My Mare had an abscess that was drained Monday afternoon - the procedure was done by a vet and it was done quickly and without much disturbance to the hoof - the abcess was close to the white line towards the half-back end of the left fron foot - it seems iot was caused by poor-triniming during shoeing - she is doing much better but is still ahving difficulty moving around - she is placing weight on the foot and standing o it as before she would not - any idea on how long before she fully recovers - Im giving her 2-3 grams of Bute every day but not comfortable extending the Bute for much longer as its been a week already -

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If everything was drained, she will be back feeling great within the week. If she's not back, I would get a very good farrier to check for tenderness. Perhaps there was more that needed to be drained.
p.s. I would not give bute for more than a week.
ok, thanks - its been week of bute already and Im not giving any more after today - the vet is scheduled to return on Monday - a week after the drain was done - I was expecting a quicker recovery but now a week after the drain sounds more like it -
My mare just had an abcess drained by my vet on Monday AM also, I was able to dig deeper that evening and drain more, then my farrier was by on tuesday and drained even more after I'd soaked her hoof a few times. He told me abcesses are often in stages like that. She didn't improve as much as I thought she would until the next morning when more fluid also burst through at her coronet band, then she was noticeably better. Soaking in epson salts and warm water seems to be helping and she enjoys it. Every day brings improvement so I'm hopeful for a sound horse soon, she's back to about 95% I'd say today. Best of luck to you too!!
Just spoke to farrier and he thinks along the same lines as you - he wants me to soak the foot in epson salt for a couple of days until he can see her on Friday - the vet however was comfortable with his treatment on Monday and did not want anything done until a week later - Im leaning towards soaking the foot because she is in pain - the farrier also told me that giving her bute only delays things - thanks for the help -
Bute won't delay things, it's a painkiller and anti inflamatory medication. Antibiotics, however, can complicate a foot abscess because it may be tracking in different direction in the foot. I've used bute for up to three months (on a horse with a broken pelvis), with no ill effects whatsoever, and know many older horses who are maintained on it! It's not the demon drug that most people think it is. In a horse with a compromised liver, it may cause problems, but in an otherwise healthy animal it's not usually an issue. If you're worried about using it, get your vet to do a liver function test.

I wonder why your vet didn't encourage you to poultice the foot, after soaking in salt water? It's the standard treatment for an abscess, except in cattle. Is your vet a specialised equine practitioner, or a general large animal vet?
Yes he is an equine practitioner - guess he felt the abcess was drained enough that no additional treatment was required - I started soaking the foot in epson salt last night and so far this morning - the farrier is comming tomorrow to look at her - she is placing weight on her foot but there must be some residue of the abcess still left as she is still not comfortable -
The Vet did leave poultice on intially but did not instruct of further poultice treatment - Im re-starting the poultice at noon -
no bute. that will mask symptoms of more abscess hiding in there.
call your local farrier supply store and get yourself a bottle of cleantrax. you'll also need a quality soaking boot and plastic garbage bag. Cleantrax kills all the bad stuff without killing the healthy tissues! instead of having to soak in epsom salts, and betadine, and packing and wrapping, you soak with cleantrax (follow the directions), pack it with clean trax solution and leave it wrapped for 3 days.
sound horse, no fuggies, no soaking past once. best $20 you'll ever spend
Started poultice treatment today - no bute - Im looking into the cleantrax deal as well - farrier comes tomorrow vet on Monday .... lets see - she is in pain - sometimes laying down for a while - forgot to mention she bred five months....
Spoke to someone today and he believes that the reason bute is not the best treatment for abscess is that because its an antinflamatory it delays the bursting process - have not been able to locate the cleantrax so far - I've seen it for sale in the internet but the local stores dont have it -
I love soaking abscessed hooves in a combination of warm Amazon Herb Treasure Tea and a little apple cider vinegar. The tea is both anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial/fungal. Helps draw the nasties out and soothe the hoof all at once. If there is a lot of residual heat in the hoof, I then coat it with bentonite clay and put a brown paper circle the size of the hoof over the clay to keep it on till it dries and falls off.

I agree with Barbara - long term Bute can be hard on the liver. Try Amazon Herbs Recovazon both topically and about 1 - 2 tablespoons internally as a great pain reliever. I have taken horses on 4 bute a day off in just 2 days with Recovazon.
the farrier is going to check for tenderness tomorrow and im hoping he will find something else that by now is more accessible because of the soaking-epson and the poultice last couple of days - not sure what to do next if he is unable to drain more or find another source- he wants to place the foot on a removable foam surface that will help her with the pain and will allow for soaking and treatment to continue - he did a great job placing plastic shoes attached with glue on her front feet last week right before the abscess - the abscess was likely caused by another not so good farrier the week before who placed the wrong size shoes on her front feet - upon removal two days later because the mare was extremely sore we decided to place her on the plastic shoes to help relieve the presure and avoid the nails while still providing support - unfortunately the abscess came about two days later and here we are - trust the new farrier's judgement as he is looking to protect the horse - when I talked to him this pm he was not very inclined to do much more digging but wants to test for tenderness first -

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