Abscesses, Hurricanes & Other Assorted Maladies

Ramsey's abscess broke open this afternoon to everybody's relief.  I wish it had broken out of the top of his foot rather than the bottom as there is now a hole in the bottom of his foot.  Keeping debris and bacteria out of those holes is impossible and often leads to reinfection, but it is what it is.  At least he is in less pain and for that I am very grateful.   I gave him a little bit of Banamine yesterday and today to help ease the pain and I soaked his foot (or tried to rather, I am not sure which one of us wound up with wetter feet).  I wrapped the foot afterward hoping to keep junk out of it.  I usually use duct tape for such jobs, but Ramsey's feet are so tiny, I had to use electrical tape instead... 

Abscesses are a unending problem around here.  Our soil is 80% clay mixed with 20% sharp rock.  Every Spring and Fall during mud season, someone ends up with an abscess.  Ironically, it is usually the horses who have the hardest, toughest feet.  I think it is because when a soft foot is bruised by a hard landing on a sharp stone, the foot can expand a little and provide relief for the resulting inflammation.  When the same thing happens to a hard foot, there is nowhere for the swelling to go.  As a result, the inner structures of the foot are damaged and lead to an abscess.

I have learned the hard way over the years, that the best treatment for an abscess is to not treat it.  Generally, an abscess ruptures on its own in 2-3 days.  Cutting the foot to drain the abscess can provide some immediate relief, but, having dealt with dozens of abscess, I have never yet seen it NOT cause problems later on.  Instead of healing within a week, cutting the foot can lead to years of severe trouble.  Ask me how I know...

Soaking the foot in warm water and spreading Ichthammol on the coronet band may help by softening the tissue and making it easier for the abscess to erupt.  However, with every new abscess I see, the more I believe that these things do more for me than the abscess.  On the other hand, it can't hurt, it might help and for someone like Ramsey, it makes him feel better to be fussed over and attended to.  That alone makes it worth doing.


For those of you who have wanted to hear what Ramsey's bray sounds like, I shot this by accident yesterday.  Go figure, I have been trying to get his bray on video for weeks with no luck, then I drop the camera and turn it on to see if it still works and here he is.  Unfortunately, this is the bray of a very unhappy, lame donkey baby.

Here in NY, we are all bracing for Sandy and wondering what it is going to bring.  This area suffered severe flooding in 2006 and catastrophic flooding last year from Irene and Lee.   Folks are more than a little frightened of Sandy and with good reason.  Some of these communities have never recovered, another bad flood will be the end of them.  So far, the weather forecast is saying we are going to be getting more wind than rain this time, but that is what they said about Irene as well.  There is no knowing.

I at least, am safe from flooding.  If I ever have to worry about that, we are all lost.  The wind is another matter.  Still, I am as prepared as I can be (I hope).  My main concern at the moment is if we have a prolonged power outage.  In that case, I have no running water and the contents of the freezer are at risk.  I do have a small generator and I think I can keep the freezer going a couple hours a day anyway.  I have a gas stove and wood heat.

As for water....

I've filled all of the water vessels that I have.  The equines are consuming about twenty gallons a day right now and there is about 100 gallons here.   There is a public spring with good water about a mile from here where I can get more if I need it.  I really hope I won't need any of this, but......

If you don't hear from me for a while you'll know why.  Stay safe out there folks.