days, she has been 100% fine on the leg.

However, we do still have drainage. And it is the color of joint fluid. Her leg is starting to swell again when she is in the stall. At this point, it really looks like the joint was communicated by whatever punctured her leg. We are having the vet out again tomorrow. At her age, I would just not want to put her through surgery.

I will stand by what I have claimed I would do all along, and that is put her down if surgery is the only option. I am hoping that in the very worst case, I have given her a few more days of enjoyment of life. I have given her the past three years with her half-sister and they have been absolutely the best of friends. But I will not have her suffer through surgery at her age to make me feel better. I only hope that the vet has good news for us tomorrow.

Again, thank you all for your kind thoughts. She really is a great horse. I have a somewhat love-hate relationship with her, but I imagine most people do with horses like her. She has taught me so much. I hope I can continue to be strong for her and make the decisions that will be the least painful for her.

 

[Sass]

oh, such a shame to hear that.. have they checked to make sure theres no wood slivers in the puncture? sometimes that will act the same way, if shes still putting full weight on it, id hang on and try to keep her on antibiotics as long as shes enjoying herself for now, I did have a horse that embedded wood in her tendon area, xrays didn't show it, and it drained and drained, almost six weeks, same as yours , off and on painful and swelled, then it would leak pus and was really ugly, vets were fairly sure it was a joint involved, but i was out there and saw a black colored odd shape, i thought it was a bone chip, when i pulled it, it was a sliver of wood that had went in and lined up with her tendon, up to that point, it was a puncture wound, but once the stick was out, it closed up, and she was fine.. I hope the best for your mare, shes lucky to have you , I would do exactly what you are , try to squeak out some time as long as shes comfortable..

 

[HudokFarm]

The vet was out today and the swelling we were seeing was definitely NOT joint fluid! He said that she is definitely out of the woods and we just need to keep the wound covered until it closes. It will heal on its own now. So happy for my mare, she has been such a trooper through this entire ordeal.

Again, many thanks to all of you who offered support over the last several days. It has definitely helped me keep my head on straight!

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Oh yay!!!! Congrats!!!! Hopefully she heard him and will start healing!

 

[Roosterlover5]

Congrats!

 

[DelcoChix]

What great news! And forgive me if I totally missed the post but would you tell me the age of your mare? Again, just curious, sounds like she's a senior, and I can relate, having a 35+ year old pony and a 29 year old QH mare who's been with me for 27 years...totally with you on treating if possible but realizing that, finances aside, it's not always the "right" decision to keep them alive just to keep them alive. So glad she is on her way to recovery and it's worked out!

 

[HudokFarm]

Thanks, DelcoChix! Tsaharah is 23 and is my youngest horse. My other two are 25 and 26. I just love the oldies, especially with the bloodlines my horses come from. None of them look their ages and our vets and farrier are always so surprised when they hear their ages. T is my trail horse and I usually ride with friends who have an 8 year old and a 12 year old. My mare outlasts them all! She would have been a cool endurance horse with the right owner.