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Abscess Kits Make Life Easy
February 2010
By Eleanor Kellon, VMD
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A hoof abscess is a collection of dead material located within the white line or under
the sole. Abscesses may be sterile (dead tissue only) or infected with bacteria. They
occur in the tissue at the junction of the sensitive (live) and insensitive (dead, hoof
wall or sole) laminae.
Unless there has been a puncture wound, sole abscesses are almost exclusively
caused by tissue damage. Over thinning the sole by the farrier or a stone bruise
could result in an abscess. Abscesses in the hoof capsule can have many causes.
Driving a horseshoe nail too close to, or into live tissue, is another common cause.
Sterile abscesses, which are abscesses without a bacterial infection, are common
following laminitis and will often surface after the horse has been taken off antiinflammatory drugs, like phenylbutazone or Banamine.
Prolonged periods of wet weather can also contribute to hoof infections, especially in
horses that don’t have healthy, tight white lines. Going too long between trims
increases the risk of abscesses because the white line becomes stretched and can
develop gaps, and even microscopic gaps are an avenue for bacteria. Nail holes in
horses that are shod widen over time and bacteria can enter there (some farriers
seal nail holes, which may help).
The body’s reaction to a pocket of dead tissue or infection is inflammatory. The
tissue swells and white cells enter from the blood. A layer of dense connective tissue
will form around the area to seal it off from the rest of the body. The pain from an
abscess is typically even worse than from laminitis. The horse may completely refuse
to put weight on the hoof.
Diagnosis. Diagnosing abscesses can be challenging. The rapid onset of severe pain
and the severity of the pain itself always suggest abscess, but your veterinarian may
want to do X-rays to make sure it is not laminitis or a fracture.
The horse’s reaction to hoof testers will vary, so it’s not foolproof. Thermography, a
technique that detects heat, can be helpful, but you may be able to detect an area of
warmth with your hand.
In a subsolar abscess, an area of softening may develop. With hoof-wall abscesses,
the coronary band will begin to swell in the area where the abscess is going to exit.
Although the pain of an abscess is severe, the relief the horse gets when it begins to
drain is equally dramatic.
Treatment. To speed things along, soak the hoof as often as possible in hot water
with Epsom salts added. If you can’t soak, pack a warmed poultice into the sole and
around the coronary band/heel bulbs. Numotizine (www.numotizine.com, 218751-9505 218-751-9505 ) works particularly well for this and it will turn color from
its pinkish gray to black over any areas that are draining or oozing. We’ve also found
that Epsom salt poultices, which cost about 50¢ an ounce, work well on abscesses
(www.kaeco.com, 800-228-1211 800-228-1211 ; www.gpdirect.com, 888-4722825 888-472-2825 ; www.durvet.com, 800-821-5570 800-821-5570 ).
Subsolar abscesses may exit through the sole, but it is more common for them to
drain around the tip of the frog (where sole is thin) or where the bar and hoof wall
meet.
Paring the sole over subsolar abscesses is somewhat controversial because it
exposes live, sensitive tissue and the areas are difficult to keep clean. Some
veterinarians prefer to make a small opening in the hoof wall above the the level of
the sole to allow the collections to drain that way.
Aftercare of abscesses that have ruptured isn’t complicated. Solar openings should
be kept in a hoof pack or booted until the layer of sole has reformed. Use
ichthammol, an inexpensive black drawing salve, on the area to encourage more
drainage.
For exit spots on the coronary band or heel bulbs, keep the area cleaned of
discharge because this is irritating to normal tissues. The cavity itself needs no
special care because it’s walled off from the live tissues. In the rare instances where
tissue seems to prolapsing/popping out of the exit site, call your veterinarian. As the
hoof grows, the hole will grow down as a visible slit.
Although abscesses are painful, anti-inflammatory drugs should be limited to horses
that aren’t eating and drinking well because their use may slow the process of the
abscess maturing. Soaks help ease the pain.
Antibiotics can also slow the process in infected abscesses, without reaching goodenough concentrations to actually kill the organisms. Your veterinarian will usually
recommend these if infection is climbing into the tissues of the pastern and lower leg
(cellulitis).
Bottom Line. If you don’t have a nearby tack store where you can quickly pick up
the supplies, you’ll want to have an abscess kit on hand. The quicker you get the
treatment started, the better.
Both kits in our trial surpassed the homemade method in terms of both cost and
simplicity. We found that the difference is actually in the boots, which put the Kaeco
kit on top for us.
Article by Eleanor Kellon, VMD, Veterinary Editor.
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