Another abscess?

E is sick. High fevers (101 - 102), sore throat, fainted on Saturday (That was scary! You try catching someone taller than you as they collapse to the floor!).

We had previously purchased tickets to a local fundraiser/banquet for Saturday evening. Since dinner was already paid for, hubby and I decided to pop in, eat dinner and head out before the auction fun began. Just as we sit down to eat, my phone rings.

Our barn manager is worried. Curly is laying down in the field and won't get up. Colic? Injury somewhere? She can't tell at this point.

So I jump in the car (leaving hubby at the banquet) and rush to the barn. By the time I arrive Curly has successfully made it to the tie bar on the side of the barn. But it is obvious it took some effort. The poor boy won't put any weight on his right hind hoof, which makes us all immediately suspect that there is an abscess forming even though we don't see anything on the hoof yet. Curly doesn't respond to any pressure with the calipers, either, but abscess is still our best guess.

I apply an epsom salt poultice, wrap it up and put on the medicine boot we have. Curly is (painfully) lead to the round pen for the night and given some bute to help with the pain. It just breaks my heart to see him hurt so much.

Since I'm still in my steppin' out clothes, and hubby is still at the banquet, I head back to dinner and then home to my sick child (who still has a fever over 100). I'm exhausted and my eyelid is twitching - a little stress, perhaps? :-)

My wonderful barn mangers checked on Curly several times throughout the night; he seemed to be doing okay - or was at least standing the whole time! When I arrived Sunday morning I took off the poultice. It smelled pretty bad but I didn't find any obvious drainage hole. Since he was moving with only a slight limp, I decided to let him go on out to the field for the day. He was able to use the hoof, but we could see that it was tender.

I checked on Curly a second time yesterday afternoon, re-cleaned the hoof and soaked it in a bucket of water and epsom salt. I didn't find anything that looked like his previous abscesses, but there is a crack on the outside of his hoof, with a horizontal crack at the top of it. It may be that the abscess is draining from this spot.

Throughout this whole ordeal I've watched Curly's face and eyes. I want to know what he looks like when I KNOW he is in pain so that I can be a better judge of days when I think he may be but I am not entirely sure. And here's the weird thing - his eyes and demeanor during the last two days have been exactly the same as they always are. He has a slightly worried look over his sweet, dark eyes. And he's the same gentle dope that he usually is - sometimes pushy, but generally trying to do what ever it is you're asking. What does this say about his general pain level? I wish he could tell me more clearly....

The farrier is already scheduled to come out on Thursday. Unless there is some drastic change, we'll just keep that appointment rather than call him in early to take care of this. In the meantime, I'll be going out to clean and soak his hoof several times each day.