Abscess, Round Two

So last Thursday I had Dr. N back out to recheck Gus's LF hoof. He was still "off" on it, but not all the time and no real rhyme or reason. Go figure, typical Gus-style of lameness.

Rather then even bother pulling out the x-ray machine (which is the direction that I was mentally headed with Gus's lameness issues) Dr. N pulled out the hoof testers and hoof knife. Found another abscess. Same hoof, same area, just a tad farther into the middle of the sole.

Gus was VERY tender in this general area when the hoof testers were applied. He was not at all happy, and who can blame him? 

So, back to the whole soaking, wrapping, booting routine - least for another week or two, until we're hopefully for sure over this abscess crap. 

Here's photos from today's session. The original wrap that I applied on Thursday morning lasted all the way until today. Awesome that it lasted so long, but crappy because it really should have been changed daily - least during these first few days where risk of infection is greater. 

You can tell that it's definitely still oozy, especially notable in the second picture, pictured above. I was amazed how much stuff was on the Animalintex pad that I had used on the original wrap. It was pretty disgusting. Least I know the wrap is working though. That makes me happy.

So, this time around, I'm changing the wrapping up - just a little bit. Underneath it all, Gus is having a hot pad of Animalintex applied.

Followed by a generous portion of rolled cotton. This stuff is thickly compressed cotton padding. Think something like a billion cotton balls all compressed together, then multiply that by a 100. That's what you get. It's a nice, soft padding.

Followed up by the REAL vetwrap. I typically use about a 1/2 roll of vet wrap per wrap, give or take a little.

So, here's what the final product looks like, once applied.

So, Gus is also back in his Soft Rides. Those boots have come in so handy. I really should get some new inserts for them... but well, just haven't got the money at the moment to splurge on them. At over $60 a pair, I've got better uses for my hard earned money.