Although I am by no means an expert in managing leg wounds, it has seemed to me the last five days or so Steen’s wound has not been healing. It hasn’t been getting any worse, but it hasn’t been getting visibly better either.
On Monday temps swung upwards and we’ve had unseasonable warmth. I also noticed increased swelling and heat in Steen’s leg under the cut. Telling myself it might just be the weather, I gave it a thorough washing and hosed it down with cold water, which seemed to help. But by Tuesday evening it was hot enough that the sponge I used to clean it was coming away warm, even though it was wet and full of cold water. I had Cathi take a look at it, and she agreed there was likely another small infection taking place. She speculated that another round of Uniprim would likely be ineffective if the two he’s already had did so little, and offered to give him a shot of penicillin.
Cathi knows a lot more about caring for injured horses than I do, but with how complicated this injury has been, I said I’d rather talk to our vet before taking any steps, and went home worried. On Wednesday I had a busy morning with work, but around 1:00 I called our vet, Jim, who answered and immediately launched into saying something along the lines of, “Yeah I gave him a shot and left a spray with Marissa and you should spray the wound once a day but otherwise I think it’s healing fine and nothing to worry about.”
Naturally that confused me a little, but eventually I figured out Jim had been going to come by our barn anyway, and Cathi had him check on Steen while he was there. So it was a big relief to know the professional opinion is things are progressing as they should. Jim said wire wounds tend to be very slow to heal but commented that Steen is not lame and is in good spirits. It’s just going to take some more time.
Brian and I headed out to the barn after work, and found Steen’s leg looking much better. The shot Jim gave him was another round of serious antibiotics and anti inflammatories, and the swelling and heat were already almost entirely gone. So hopefully this last boost will be enough to get us over the finish line.