Puncture in shoulder. . .

[Equine_Woman]

Sterling came in from the pasture this evening and I could tell she didn't feel good. I started looking her over and found a puncture wound on her shoulder that was closed and swollen and about 6 inches below it is a bit of edema. It's pretty chilly so I didn't want to just start hosing it off because it would get most of her body wet. I gave her some bute and came inside to let her finish eating and my husband said he saw it this morning when he fed. So what do you do with an old puncture that's already swelling. . .

It's about the size of a dime or so (the hole is) and the edema is the size of a plum or so. . .

I tell you what, these horses hurt themselves in pairs!!! Sonora had an abscess earlier this week that ruptured out her heal bulb and even though I've worked with her endlessly I can't get her to let me soak it for more than a minute. I've been hydro-ing her and it's doing much better. . . now it's on to her Mother.

[cloedoll]

Aww, your poor accident prone poneys. I would call the vet, but I call the vet a lot because I just hate chancing anything! Lol...I am sure that's not the right answer, though, but it's what I'd do. =)

[Equine_Woman]

Yeah I'm considering it. But I'm not quite there yet. . My vets aren't very good with stuff in general. They are pretty much cow vets so they will likely just give me some penicillin and tell me to hydro. . I think. ..

[lovesfortune]

I would be concerned with the swelling and it being infected. i think i would call my vet to give her an antibiotic or something. but i'm not qualified to deal with many horse injuries just yet.

I hope she heals up soon.

[Equine_Woman]

Well I can give her penicillin but I hate to do it. Penicillin and I are NOT friends. . . I guess I'm going to go out and hydro tonight, and figure out what to do tomorrow morning. . .

[lovesfortune]

Sorry I'm no help. Could you call the vet and see what he says? Or PM Ryle and ask for an opinion?

[Arrow]

Arrow just got a super nasty bite right on top of his butt--I cleaned it yesterday in the morning and evening, but today it was worse and oozing white pus. So I'm having the vet out tomorrow...ah, vet bills...hope your pony is o.k.!

[vicklynn]

Many many moons ago, I had a horse puncture himself. I hot washed it with diluted iodine, put sauve on it, and let it be. I did call the vet out, he said that I was doing what he would of done, had it been 1 inch closer to a tendon, he would of never been riden again.
City had a puncture wound here awhile back. I took him to the vet, he gave me an IV bag of solution, a big syringe(no needle) and told me to douse the wound 2 or 3 times a day. I did, the liquid, some of it, stayed in, eventually went away, but it took about 4 weeks to heal. I put medication on it also. He had had his tetnus, so you need to make sure your tetnus is done. As far as oral meds, I really dont remember on that one, he wasnt in pain, nor dealing with infection.

[JackieB]

Awww, poor Sterling and poor Arrow. Get well soon, ponies!

[Equine_Woman]

Arrow I hope Arrow gets better soon!!! Sonora had a bad bite on her butt when she was little and it was a nightmare!!!

I just went outside and checked on my girls. (and my frisky boy!) It seems like it's going to be okay. . .the edema is down a bit and none of it's hot to the touch. Still painful though. I'll hydro in the morning (when the sun is out!) and see if I can get the vet on the phone. . .sigh. It's kinda sad though cause Sterling has ZERO pain tolerance. She didn't want to even eat tonight because her neck being extended caused her shoulder to tighten. That's why she got bute. She seemed much perkier just a minute ago so I'm thinking the bute has kicked in.

[Mandzanita]

Is their heat to the swelling? You're most likely looking at an infection from something yucky that got trapped in the wound when it closed. Is there a scab you could pick off to try to re-open it? Sometimes if you re-open the puncture and really clean it out, it will heal ok. But once there is already infection you gotta get the antibiotics started. If you really can't call a vet I would start the Penicillin (if you know the proper dosage) and maybe give a little bute if you think she's in a fair amount of pain. I would probably have the vet take a look though.

Was typing at the same time :) I'm glad to hear she's doing ok! Poor little girl :( I'm dealing with a boo boo too...

[Equine_Woman]

Yeah, there's no heat at all. I have penicillin here, just have to get new syringes and needles tomorrow a.m. I'll call my vet and see what they say in the morning. Thanks everyone!! It's so nice to have you guys!! Makes keeping my horse at home more bearable!!! I sometimes miss being in a barn!! Ya'll are like my barn pals.

[vicklynn]

Ya'll are like my barn pals.

Awww, thats so sweet. Aint it fun, AND we never trip over anyone elses horse, how cool is that...lol

[Arrow]

Glad it looks like the pony is on the mend! Arrow would have this happen right before I move him--he's off to new stables tomorrow, and I'm sure he's going to get beat up a little there, not sure why he felt the need to get an early start. We had a couple of TWH's move in last week, and he's been hounding them unmercifully, so if it was one of them who nailed him, he kind of deserved it....still no fun going off to new digs with a bite in your ass...

[Equine_Woman]

Glad it looks like the pony is on the mend! Arrow would have this happen right before I move him--he's off to new stables tomorrow, and I'm sure he's going to get beat up a little there, not sure why he felt the need to get an early start. We had a couple of TWH's move in last week, and he's been hounding them unmercifully, so if it was one of them who nailed him, he kind of deserved it....still no fun going off to new digs with a bite in your ass...


Lol, no, never fun! Owy!

[Equine_Woman]

Awww, thats so sweet. Aint it fun, AND we never trip over anyone elses horse, how cool is that...lol

And as an added bonus you guys are at the barn until REALLY late sometimes!! lol

[Toodlestoo]

It's not near a shoulder joint at all, is it. We had a filly get a puncture hole in her knee and the area around the socket was holding infection until it blew out. It took over 6 months to get it cleaned out and healed--got proud flesh and all that good stuff. She's fine now but it was a tricky situation. Don't want to scare you but the vet said that sometimes punctures can go so deep, the infection starts way inside.

Hope she's doing well and doesn't have any of the problems I had.

[Equine_Woman]

Yikes!! Me too!!! I'm about to go out and check on her!!!! I'm hoping it will be a bit better this morning. It's on the flat part of her shoulder, below the bones and in the muscley area.

[Equine_Woman]

Whoo hoo!! It's not painful this morning and still not hot. There is about a silver dollar size edema still but none of it's painful. Think I dodged a bullet this time!!!

[Ryle]

As Mandzanita said, it would be a good idea to remove the scab and see if there is any drainage. Often puncture wounds can end up with bacteria or even foreign bodies trapped inside and can become a long-term problem if not cleaned out and drained.

Open it, flush it with a bit of betadine solution mixed with water to make a "weak tea" look. And then apply a topical antibiotic ointment. Standard first aid for puncture wound until the vet can assess it if it doesn't improve.

[Lynn_70]

I'd say she most likely needs antibiotics since the site is sealed up and there is swelling. It's probably trapped bacteria or even particles of something in there. I'd start with penicillin 2x day for 5 days and see if that does the trick. If it doesn't seem to be improving within a couple days, I'd call the vet. It could need to be incised at the lower end of the swelling to have drainage if it doesn't clear up on it's own with antibiotics.
Good luck!
Lynn

[Ryle]

I'd say she most likely needs antibiotics since the site is sealed up and there is swelling. It's probably trapped bacteria or even particles of something in there. I'd start with penicillin 2x day for 5 days and see if that does the trick. If it doesn't seem to be improving within a couple days, I'd call the vet. It could need to be incised at the lower end of the swelling to have drainage if it doesn't clear up on it's own with antibiotics.
Good luck!
Lynn

If you have bacteria or foreign particles trapped in an abcess, just giving antibiotics isn't going to resolve the matter. You need to remove the foreign material and drain the accumulation of pus as well. If this situation is such that she feels the horse needs antibiotics then she should really contact her vet to have the wound examined/explored.