Flower - Good News/Bad News

So here’s the good and the bad about Flower after talking with the vet.

Bad News
The prognosis isn’t good. She’s not putting any weight on the hoof and only puts weight on the tip of her hoof when she does move. Although she does use it to balance herself but would rather not put her foot down flat. She has to lie down a lot to relieve the pain on the other three legs.
Depending on where the nail actually hit and how we extracted the nail, it very well could have done serious damage. Unless there is a remaining abscess, the only alternative is expensive surgery. Of which, we will not be pursuing.

Maybe Good/Maybe Bad News
The original puncture wound stopped draining and closed. Instead the infection blew out in the coronary band just above the frog. I guess it’s pretty common. The vet called it a “quitter” and didn’t seem surprised at all. That infection drained a few days and is still sort of open after the last soak.

Good News
There’s still heat in the coronary band/upper hoof so it could be that Flower has a second abscess that has to blow out. She’s lying down but can get up without much difficulty. She still has lots of energy when it comes to grain and will push Queen out of the way to get to the grain.



I’m going to give it another week to see if anything happens. We will continue to give her bute/banamine (switching from one to the other every five days). She still has a few more days of antibiotics (missed a day here and there and want to finish it out). We will continue to soak and wrap her foot. I asked about wrapping and the vet said I didn’t have to but when I brought up the “quitter” still being open, we both decided that wrapping the hoof for another day or so until that closes would be good, especially now that we are dealing with snow, rain, and mud.

If Flower is still walking around on a tiptoe, there’s no heat in the hoof, and no abscess formed by next week, I will have to get serious about making a decision. I feel like I failed her. She’s been through so much. The least I could have done was give her a full year at Borderlands stressfree. This next week is going to be tough on everyone. I wish I could be the one in her place and spare her.