Cellulitis delivers a setback

Bestie and Mia

On Saturday I got a message from the barn that Bestie seemed a little sore in one leg. When I listened to the message I could hear Bestie whinnying in outrage that she had been kept in the barn while her friends went out. 

I thought it would be better for her to go out and graze rather than stew in the barn until I could get there, so Kristy went ahead and turned Bestie out. I got to the barn around 3:30 in the afternoon, and peeked out at her while I picked out her stall, and she was grazing happily. Not so bad, I thought.

Ha. When I walked up to her in the field I could see that her left hind leg was quite swollen, right up the leg and a few inches over her hock. She was really favoring it when walking. I couldn't think of anything that had happened recently that might have caused the injury. She'd had a little scab on her coronary band that had flicked off a week ago, and I'd never actually seen any blood. Or could be an abscess, maybe. But my first worry was cellulitis, so I called the vet on weekend duty, who came promptly and confirmed my fear, with the possibility of an abscess as the cause.

Bestie got injections of anti-inflammatory dexamethasone, bactericidal antibiotic enrofloxacin, anti-edema Lasix, and antibiotic Excede. Wow. The plan going forward included a packet of enrofloxacin for 10 days, accompanied by 2 grams of bute for the first three nights ... both in her evening grain. 

The vet said that she could continue to be turned out as long as she seemed comfortable walking. On Sunday she went out. her leg was still swollen, but she was walking pretty well. I walked her around the barn, hosed and doused her leg with Sore No More, and turned her back out. Because of my hour long drive to the barn, I am typically there mid afternoon; any later runs me into horrible traffic, no matter the day. (It's been an adjustment, not being able to pop over to the barn easily, but that's another story.) I left wraps and asked Laurie if she could wrap Bestie when she came in for the evening. 

This morning. Laurie texted me that Bestie had looked good when she came in Sunday evening, but the leg had swollen back up overnight. When I got there today, the swelling actually looked better to me. I guess walking around the field during the day helps work off the swelling, and perhaps the beginning of her bute/enrofloxacin protocol the evening before was contributing. I soaked her hoof in epsom salts and betadine, and cold hosed her leg and rubbed it down with Sore No More. I had purchased a bucket of Sore No More poultice, and asked Laurie to put that on this evening. (Buying the SNM poultice was my first intro to Tri County Feeds, a pretty fun store that I'll need to pay a return visit to soon.)

So that's where we're at. Poor Bestie. At least she is perky and continuing to eat and drink well. If the leg still looks pretty swollen tomorrow I'll check in with the vet again as that would be worrisome. Bestie has never had cellulitis before. Dude had it once or twice, and I don't remember it hanging on too long with him. Fingers crossed Bestie's able to shake it quickly. Her leg was so swollen Saturday evening I'm sure it felt terrible to her.

I've been reading up on cellulitis, but it's one of those conditions that seems to come on with no clear origin. Injury and poor housekeeping were cited as two of the potential causes, and those factors certainly aren't the case here. As with most horse ailments, it seems that things can go south pretty quickly. It's been a relief to see her continue to be happy and alert since Saturday.

I thought this article in Equus magazine was about the most straightforward presentation on cellulitis of the reading I did.