Thursday, October 7, 2010

More Bumps..............The Second Treatment



Part 1

Monday morning it appeared to me the colt showed no more improvement. There might have been a small decrease in swelling in the right hock but other than that he seemed to be about the same. That worried me a little, I had hoped for a continuation of the improvement we'd received once the antibiotics had been started.

It was mid afternoon before the first results from the original culture arrived. So far the bacteria that had grown was a beta hemolytic strep, not the easiest to treat but not the most difficult either. The disturbing part of the report was the statement, "More to come" which meant something else was growing but it hadn't been identified yet.

I'd been hoping for a definite answer from the lab. I was not prepared for the possibility there could be something else we were dealing with. There's nothing I hate more than dangling but that' what I was doing again.



Tuesday morning there were definite signs of improvement in the colt. His appetite was near normal and he was moving around much more. Sometimes he was even putting real weight on his right hind foot. I tried to tell myself these were good signs but a nagging little voice knew that these sneaking infections that attack limbs can do misleading things. As much as I hoped everything was getting better, I wasn't ready yet to believe that it was. The waiting and watching continued

Wednesday afternoon the colt was due to have another injection of antibiotic in his hock. After checking his condition, I called the vet to set that appointment up and give him a status report.

The colt was getting feisty and pretty unhappy about being cooped up in his stall. He'd tried to sneak past Lindsay to make his escape when she was cleaning his stall . The swelling in the hock had diminished and the colt was walking on that foot near normal. It had been nearly thirty-six hours since any puss had emerged from the wounds in the colt's hock, all good signs, or so you would think. I wanted to believe that, I really did but something told me I shouldn't get ahead of things.

When the vet arrived he confirmed my misgivings. The colt did look good and giving him that injection in the sheath of his tendon took three of us. The bad news was the infection had migrated even higher up the leg. As we were wrestling the colt to secure him so the vet could give him that shot, two wounds broke open far up the inside of his right leg and the puss was once again squirting everywhere.

What was the reason behind the confusing indications? The infection around the joint was getting better taking pressure off the joint making the colt more comfortable BUT the infection was still alive, and unfortunately, doing pretty well escaping the antibiotic by moving above the original injection site. I asked my vet how far the infection could travel and his answer, "Pretty darn far!"

Where does that leave us? Well, this current injection of antibiotics is good for 7 days. I am doing hot compresses at least twice a day on and above the wounds trying to draw out all the puss I can. We're hoping it will be enough to kill this thing.

If it isn't, we'll have to begin a new course of antibiotics. This time we'll use an antibiotic the lab has tested against the cultures we've grown to determine one that will be the most effective. In the meantime, we wait and hope the infection doesn't do anymore travelling.

Sorry about the quality of the first picture. Every time I break out the camera, he heads towards Dare on the other side of the wall and the sunlight kills the shot. I keep trying to get a more recent pic of his pretty little face and this is the best I've been able to do.

A Light at the End of the Tunnel

Visit Blog Village and vote daily for this blog Here They are now measuring the rankings by votes out, so if you find my blog on the site, please click that link too to improve my rankings. TY

9 comments:

  1. C'mon little guy, I'm rooting for you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Would it help to poultice the sites? I use a really good but benign glycerin epsom salt poultice that works a treat

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ask your vet first, but I have found Ichthamol ointment to be like gold when it comes to pulling out pus and getting rid of infection. It's a drawing salve, and I get it from the people pharmacy. Smells terrible and looks like tar, but it sure does work miracles :o)
    Sure hope your little guy turns out to be all right!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'd put some peroxide in his drinking water, I killed a MRSA infection in myself by drinking peroxide. It will purify the blood. If you want to spend more money, you can do chelation, it will accomplish the same thing.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hang in there colt! I hope you see some improvement with the new round of antibiotics...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Mikeal - I just went to blog village to vote, and I accidentally gave your blog a 9 out of 10 instead of a 10. I am sorry :(. I will vote a 10, 10 more times to make it up!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Aww poor guy, hes quite a little trooper to have to put up with all that stuff in his life so far. Hope hes getting better.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I mentioned what your vet said to my daughter, and she brought up gmo. Most of the corn available in this country is now gmo and honest research now reveals that it is nasty stuff having horrible effects on animals and humans. Wonder if this might be the root of the problem???

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh MiKael, I'm so sorry to read all of this. My thoughts and prayers are with you and the little fellow.

    ReplyDelete