Jingles needed for my old Man again.

[earlybp]

Oh Poor Little Bit! I just saw this. Sara, I am so sorry!
I'm wondering if it's a recluse spider bite. Those turn the skin necrotic.

[pnp4kidz]

There are officially NO recluse spiders on the west coast... so that is less likely I think,
but pigeon fever season is NOW... and it's officially a bad year down here, lots of cases.
I had one of my three who had it 2 years ago get it in the sheath, and it does swell terribly, very painful lesion, and finally it gets big, erodes the surface and opens with a TON of nasty pus. The pus is FULL of the germ.... btw.
and the lesion goes in the lymph gland, so it runs up the belly.

You can do titres... and I think I would, because you want proper antibiotic coverage if you are doing them... the worst scenerio is partial treatment...
generally you don't do antibiotics for pigeon fever...
however...
they get a high fever,
they look sick,
and they have swelling in glands, in chest or sheath.... then burst with lots of pus.

and my boy who had it in his sheath, got it internal too, which smouldered for 1.5 years, so, personally, I'd do a chest ultrasound in a few weeks to check for internal abcessing... you can't see it, but you need treatment. the antibiotics for my guy went on and on and on... for over 3 months to treat it.

his labwork was horrible, but he didn't look as sick as his labs did, and he had a really high protien due to a way high globulin (immune globulins fighting infection)

I'm jingling!!!!!

[pnp4kidz]

Pigeon Fever: Abscesses Within and Without
by: Nancy S. Loving, DVM
April 01 2005, Article # 5640
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The first thought that might run through your mind as you approach your horse in the pasture and see his swollen chest or belly is that he has been kicked. As you await your vet, you think back over the past few days, and realize that perhaps he felt a little more sluggish than usual, moved with a little more stiffness than normal, and in general, he hasn't behaved like his usual, shiny self. If he had been kicked in recent hours, then how come he hasn't been quite right for a few days? Rather than your horse experiencing blunt trauma, what he might be doing, in fact, is growing an infection.

A bacterial infection that used to be confined primarily to California has recently made its way in epidemic proportions through the western United States, particularly Colorado, Wyoming, and Arizona, as well as showing up in Kentucky. This disease is referred to by many names, among them dryland distemper, pigeon breast, or pigeon fever. Although this disease appears worldwide, it has a predilection for the arid western United States, being at its worst in drought years. And although it occurs seasonally mostly in the fall months, it occasionally appears as early as summer.

Dryland distemper is caused by bacterial infection with Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, which localizes in deep abscesses in the breast (pectoral) muscles, along the abdomen, and/or in the groin (sheath or udder) region. It is dubbed "pigeon fever" because in profile the swelling on the chest resembles the rounded appearance of a pigeon's breast. Pigeons have nothing to do with causing or spreading the disease.

No doubt you'd love to see your veterinarian appear and immediately fix the problem, but this is not always the case. These abscesses might take weeks to months to grow to the point where they can be effectively lanced and drained. Some horses will spike a fever for a day or even many days. Most continue to eat, although they act lethargic. Many demonstrate discomfort or lameness due to pectoral muscle swelling, which usually gets worse before it gets better. Swelling expands around an abscess, forming plaques of edema (fluid swelling) along the belly and/or between the front legs. The sheath or udder enlarges if infection localizes there. Since these abscesses invade the lymph nodes and act like space-occupying masses, they block normal lymphatic drainage, adding to swelling, local edema, and discomfort.

Incidence and Forms of Infection

Corynebacteria organisms can live in the soil at all times, but they become most pathogenic during drought conditions. Dryland distemper is thought to be transmitted through an abrasion, wound, or mucus membranes. Since these infections appear to peak during the autumn months when flies are particularly abundant, it is probable that flies serve as vectors to carry organisms to the skin.

Sharon Spier, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM, associate professor in the department of medicine and epidemiology at the University of California, Davis, has researched insect vectors for pigeon fever. "We were able to identify the organism in three species of flies from farms that were experiencing outbreaks," says Spier. "The flies were horn flies, stable flies, and houseflies. At farms where diseased horses were present, 20% of the houseflies were positive. The flies became negative once the disease outbreaks halted, which suggests that the reservoir is not the flies, but likely the soil. This is an area we are now investigating."

Even when a horse on a property contracts pigeon fever, it doesn't mean that all or any other horses in that location will develop the disease. The presence or extent of the infection seems to depend largely upon an individual horse's immune system and how well he can fight off this organism.

Spier comments that adaptations of the organism amplify infective capabilities. She explains that an exotoxin produced by Cornebacteria increases permeability of the blood vessels to facilitate deeper invasion into the tissues, surrounding muscle, and to regional lymph nodes. Protective mechanisms of the bacterial cell wall enable its survival and continued replication despite being scavenged by white blood cells (macrophages) that target foreign invaders. In addition, exotoxin produced by the bacteria might inactivate the ability of the macrophages to disable them.

An active immune system is a horse's best defense against infection, and that is what differentiates horses that don't develop abscesses from those that do.

Although not common, it is possible for infection to travel to internal organs, such as the liver, kidneys, or heart. There might be no other indications that a horse has a simmering infection other than continually declining health problems. He might demonstrate weight loss, fever, depressed appetite, lethargy, colic, and a variety of other symptoms depending on where in the body the abscess has started. A veterinarian should be asked to examine any horse that displays symptoms of poor health, or if a horse with known exposure stops eating or drinking.

Any swelling in the groin or difficulty in using one or both rear legs should also receive prompt veterinary attention. If infection lodges in the rear limbs, it can cause a chronic syndrome known as ulcerative lymphangitis that can be difficult to resolve.

In affected horses, swelling is usually restricted to one rear limb, which can swell to gargantuan proportions. Once lodged in the lymphatic system in that limb, some degree of leg swelling can remain indefinitely, with signs of systemic illness and limb swelling recurring intermittently over many years.

Treatment

When the disease takes the superficial form, causing large abscesses on the chest or small ones along the ventral abdomen, it becomes a matter of patience until these can be resolved. With time, an abscess on the chest will finally "point," mature, and feel soft to the touch. At that point, it can be drained by your veterinarian. The abscesses located along the belly can open and drain on their own because there is less tissue to break through. Since these belly abscesses are pointing down, gravity brings them to a head more quickly.

In an effort to wall off an infection, the horse's body builds a thick capsule around the abscess to contain it, particularly when it's located deep in the chest muscles. This necessitates local anesthetic and a scalpel incision to make an opening through the skin and the capsule. Many times, this capsule is honeycombed with strong, fibrous strands that separate the abscess into separate pockets of pus. An ultrasound exam is helpful in locating the multitude of abscess pockets. These capsules are loaded with thick, creamy pus, as much as a quart at a time, which flows freely through the incision.

A container should be held beneath the opening to collect as much of the infectious drainage as possible for removal from the premises.

Once drained, the abscess pocket is irrigated daily with a dilute povidone iodine solution made by mixing 10 mL of povidone iodine in 1 liter of saline.

The use of antibiotics is controversial; unless there are extenuating circumstances such as internal abscesses or ulcerative lymphangitis, it is recommended that the horse affected by external or pectoral abscesses not be given antibiotics. If a horse is placed on antibiotics prematurely, in most cases the infection will simply simmer along and resurface when antibiotics are discontinued. Supportive care includes:

Hot packing of the swollen area to help bring the abscess to a head, improve circulation, resolve edema, and to make the horse more comfortable;
Administration of a low dose of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) medication (phenylbutazone or flunixin meglumine) once a day if swelling or lameness is extreme or if the horse feels so poorly that he is not eating and drinking. Only administer such anti-inflammatory medications under advisement of your veterinarian.
Recovery can take as little as two weeks or as long as two to three months. It has been reported that 91% of infected horses recover with no subsequent relapse or re-infection; these individuals might develop a long-lasting immunity. In others, despite receiving medical attention and having an abscess lanced and drained, it is possible that a horse will form another or several abscesses near the original swelling. Usually these are of lesser consequence and some resolve spontaneously. Even when fly season has abated with freezing temperatures, it is still possible for an infection to show up due to lengthy incubation time (think months, not days or weeks).

The ulcerative lymphangitis form and disease disseminated into internal organs do not respond well to treatment. Internal abscessation can be identified with testing of a blood sample sent to UC Davis or Texas A&M for serologic testing for antibodies to C. pseudotuberculosis. Diagnostic ultrasound examination yields specific information about the organ location of internal abscesses. The prognosis for horses affected by internal abscesses is poor, mainly because the disease has persisted for a long time before there is recognition that the horse is sick.

It is estimated that 40% of horses with internal Corynebacteria abscesses will die from complications of internal organ infection.

Control

Since the bacterial organisms persist in the soil, the primary means of control is through management practices; it is impossible to completely eliminate the bacteria. Ideally, management strategies reduce the possibility of exposure, and if a horse is exposed, then techniques are applied to minimize the degree of exposure and the risk of infection. The best means of prevention and control rely on common hygienic practices:

Affected horses should be isolated, particularly if an abscess is actively draining;
Purulent material from an opened abscess should be collected into a container and disposed of properly;
Contaminated stalls, bedding, blankets, tack, tools, and equipment should be disinfected;
People should be aware that they, too, can serve as vectors to transmit infectious material from horse to horse. Sick horses should be handled or fed only after healthy horses have been attended. Hands should be washed after handling sick horses. Care should be taken to change clothing and shoes that have been contaminated with pus or that have contacted a sick horse;
Rakes, shovels, and manure carts should not be transferred from areas containing sick horses;
Insect vectors should be controlled with ample use of fly spray and the use of protective fly sheets and fly face masks; and
Preventive herd health strategies (such as deworming, vaccination, dental care, and good dietary management) should be used to maintain a horse in the best of health with a strong immune system competent to ward off infection.
The bacteria in the pus of draining abscesses can remain infective for almost two months in manure, hay, straw, and shavings. On surfaces of stalls, floors, and equipment, the bacteria can remain viable for at least a week, and it could persist longer in cold environmental temperatures. Horses in exposed areas should be monitored carefully, and rectal temperatures should be taken daily. Refrain from scheduling elective surgery, such as castration, on horses during an active outbreak.

Spier notes, "I have seen several infections post-castration; the surgery site heals well, then two weeks to one month later abscesses occur in the surgical area."

A similar strain of Corynebacteria occurs in small ruminants, for which there is a vaccine.

Current research efforts conducted by Spier at UC Davis are focused on development of an equine vaccine. Although the research shows promise, to date there is no reliable vaccine for horses.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PIGEON FEVER OUTBREAKS: 2002-2003 Pigeon Fever In Kentucky

An outbreak of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis (pigeon fever) affecting more than 50 horses was diagnosed in Central Kentucky in 2002-2003. C. pseudotuberculosis cases were identified based on bacterial cultures. One mare aborted with placentitis, and another mare had a fetus with liver abscesses similar to hepatic abscessation in C. pseudotuberculosis infection. These observations support the hypothesis that this bacterium can cross the placental barrier.

C. pseudotuberculosis infection is frequently diagnosed in California and Texas, as well as other southwestern states. The bacterium can live in the environment, and it can be spread by insect vectors, especially flies. Kentucky historically has had only one or two cases of pigeon fever per year. A change in weather pattern (increased rain and temperatures in fall and winter) might have led to the disease outbreak in 2002-2003 by encouraging insect vector reproduction.

Recommendations for disease prevention include improved stable hygiene and insect control measures, early identification and isolation of infected horses (to prevent/decrease contamination of the soil with the draining exudates), and proper disposal of contaminated bedding.--Kimberly S. Herbert

[pnp4kidz]

Clinical signs of a contagious animal disease called pigeon fever (also known as dryland distemper) have been found in dozens of horses in Eastern Oregon this fall, according to area veterinarians.
Despite the name, the disease is not spread by the bird. Rather, the bacterial infection can cause abscesses that lead a horse's chest to swell like a pigeon's.

Fred Robinson, DVM, of Riverside Veterinary Clinic in Pendleton said he has seen an increasing number of cases this fall, just as he did in 2005.

"There were 80 or so horses treated then, and at this point, with the season not over, we're approaching 50 horses," Robinson said.

Jason Down, DVM, of the Hermiston Veterinary Clinic said he's only seen four potential cases this year, but he noted that Idaho veterinarians are noticing an uptick.

Although pigeon fever gets it name from the swelling in the chest, the disease can cause swelling anywhere on the horse's body.

"They don't usually go off their feed, and the horse's attitude doesn't change," Robinson said.

Down said a veterinarian can confirm the infection only with a bacterial culture. The infection is contagious among horses, so owners should isolate infected animals. Down said it's important to drain the abscess so it doesn't infect other horses--then clean up well.

"People don't get it, but they can carry it among horses on their clothing, boots, tools," he said.

The bacteria live in the soil and enter the animals' skin through routine abrasions. The incubation period can run from a few days to several weeks and it's generally not fatal.

[pnp4kidz]

sorry, those are long, but I wasn't sure if everyone had a subscription to The Horse, and these were member only ones... so copied them entirely...

[cutiepiepmu]

Hey!! He has had the titres run. He also had bacterial cultures - not pigeon fever Vet was worried that it might be that and we did discuss it because we were worried about being contagious to my other horses. AND - I have to disagree on the spider thing lol I have been bitten 3 seperate times in the last 5 years by juvenille Hobo spiders and ended up with skin grafts, and a mess of being sick. We were able to to identify it at one point because I caught one of the darn buggers as he was biting me on the dang arm. After the first round figured it would be good to know what got me - so took it with me to the hospital. those are no fun! I didn't know didly about spiders till I got these bites. But, i guess W. Washington is thriving with hobo spiders.... Here is a decent site for those. www.hobospider.com/info/index.html

The first time I got bit was on my hip area right over a meaty section - thought it was a pimple for about 2 weeks - then it started getting really realy bad - ended up with a skin graft on my butt lol.

At this point we are not sure if it is a bite or sting. We had been treating it broad spectrum until we got cultures back today. The fever is gone at this point which makes me feel much better.

I appriciate you posting the good info! I have delt with pigeon fever in the past - but was always in the horses chest - can't imagine it in the sheath - I would have to figure it would be much harder to deal with in that location.

On a side - I have sprayed the inside, outside and all over and around my barn and surrounding brush/trees with some NASTY sprays to kill whatever is living. And I set out a bunch of the spider traps that are the pre-baited sticky traps. I figure I don't want to take any other chances.

so - whatever has got him at this point - I just hope we can resolve it quickly.

Sara

[piopico]

BOy, we can learn SO much now with sites like this!
If Pigeon Fever is contacted through spores in the soil, then you can understand how they would get in in the sheath/udder area..........when they lie down!!
Hope your boy is feeling better this morning.

[shelberttk2]

Oh my goodness Sara! That sounds nasty, I can't imagine having a bite like that....Your poor boy too, we are jingling like mad in Oregon! A good reminder to all of us, that right now is the time to be out knocking webs etc. down in and around our homes and barns!!! I am going to spray too, ick! I am completely phoebic about spiders!

[wildwoman]

OMG-so the vet concurs that this is result of a spider bite? What kinds of things can we all do to protect our critters? Certainlly not treat the whole property? I was about to start fencing in a wooded area the borders the pastures to give my people something more interesting than open pasture. eeek. Lord knows what is in there. Is pest treatment on horses effective against spiders too?
OMG OMG OMG can't imagine what you are going through.

[pnp4kidz]

OK, now I am FREAKING about those Hobo spiders...
I have heard about them and seen pictures, they are accused of being brown Recluse all the time, but they aren't... they are different, still nasty.
but...
until THIS site, I have not seen the web!
and guess what?
they are ALL OVER our barn and gates!
I am on a kiling spree when I get home...
they have to DIE now, and of course, the site says sprays don't kill them!
so, traps it is... LOTS of traps...
and that spray for webs, we have LOTS of webs... funnel ones...
argh, I'm a total arachnophobe... now, this does it.... no MORE!

[michellep]

Well, okay, I just looked at that site and we live in the wooded area and these little critters are starting to come in the house!!!!! Hubby will squish them in a paper towel, Im more of a kill em with a big shoe kinda gal. I guess I will go home tonight and spray spider stuff around the house.... I have a gal at work that caught one of those in a cup and gently took him outside, she scared the living crap out of me though she wanted me to see her "prized spider"before she let him loose. I just about had a friggin heart attack and almost peed my pants. I guess she thought that was funny. I could have killed her and the spider both.

[wildwoman]

Listed on that website above (post #35)-there are 2 places here in Gig Harbor that carry the traps specifically for hobo spiders-now to figure out how many and where to place them-Sara-have you already been using the traps?/what do you reccomend? How many spiders have you gotten if so?

[cutiepiepmu]

At this point the vet and I both agree - hobo spider. I can't see the actual bite area so we are wondering if a baby one bit him up inside the sheath possibly - NOT GOOD. BUt, the skin on the bottom of the sheat is getting necrotic and turning icky. My vet called in a prescription for a human dermal cream that is used on burn patients to speed skin regrowth so I am going to pick that up today to start putting on his sheat area. i did the nasty jobo f picking off all the actual dead skin already. He is being SUCH a good boy - I know how sore the area is from having bites myself - and he only will lift up a leg like "OUCH" and then turn around and half nuzzle/nip without getting skin on my rear. lol. Poor guy - I get it - message recieved.

His fever is still down and the swelling seems to be moving more into his belly - it is soft swelling in his belly though - not the hard swelling like his sheath is.

SO - that being said. At the house we had in Covington before we bought our current property we had MASSIVE amounts of hobo spiders - it was there that I got bit - in myown home - 3 seperate times. Spraying can be counter productive since the only real enemy of the hobo is other spiders unfortunately. Those big BLACK looking ones will go after hobo spiders as will yellow jackets and wasps. So - that being said - as easy as it is to spray first - try the traps first. some of the traps work better than others. They are a sheet of cardboard stuff that is about 8x6 inches. it has this phermone stuff on it and it is SUPER sticky. They crawl on the board and stick to it - kind of like fly paper. In covington we put them beside every vent in the house as well as 1 every 8 feet around the perimiter of the house. We did catch ALOT of them there - we also caught alot of other spiders.

We have a contract with Terminex at our current property because we had a HORRIBLE problem with every imaginable kind of bee's last year. I was getting stung several times a day.... So - they spray every month with a residual, so we haven't seen hardly any bugs of any kind around our actual home - BUT - in my experience the best way to deter the hobo's is to keep everything clean. dust your barns - rafters, corners, floor boards, tack rooms - if you have piles of saddle blanekts or turnout blankets- shake them out, fold up and put in space bags and put away so nothing can hid in them. Knock down all webs - spray the web before knocking donw in case it has egg sacks. Spray with your own stuff - mix a whole 32 ounce bottle of permetherin liquid(available at Dels) along with 2 ounces of bleach and 1 4ounce bottle of 100% deet liquid - available at wal-mart. Mix all together in a 2 gallon sprayer - fill 1/2 full with warm water - swizzle and spray. The exterminator when we lived in covington gave me that recipe and it works GREAT! Works good for spraying flys and whatnot in the barn too!

so - saturate the web, let it sit for a couple minutes then use a broom and knock it down. We sprayed our entire barn after this though - I also went ahead and took all the bedding out of my stalls - bleached the floors, walls and feeders(do this every 3 months anyways) Then I sprayed a residual product on the floors, around doors, ect. I use a product that is not toxic to my horses when doing this - then I re-bedded the stalls. I also washed my hay nets in bleach(they are the white cotton ones)

it sounds over kill I guess- i am a bit of a neat freak anyways - but in the off chance that there were egg sacks or other creepy crawlies that i hadn't found - I wanted to make sure that my barn was the least appealing place they could hide for the winter.

so - the best thign I can recommend is don't spray willie nillie. first - mix up the special mix, spray the webs of all spiders - then knock down. Dust your rafters, use a shop vac to clean up dust, put away any loose items, blankets, ect. AND - fly spray your kids before they come in for the night.

This is a really horrible lesson for me to learn. i thought we were on top of all things "BUG" like.

Sara

[pnp4kidz]

OK, I bought 80 traps...
I'm gonna knock down their populations, at least on MY ranch!!!
I'm surprised no one has been bitten here!
count on ME TO KILL as many as I can with 80 traps...
then, I'll start spraying with that spray...

argh, we are getting our barn full of hay, they'll likely hide in that... hope I can kill them before they get there...
but hey, that 500 bales will only last to Feb anyway, then we will have knocked down those nests and moved in new hay...

I hate spiders!

[cutiepiepmu]

With my hay - what I did was sweep down the walls, floor and rafters before it comes in - I will also put a coat of spray ont he walls and rafters the moning of deliver. I ALSO put my hay on pallets with pieces of plywood over the top. then, under the pallets I leave rat bait/mouse bait and spider traps I am a little paranoid!! LOL

Sara

[cinda56]

Could it have been a brown recluse spider? I worked with a girl who was bitten and alot of the symptons were the same. She was in the hospital a month.

[cutiepiepmu]

Nope - there are not any of those in this area naturally. almost all brown riculse bites are actually Hobo spiders(in washington anyways) We have lots of those here. They are similar size and look similar but are different types of spiders and have a little different type of symptom reaction.

Sara

[gratefulknits]

Please please rethink spraying a general pesticide. It is definitely true, as Sara says, that the natural enemy of the Hobo spider is our own beautiful garden spider. If you kill the garden spiders, you are CREATING a vacuum that will be filled by the hobos! Please be careful.

And still jingling for your big guy, Sara. I know he is in the best hands.

[pnp4kidz]

As I am putting my hay in a 25 ft tall barn, I won't be spraying that high! So, I'm going to do the traps, sweep after using some spray on the webs I guess... but mostly those traps!
We go thru hay fast, so hoping that they just have no where to hide...
die spiders, die.

[cutiepiepmu]

LOL - Well the vet just left from another check up. We went ahead and put a needle into the sheath to make sure it isn't full of puss again - Just a fwe drops of blood- which made me VERY happy. so we injected some antibiotic directly into the sheath to be on the safe side and going to continue forward. He is doing alot better. The swelling is down a fair amount - although he is still really swollen. He is not eating full force, but he is definately perkier.

this afternoon he broke out of the pasture(bugger figured ou how to open the gate!) and i found him pulling apples off of the apple tree. So - I know he is feeling some better to be mischivious again

Sara

[toeps]

So glad to hear he's doing better! That's one heck of a guy you've got to tolerate being poke in the sheath with a needle! My hubby is cringeing Me's thinks he deserves to raid the apple tree! ;D

[cutiepiepmu]

I put a little rope under his lip to give him something else to think about while it happend. We actually wouudl have given him light sedation but he has still been running a light fever and sometimes giving sedation while a horse has a fever can cause a nasty reaction with the horse hyperventalating and whatnot. The vet gave a shot of lidocain before starting to help knumb the area up a little. I think we ALL agree - that anytime you get a boil/sore spot like that that it hurts like hell - and when you get it in your crotch - it is that much worse!!!

He is doing alot better and I think it willt ake some time to get him 100% but at least I think we are over the inital hump. It is so hard when our best buddies of so many years get an injury or get sick.

I have my fingers crossed that I won't have any other issues with the kids for a while!!!

Sara

[agilitygal]

This thread gives me the heebie jeebies!!!!!! I got to thinking about this in bed last night. . .wondering just how many spiders were trying to find their way onto my bed!

I've got 4 dogs who like to sleep on their sleeping porches outside. . .day or night. . .in and out of the house. I picked up one of the porches and peeked underneath yesterday. . .lots of spider egg sacks there. Sure got me to thinking!

Last year I got bit by a spider. . .in bed. . .on the back of my neck. I tried everything to take the swelling/itch down. It finally opened up into a dime-sized abcess. . .and it freaked everybody out. It did finally heal without an expensive trip to the dr. office. But, it was not fun.

This is fall and the spiders are going to be looking for warm winter accommodations. After reading this thread, I'm not going to provide that!

[Admin]

So glad to hear he's feeling better. Spider's scare the crap out of me. I have no fear of any other kind of pest, bug snakes whatever but those furry ugly hairy little things are gross!

[cutiepiepmu]

Ya, it is important to think about all those little places that we don't normally look at every day. Many types of spiders will burrow into horse blankets/saddle blankets that are stacked or piled - or in bedding in stalls if it is not gone completely through often. A simple sweep, spray down with a hose and a quick application of spray or traps depending on the situation and you should be good for the winter

LB is doing alot better- the necrotic tissue area is icky - very icky - but, I am makign sure to take off any dead areas instead of leaving them so that hopefully the new tissue will start to heal. I am putting the cream on it and keeping it clean.

So - hopefully in a week or two new tissue growth will start ot happen.

Sara

[pnp4kidz]

How is the old man?
I need some good news on an old guy...

[halfwayhome]

Hope the guy is doing better and better these days! You probably know this, but an easy and gentle way to put antibiotic up into an area that is not a needle is with an antibiotic in a mastitis tube/applicator used on cow udder teats. They use many of the same antibiotics in this form and it works well and is easy to use.

[wildwoman]

Hey-Sara-how is he coming with recovery? Also-have you tried those electronic pest repellers? thinking of getting one for the tack room-I have been really freaking out about spiders since you started this post.
eeeek
Lisa

[cutiepiepmu]

thanks for asking! He is doing better - the swelling is down about 50% now and I am applying cream to the area 3 times a day to help heal the tissue. We ended up removing the worst of the necrotic tissue so that the area can heal properly. He is still on antibiotics which have messed up his poor digestive system - so have started him on thereputic doses of probiotics and enzymes as well as ulcer meds.

His spirits are good - but I am concerned as his arthritis in his bum knee is horrible and i am seeing him struggle more and more. Once he is well I plan to start him on doxocycline as part of a study that treats osteo forms of arthrtis that has progressed to the point his has using long term use of low dose doxocycline. He still has so much spunk mentally - it is hard to see him struggle physically.

It is amazing how much we bond to those that aer with us for a lifetime. My LB(Little Bit) is 28 this year and I remember watching him be born - when I was just a kid myself! A lifetime of memories, love and time together... makes it even harder to see him struggle. BUT - I do have faith that the new study may allow him to have more flexibility.

Sara