The case of Dee's Scratches #3
September 6, 2009 - Time seemed to be moving right along and my poor sweet little Dee was not getting any better. She had lost a good bit of weight, and I was really at a loss as to where to turn next. I had given up on the second round of Silver Sulfadianzine cream after using a little over half. I found some information online that indicated someone had some success with a product called MTG Shapleys. I just happened to have some of this product in my tack room and decided that I would try it. At the same time that I decided to try the MTG I also started covering the sores - the flies were literally covering up her legs, and I was sure they could only make things worse. I did this for about four days, then I noticed that with the MTG on the legs, the flies weren't quite so bad, so I stopped covering them (something in me told me covering was not the best idea). I decided that in order to see if there was any improvement that could be credited to the MTG, I needed to take pictures, so I have a few pics taken on 9/6/09. I also used these pictures to send out to others and to post on a couple of forums to try to solicit more help and information.
I know her feet are getting long at this point, but have not been able to trim because she is in so much pain.
September 13, 2009 - One week since the last pictures and I am still treating the scratches with MTG twice per day. I am no longer cleaning the area once per day, only every third day or so when they get real dirty. I have corrals that have been filled with pea gravel and decided to lock her in one of them by herself. One to keep her legs cleaner, and another to protect her from our gelding - he had been more aggresive towards her and she had new marks and scraps where he had been biting at her. I called the local vet back at some point in here to ask about some oral antibiotics, but he did not think it would do any good. I have taken pictures again just to document the progress (or lack of) that has been made. She is getting thinner, and it is obviously painful for her to move. I decided to track down another vet on Monday. We really do have a need for an equine specialist in this area! I was able to trim her feet on Saturday, Sept 12...not as much as I thought she needed, but enough to keep her comfortable.
These pics were taken after a good cleaning...it looks much worse when dirty...but this looks pretty painful, doesn't it? By this time, cleaning is a huge effort and a real test of my patience, and her tolerance. She is in pain. Thank goodness for techniques I've learned while studying Parelli Natural Horsemanship...she hasn't tried to take me out yet, she only steps away from the pain instead of coming after the source!
September 20, 2009 - I called a vet in the Las Cruces area who had come out to float the Arab's teeth on one occasion. I had to leave a message and she called me back on Tuesday. She could not come until the next week, but we went ahead and made an appointment for her to come out on Monday, Sept 21 in the afternoon. She suggested that I use a 90/10 bleach mixture a spray it on the effected areas in the meantime. On Thursday morning, however, Dee was so uncomfortable - she could barely move at all and when I looked at her, my first thought was "I'm going to lose her!" She looked bad - I could tell she had just about had all she could take. I started calling all over the place. There is a vet clinic in Arenas Valley, close to Silver City who has a really good equine vet, but I knew he had started working for one of the Universities in the state and probably wasn't around. I called them anyway and the new vet there agreed to see her that afternoon if I could get her there. I was glad I took her, because he noticed right away that she was not beating this infection on her own and needed help. He tested her liver and kidney function and although I think he was expecting to find something really bad, it came back normal, and in the same relative range as the original tests done almost two months ago. There were two elevated levels, one for CK - which he indicated would show she was in pain, and one for GLOB - which he indicated would show she had an infection. He gave her a shot of Penicillin, and shot of Dexasone - then sends me home with nine days worth of Tucoprim, 6 days of Azium and some special "Scratches Oinment". Now it's three days later and I am taking more pics. Dee is feeling much better, starting to move normally, and the sores are looking better as well, although it may be hard to tell with the pics. This vet said no need to clean as much, so I'm just applying the new goo twice per day and Dee is allowing me to do so with less fidgeting and I don't even need the halter. So...things are looking better! Let's hope the trend stays.
You can see that I did not wash first this time, and you can also see the large areas where scabs are starting to come loose and fall off. Most of this happens while I'm treating it and I do my best to pick up the scabs and get rid of them instead of leaving them laying in her corral.
Here is a picture of her, also taken on the 20th...just to give you an idea of the weight loss...you can check out the "And then there were three" post below to see how she looked in May of 09.
I know her feet are getting long at this point, but have not been able to trim because she is in so much pain.
September 13, 2009 - One week since the last pictures and I am still treating the scratches with MTG twice per day. I am no longer cleaning the area once per day, only every third day or so when they get real dirty. I have corrals that have been filled with pea gravel and decided to lock her in one of them by herself. One to keep her legs cleaner, and another to protect her from our gelding - he had been more aggresive towards her and she had new marks and scraps where he had been biting at her. I called the local vet back at some point in here to ask about some oral antibiotics, but he did not think it would do any good. I have taken pictures again just to document the progress (or lack of) that has been made. She is getting thinner, and it is obviously painful for her to move. I decided to track down another vet on Monday. We really do have a need for an equine specialist in this area! I was able to trim her feet on Saturday, Sept 12...not as much as I thought she needed, but enough to keep her comfortable.
These pics were taken after a good cleaning...it looks much worse when dirty...but this looks pretty painful, doesn't it? By this time, cleaning is a huge effort and a real test of my patience, and her tolerance. She is in pain. Thank goodness for techniques I've learned while studying Parelli Natural Horsemanship...she hasn't tried to take me out yet, she only steps away from the pain instead of coming after the source!
September 20, 2009 - I called a vet in the Las Cruces area who had come out to float the Arab's teeth on one occasion. I had to leave a message and she called me back on Tuesday. She could not come until the next week, but we went ahead and made an appointment for her to come out on Monday, Sept 21 in the afternoon. She suggested that I use a 90/10 bleach mixture a spray it on the effected areas in the meantime. On Thursday morning, however, Dee was so uncomfortable - she could barely move at all and when I looked at her, my first thought was "I'm going to lose her!" She looked bad - I could tell she had just about had all she could take. I started calling all over the place. There is a vet clinic in Arenas Valley, close to Silver City who has a really good equine vet, but I knew he had started working for one of the Universities in the state and probably wasn't around. I called them anyway and the new vet there agreed to see her that afternoon if I could get her there. I was glad I took her, because he noticed right away that she was not beating this infection on her own and needed help. He tested her liver and kidney function and although I think he was expecting to find something really bad, it came back normal, and in the same relative range as the original tests done almost two months ago. There were two elevated levels, one for CK - which he indicated would show she was in pain, and one for GLOB - which he indicated would show she had an infection. He gave her a shot of Penicillin, and shot of Dexasone - then sends me home with nine days worth of Tucoprim, 6 days of Azium and some special "Scratches Oinment". Now it's three days later and I am taking more pics. Dee is feeling much better, starting to move normally, and the sores are looking better as well, although it may be hard to tell with the pics. This vet said no need to clean as much, so I'm just applying the new goo twice per day and Dee is allowing me to do so with less fidgeting and I don't even need the halter. So...things are looking better! Let's hope the trend stays.
You can see that I did not wash first this time, and you can also see the large areas where scabs are starting to come loose and fall off. Most of this happens while I'm treating it and I do my best to pick up the scabs and get rid of them instead of leaving them laying in her corral.
Here is a picture of her, also taken on the 20th...just to give you an idea of the weight loss...you can check out the "And then there were three" post below to see how she looked in May of 09.
Comments
Post a Comment