Trouble with Bullet.

[Petra]

Bullet was acting weird today - wouldn't let my husband closer than 10 feet to her. Even though she didn't let him to come close, she allowed me to look at her (only after he was out of sight). So I found this pretty deep cut on her fetlock. I wanted him to come and look - but she totally freaked out.
The hair in that area was pretty long and since I groomed the girls at dark past two days I haven't noticed it. It wasn't bleeding any more and she wasn't limping, but I guess it must be bothering her. It looked at least a day or two old and it was all draining liquid. Didn't look very good. I'm not sure if it's not getting infected. It kind of had pieces of wet scabs and a lot of debris in it. I wanted to call the vet but his office was already closed.
It's not a real emergency, so I decided to wait until tomorrow to call him.
Anyways I wanted to at least clean it out. Bullet is the most shy of my girls. It took several months before she would even allow me to walk up to her. She is still very head shy. My hopes to clean it weren't very high. I wasn't even sure if she will let me lift her foot. I guess she must have felt I want to help her. She gave me her foot...that was good. So I took a little scissors and started to cut out all the hair that was in the way. Got through that quite well. She was just little uncomfortable. Now came the trickier part. I had a bucked with water and a towel so I tried to wash it off - as soon as the water hit it she freaked out. I thought she is going to break the halter. I calmed her down and tried again. Amazingly she gave me her foot again! So I took the towel again while reassuring her that she will be OK - she let me clean off the scabs and all the debris! I got antibiotic cream and covered the whole wound with it. The only thing for disinfection I had was a bottle of rubbing alcohol. I poured it on and backed out of there knowing what was coming. Some more freaking out and attempts to rear - luckily she was tied short enough not to be able to do a full rear. Last thing I would need for her to flip over. The halter didn't break and I managed to calm her down again! We still weren't done. I needed to wrap it up. I thought it was a miracle she let me get to her foot again! At this time I was singing to her just so she stays calm. I managed to wrap it up!
I gave her a bucket of feed to calm her and kept her away from the other horses. I guess it made her sore because now she was favoring the leg for a while. She is walking OK now. Even trotted and no limping! I think if I'll just keep cleaning it and applying antibiotic cream she should be fine - it will heal. (There was no puss in it and the area is not swollen either) I still need the vet come down to give her a tetanus shot - just to be safe.
I am still in shock she allowed me to help her. Especially after seeing that my husband wasn't even allowed anywhere close to her. She is not very good with people. I'm not sure if she will let the vet touch her either. I'll have her tied before he shows up. That should help. I will need him to check it...he may have to sedate her so she doesn't try to kill him though.
I'll take some pictures of it tomorrow - today it was not possible.
What a day!

[WashingtonBay]

You've got guts and tenacity... and that alone will solve a lot of problems! Good job. Hopefully it's better by morning. The tetanus booster is a good idea. And the vet can sedate her a little if it needs further doctoring.

[alittleoffkey]

That's wonderful that she did so well (with you)! That's just awesome, I hope she lets the vet look at it. If it helps to keep her calm, sing while the vet's there as well, he'll survive. :)

[vicklynn]

Isnt that an awesome feeling when dealing with a horse like that!!!!
I thought of Storm through your whole experience and smiled.
I use triple antibiotic on some cuts and it works wonders.
Im so glad she trusted you enough to get the job done!!:clap:

[oursarge]

What WB Said! Poor Bullet, hope she will be OK. When my Dommie got a bad cut I put Cut Heal on it then had the vet out to check him and give him a Tetenus booster. There was no infection he told me to keep putting the Cut Heal on. He was used to Dommie trying to kill him, that's how we knew he was really so sick, he let the vet touch him, normally it was a fight with him trying to kill the poor guy. Thankfully he was good natured about it, lots of people would not want to treat a horse who hated them so much. I think Dommie had a bad experience with a vet long ago because he had a bad scar on his front leg. My boys now love the dr so that makes him happy. They pretty much love everyone!

I am really glad Bullet trusts you so much and I really hope she will be fine. You are doing such a good job with your horses.

[Petra]

Thanks everyone!
I just got back from feeding them. She is still slightly favoring the leg but nothing really bad.

I'm not sure I should sing while the vet is here:eek:...he may prefer the sedatives over my singing lol. :D

[JackieB]

Awww, you're a regular horse whisperer, Petra. I'm not surprised that she let you help her.

Alcohol?! Jeepers! Get some hydrogen peroxide.

I also love, love, love Veterinus Derma Gel. You have to get it by prescription from you vet, but it's a gel that forms a healing barrier over a wound and is wonderful for cuts. Ask your vet about it.

http://www.derma-gel.com/

[Petra]

Thanks JackieB.
I normally keep peroxide at home but it was all used up and I didn't realize I'm out.
I needed to clean it somehow...The only thing I had was the rubbing alcohol.
I'm going to ask the vet about the gel you have suggested. It will be nice to have something like that - Thank you!
Bullet is always getting scratches or cuts - never had one this deep before while with me. She must have had a bad one before we got her - she has a big scar on her inner thigh. She is just one of those horses...looking for accidents.

[Petra]

So I went to the vet today. Explained to him what happened. He said that he can come over, but all he is going to tell me is say "yeah she got cut and than not do anything I couldn't do myself. He asked me if I think I can handle cleaning it out and felt like I can manage. So he gave me a tetanus shot for her and this really good spray that takes care of all kinds of infections. I have used it before on a sick possum and it really worked great. I forgot the name of it...left it in a tack shed.
He said that I need to do this every day and keep it clean.
While I was there I asked him about rabies shots - he gave me 4 of those too.
So my girls all got rabies shots today and Bullet got a tetanus shot too.
I cleaned it out and did as he told me.
Here are couple of pictures.

[WashingtonBay]

Yikes... that is a pretty good cut.

And it's in a bad place if it's going to want to open when she walks.

I hope it heals up fine... Nice wrap job :) Tell her to leave it alone and stay out of the mud!

[dame_wolf]

OMG look at that cut! I'm glad she let you help her! Wow!

[Petra]

Thanks!
Not sure about the mud. It's supposed to rain today and tomorrow. I wrapped it good though - She has a sterille gauze under it and there are few layers of the wrap - so the mud shouldn't get in. She was freaking out again - especially after I sprayed it. At least she let me finish it. I think she knew what was coming today - didn't want to be tied in the same spot. It's weird that she associates the location to the pain rather than me. I was worried she will not let me touch her after yesterday...but she did!
And before I went to clean this she got her shots too! The rabies one was just a small needle - she didn't like it, but didn't freak too bad. The tetanus one had a big thick needle - really didn't enjoy that one.

[JackieB]

Geez Petra, now you are becoming a veterinarian, too! That's quite a wound, but I would expect it to heal nicely under your care. Keep us posted.

[Petra]

Lol JackieB.
I'm very lucky to have a wonderful vet! I don't know what I would do without him.
He really trusts me with my animals.
I'm sure it will heal just fine. I forgot about this spray - I've used it on very infected wound before - the flash was dieing and the animal had a blood poisoning. I couldn't take it to the vet, but I described what the problem was and he helped me. Took two months but it healed up!