We hoped Jubal would be back out with Fitz, Emma and Josh by now, but nooooooooo.........
The initial fever, swelling, and pain resolved quickly but, as always, there's more to the story.
Even though last weekend's ultrasound showed nothing of concern, there was a small pocket of infection under Jubal's innocent looking scrape. The wound opened up Monday evening, draining pus and blood. Tuesday morning we hosted yet another visit by the vet, who re-evaluated both the wound and the joint. Good news.......there still did not appear to be any injury to or infection in the joint capsule or the tendon sheath. Bad news, of course, was infection where we didn't expect to see infection.
The open wound was thoroughly cleaned, then flushed with a dilute betadine/saline solution. We were to continue as before, anitbiotics, clean wound and change wrap at least once a day, more often if needed. As of Thursday evening, there didn't appear to be much improvement, but things weren't getting worse, either.
Friday morning, however, at wound check we found more puffiness around the fetlock than there had been for several days. Another call to the clinic and a third vet visit followed. (Thank you, Jubal, for not waiting until Sunday again, which would have meant an "after hours" call.)
Ok. One more evaluation. Still no apparent involvment of the joint or tendon. Open wound again flushed. This time the vet added an antibiotic ointment to the regimen. This particular ointment is made for treating mastitis in cows, so comes in a plunger-type tube with a dispenser small enough to fit into the wound's opening itself. Now we can apply antibiotic directly to the source of the problem. The clinic is also now culturing the bacteria involved to see if it is something that won't respond to the current antibiotic treatment. A "sensitivity" test will also be performed to see just which antibiotic will be most effective. Treatment will be adjusted accordingly.
So......for now, Jubal is "maintaining." Not getting worse. but not healing as quickly as we had hoped either.
Fortunately, even though he is extremely bored while "in the hospital," Jubal has been a model patient.
If you have some free time and would like to visit the patient during his confinement, please email us at info@equineelders.org and schedule a visit!
The initial fever, swelling, and pain resolved quickly but, as always, there's more to the story.
Even though last weekend's ultrasound showed nothing of concern, there was a small pocket of infection under Jubal's innocent looking scrape. The wound opened up Monday evening, draining pus and blood. Tuesday morning we hosted yet another visit by the vet, who re-evaluated both the wound and the joint. Good news.......there still did not appear to be any injury to or infection in the joint capsule or the tendon sheath. Bad news, of course, was infection where we didn't expect to see infection.
The open wound was thoroughly cleaned, then flushed with a dilute betadine/saline solution. We were to continue as before, anitbiotics, clean wound and change wrap at least once a day, more often if needed. As of Thursday evening, there didn't appear to be much improvement, but things weren't getting worse, either.
Friday morning, however, at wound check we found more puffiness around the fetlock than there had been for several days. Another call to the clinic and a third vet visit followed. (Thank you, Jubal, for not waiting until Sunday again, which would have meant an "after hours" call.)
Ok. One more evaluation. Still no apparent involvment of the joint or tendon. Open wound again flushed. This time the vet added an antibiotic ointment to the regimen. This particular ointment is made for treating mastitis in cows, so comes in a plunger-type tube with a dispenser small enough to fit into the wound's opening itself. Now we can apply antibiotic directly to the source of the problem. The clinic is also now culturing the bacteria involved to see if it is something that won't respond to the current antibiotic treatment. A "sensitivity" test will also be performed to see just which antibiotic will be most effective. Treatment will be adjusted accordingly.
So......for now, Jubal is "maintaining." Not getting worse. but not healing as quickly as we had hoped either.
Fortunately, even though he is extremely bored while "in the hospital," Jubal has been a model patient.
If you have some free time and would like to visit the patient during his confinement, please email us at info@equineelders.org and schedule a visit!
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