Tuesday I noticed a slight swelling on Dani's near side hind leg. Same leg that had the hock issues at the pre-purchase and same leg she got kicked when I had only owned her two weeks! Now she has this swelling but no apparent injury, no heat and no real perceptible lameness.
Below is a picture of her off side leg for comparison. It was a very slight swelling. I waited a couple days with some turn out and no exercise for her, hosed her etc. By Friday I was done, I had to call the vet just to make sure that there wasn't something serious lurking. I'm still very novice when it comes to horse care and I don't want to mess around with legs, tendons or hooves. Better to get an expert in to evaluate.
The doc said it wasn't serious. She appears to have just banged her leg or hit it on the railing when she was getting up from lying down. That was my thought all along. He showed me how to do a sweat wrap. I felt a little silly like a worried mom, I could have googled sweat wrap but what if that was not the proper thing to do in this case? My husband keeps saying there is nothing to feel silly about. Vets went to school to learn all this and it's best to get their expert evaluation when I'm not sure what to do and I'm getting differing thoughts online. Oh well, poor Dani has to have this thing on for a bit but at least she'll be fine.
My first aid horse book didn't help with this situation, there was nothing about swellings with no heat. Anyone have a good book recommendation that discusses regular injuries and when to call a vet? I'd like to be able to learn to assess injuries better and know that I won't cause harm by treating certain issues on my own. Swelling, no heat and no lameness seems like something I can take care of in the future..... Either way Dani is fine and I guess peace of mind is worth the vet bill.
3 comments:
Never heard of a sweat wrap - and I'm old.
I think you were smart to call the vet. Sometimes you just need help when you're not sure, no matter how experienced you are. We had a vet call today too, and I've been doing this for 40 years!
Simply Horse Crazy did a very similar wrap http://www.simplyhorsecrazy.com/2014/04/how-to-poultice-leg-pictorial-guide.html The big difference is that this bandage is increasing circulation to "sweat" the leg. It uses DMSO and Furizone and this increases blood flow and reduces fluid while the wrap supports the leg to reduce swelling. You use a plastic wrap underneath the cotton wrap and elastic bandage. I still don't really know when you use this wrap vs. a cooling type wrap.
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