Good Grief!! Poor Pony Has WHAT Sticking Out of Him?!? (Added Photos)

[MyFriendFlicker]

I was clipping Flicker yesterday and found two horrible holes dripping pus from where he testicles would be. I cleaned him up and out of one hole was a cut "tube end", moist and red in the hole, but dried and enlarged at the end. Possibly the vas deferens? And in the other hole was several loops of string hanging out. We headed to the vet first thing this morning. The vet pulled out about 1.5" of string and cut it off. She then irrigated the holes for a while, gave him painkiller and a penicillin shot. They gave us 5 more shots, to give once per day. They told us to irrigate it twice per day and if it's not better in 10 days to head back in.

Now, here's where I'm confused...(I wasn't there at the time to ask this directly) if she cut off the string, instead of pulling it all out, doesn't that guarantee there is still string in there to cause more infection?!?! (Yes, I do plan to call in the morning and ask.) Perhaps she's hoping the infection will push out what's left? Maybe she didn't want to poke around too much and push the infection deeper?

Now, to give a little background info: We've had Flicker for nearly two years. He is about 9 years old and was gelded long before we bought him. I'm assuming some moron gelded him at home or tried to repair a geld job themselves. Either way,

.

I'll post photos after tomorrow's irrigation if you are interested.

Thanks for letting me vent. I'm furious at some unknown person who did this, and a little perplexed by the vet.

 

[dreaminmini]

I'm no vet and haven't had a lot of experience in the actual gelding procedure, but something does not sound right to me. Poor guy, must be very painful for him and for who knows how long. I would have thought she whould want to make sure it was all out because I would assume they couldn't get rid of the infection until all the foreign matter was gone. Maybe a more experienced person can shed some light on this. I'd have to say I'm 50/50 on whether I want to see the pics or not

 

[MyFriendFlicker]

I'm no vet and haven't had a lot of experience in the actual gelding procedure, but something does not sound right to me. Poor guy, must be very painful for him and for who knows how long. I would have thought she whould want to make sure it was all out because I would assume they couldn't get rid of the infection until all the foreign matter was gone. Maybe a more experienced person can shed some light on this. I'd have to say I'm 50/50 on whether I want to see the pics or not

I completely agree. I don't understand how it will heal unless it's completely removed. I'm very skeptical that it's going to heal correctly as is. My husband was the one there with him this morning. So, I'm going on second hand information. I'm definitely calling in the morning, but am not really expecting to get good answers. I live in an area where animals are like old cars. "If the repair ain't cheap, send them to the crusher." Along those lines, the vets around here don't give me warm fuzzies. Get me back to PA....where horses are treated like living things.

 

[Miniv]

Sounds as if some moron did the gelding method still used to cut goats and sheep!

But around here there are special rubber ties for it.......NOT string! Poor poor fellow.

It does seem that you have some important questions to ask the vet.......such as -- Is ALL the string removed? If not, WHY not???

 

[Julie/Azariah]

Come back to Pennsylvania, we have some great vets in our area who LOVE our horses almost as much as we do.

It is strange to be so long since his gelding procedure and just now pop up with an infection unless it has been festering for a long time and just abscessed.

I would keep a close eye on it and make sure the antibiotics are beginning to make some changes. If not, you would probably have to sedate him and really get in there and do some probing...possibly minor surgery. I certainly wouldn't fool around with it. Sounds like he has a good momma and poppa to help get him through this.

 

[txminipinto]

I would like to see pictures. At times, the emasculator isn't always effective in crushing and severing the vessels. It is possible that the vet used Cat Gut suture (it's not really cat guts, it's suture made from sheep intestines.) to ligate the vessels. Cat Gut isn't used very often any more (and I wonder if it's still available) because it does cause tissue irritation. But, I think if he was gelded a long time ago this is a problem that would have been noticed and taken care of before now.

Interesting case!

 

[MyFriendFlicker]

I just got off the phone with the vet. As suspected, I didn't get a good answer. "I got as much of the string out as I could. There may still be more in there, but it might come out on its own. That's why I recommended the hydrotherapy." what? If it was going to come out easy enough to come out on its own, it would have slid right out when she pulled at it.

They did suggest that it's been a problem for a while and that it just came to a head with the abscess. I've seen "cat gut" and it did not appear to be that. It looked like synthetic kitchen string...or small gauge catfishing string.

Can anyone recommend a good vet in the Northeast of Houston area? I know of Dayton Vet Clinic and could take him down there, but thought maybe there would be someone better recommended.

I will take photos in a couple of hours.

 

[txminipinto]

The problem with pulling it out blind is you don't know what it's connected too. Or what it's tying off. It's not uncommon for suture reactions to occur and after the abscess open for some material to be sticking out. It's common practice to just cut the piece visible and leave the rest to finish abscessing.

If you are located near HOUSTON, TX, there are several good veterinarians. North of Houston there is Equine Associates in Conroe. Brazos Valley Equine in Navasota. I'm not familiar with the east side though.

 

[minimom1]

Im not sure what the string would be but here our vet uses a finger cut off a rubber glove. When he gelds he inserts it in the incision to use as a drain to keep the incision

open. Usually it just slips out within 5 days or so. Im not sure if thats what the tube you were talking about was used for or what .

Either way if it has been over 2 years since he was gelded ???? Ouch

 

[MyFriendFlicker]

Im not sure what the string would be but here our vet uses a finger cut off a rubber glove. When he gelds he inserts it in the incision to use as a drain to keep the incisionopen. Usually it just slips out within 5 days or so. Im not sure if thats what the tube you were talking about was used for or what .

Either way if it has been over 2 years since he was gelded ???? Ouch

We got him in December 2007. There was no evidence of a problem at that time. We play with or work Flicker at least twice a week and again, never anything visible. Granted, I'm not normally checking him out closely. Only at bath time do I really ever see there. And, interestingly, our dog, an English Shepherd who is quite the farm assistant, kept poking at his crotch with his nose, and looking at me. ("Good boy!!")

No, the tube I was talking about is tissue, not foreign debris. You can see it now, all clean and red looking, sticking out of the left hole now. The dried up end is gone now.

Cropped for the detail.

To show the exact location behind his sheath.

Any tips for giving injections or getting oral antibiotics into him? I've done many (other horses/cattle/small animals) in the past with minimal problems, but today was crazy. My husband and I cross-tied him, thumped his neck several times, and besides his skin being incredibly tough, he raised such a stink about it that we were afraid of breaking the needle. One last try, we hobbled him and tried his rump. He was about to knock himself on the ground, so we gave up and I'm going to call for oral. I feel like a failure. I can't believe I can't give a shot to such a small horse.

 

[chandab]

Any tips for giving injections or getting oral antibiotics into him? I've done many (other horses/cattle/small animals) in the past with minimal problems, but today was crazy. My husband and I cross-tied him, thumped his neck several times, and besides his skin being incredibly tough, he raised such a stink about it that we were afraid of breaking the needle. One last try, we hobbled him and tried his rump. He was about to knock himself on the ground, so we gave up and I'm going to call for oral. I feel like a failure. I can't believe I can't give a shot to such a small horse.

Ouch, that looks sore.

Ask your vet about proper shot techniques for horses, if you aren't familiar. And, be sure not to use too large a needle. I know penicillin is thick, so you do need a larger needle, but don't go larger than an 18 gauge needle with horses. [i usually use 18 gauge for thick injections like penicillin and 20 or 21 gauge needles for vaccinations.] Generally a 1.5" needle is used for horses, and they work fine for minis; although, some do use a shorter needle for the minis.

For oral med, I just recently found a great syringe through Horse.com (Country Supply), they are specifically for oral medications. And with these new syringes, I was able to easily dose my gelding with powdered antibiotics, just mix with a little applesauce, put it in the syringe and down the hatch. [The vet told me he's had no problems just dampening the feed and adding the powder to it, and all the horses he's dosed this way ate it fine; nope, not my gelding, so I mixed with applesauce and used a syringe.]

I have a mare that was a holy terror the first time I vaccinated her; she reared up, struck me in the chest and all kinds of problems. With work and patience, she is now just fine for her shots; although, I do tend to be even more careful with her.

HOpe he heals up fast.

 

[txminipinto]

Can you twitch him? I hate giving Pencillin because it hurts and there's no way around it. I would use a one-man twitch on him and if necessary, a shoulder or ear twitch. Was it the insertion of the needle that caused the problem or when you began injecting? Don't feel like a failure.........pencillin hurts.

 

[HGFarm]

YOUCH!!!!!!!!!!! That looks like it has burst open due to infection just making a big mess in there and is draining any way it can!!!!!!!!!!!! Someone needs to make SURE nothing else is in there! Your poor little horse!! That is just awful!

He sure looks like he could use a 10 day stint of antibiotics.... our vet here gives us SMZ tabs. They dissolve VERY easily in a tiny bit of water and I put it in a syringe and give by mouth with a TINY bit of molasses in with it and they just love it!

I hope your little guy heals soon! That looks terrible!

 

[Lmequine]

I have dealt with several ponies that are sensitive about having shots. I use an 18 gauge needle no longer than 1 1/2 inches for penicillin (I use a 22 gauge that is 1 inch long for everything else). DO NOT thump on the neck before giving the injection and do not "pop" the needle in (this is the way a lot of vets and people give a shot, nothing wrong with it but it freaks some ponies/minis out). Stroke his neck with some pressure, sort of like a massage, but long strokes with the muscle on the neck, let him relax a bit, next, pinched the skin up (sort of like a doing a shoulder twitch but on the neck in front of where you want to give the shot). Set your needle behind where you have the skin pinched up and gentley work it in the muscle, I usually wiggle it a bit side to side, be sure to aspirate the syringe once it is in the muscle to make sure you are not in a vein and then inject the penicillin. Keep the skin on the neck pinched up til you are finished with the injection and then do a couple of more long strokes down the neck after you have released the skin. I have been able to give shots to several hard to deal with small equine doing this technique when I am by myself. A good nose twitch works well on some but not all. An injectable antibiotic is probably going to work better than something given orally but truthfully the flushing with water everyday is going to do more good than anything.

From the looks of the photo there is some proud flesh but nothing too bad.

Any chance of finding out who gelded him and how long ago? It would be interesting to know how long the piece of string was in him!

 

[Mominis]

Oh jeez! Don't ear him down. That's terrible and you'll pay for it the next time you have to fuss with his head. You could try holding up a leg, putting a humane twitch on, or if you must, see if the vet will give you an oral tranquilizer and then administer the pennicyllin.

 

[wildoak]

What a strange situation. Wish you were closer to Austin, we have some wonderful caring vets up here! Imagine you could get in touch with someone from the Houston club for a vet reference - www.ghmhc.org

Jan

 

[eagles ring farm]

Ouch !! hope you get him better soon

Something that works great for us with our problem gelding for shots

he was terrible rearing and flying all over the place before we tried

and since then we do it everytime he gets his shots

and even not a problem with drawing blood every year for a coggins

We put a cup of sweet feed in a small bucket and let him eat

out of the bucket while we give him the shot or draw blood

for him works like a charm. He stands without a fuss or fight

 

[Keri]

Poor guy! From the one photo, it almost looks like an old scar where he was stitched from the wound back. Could just be the picture too though. Hope you can get this taken care of for him.

We have 2 minis that are horrible with shots. I distract them and play with them, then hubby sneaks up and shoots it in their neck really quick. We got it down to an art becuase wrestling sure doesn't work with them.

But there are oral antibiotics out there too. So its not a failure. Some horses just have a fear of needles.

 

[spottedminis45107]

Oh My....that just doesnt look like it was taken care of when he was gelded...Maybe the people didnt keep it cleaned? Hes lucky to have you caring for him now.

we have had problems with a gelding we use to have, big-16hh spotted saddle,who just did not like shots at all,but we would have someone hold him,and we would just calmly talk to him and pet him,then just give him the shot quick and fast!

but sometimes that doesnt always work....sorry i didnt have anything better...

 

[uwharrie]

Don't feel bad, It took three of us to hold a 31in 2 yr old filly to get blood drawn for the coggins. We finally pinned her in a corner of the stall against the wall to get it done. I never had problems with my big horses but it seem a lot of minis are needle phobic.

I am working on getting her less sensative to needles and hopefully it will be less tramatic ( at least for me) next time.