update on the dingdom

So I work in data analysis by profession, currently for a consulting company. Basically by definition, this means I spend a lot of time making quick decisions about small details that I *may or may not* remember 6 months down the road.

for shits and giggles, i took a random unplanned (not staged) photo of my medicine drawer exactly as it is right now. anyone else wanna play and add your own shot? recognize anything here --- does my drawer look like yours??? what's missing??? (besides the bute and the swat which were otherwise occupied lol)

Which could explain why I'm such an obsessive documentarian lol. Tho... I'd argue... Maybe being such an obsessive documentarian is what drew me to that line of work in the first place? Who knows... 

not a great photo of swelling but day 2 is full on pitting edema. look for the *lack* of definition around the tendons. i described it for our latest barn rat as kinda the texture of hot applesauce...

Long story short, I'm a big fan of documenting the details, to better remember them down the line. Ya know, if any questions arise, right? Particularly details we might not even notice in the moment, or realize could have future implications.

maybe a better shot for showing swelling and texture?

So bear with me while I capture said details here LOL. To play catch up: my horse went through a high tensile wire fence sometime in the early morning on Thursday. I found him in his stall later that morning all cut up, raw and swelling.

swat + pray on the way to turnout, amirite?

The vet confirmed that Charlie escaped any major injury, but prescribed a heavy dose of antibiotics all the same. Which.... I mean. I'm trigger happy about antibiotics. I admit that. I know a lot of people feel differently... but... ya know. Racehorses get a shit ton of drugs on the track, and Charlie raced until he was 7. As far as I'm concerned, his blood type is SMZs.

day 3: ooh oooh got to use my ice boots again -- perfect for this sorta thing!

So. We dose, and we dose hard. And I know in my last post I hinted toward some shortcomings of boarding where Charlie lives... So. Let's set the record straight, yes? Full story: the day to day care from paid staff is inconsistent and unreliable. BUT. The level of experience, ability, and professionalism among boarders is legit CLASS. 

well. almost perfect LOL

So... Charlie is getting what he needs from day to day --- including his Gentamicin, a heavy duty systemic antibiotic that can go IM or IV, but at 33cc per dose (not even mentioning the pitting edema again), would very much prefer to go IV.... Yea, nbd. My barn mates have it buttoned up. 

So ya know. If we do eventually go to a proper "co-op" model, we 100% have the in-house skill to ensure everybody can get what they need.

day 3 swelling was wayyyy down.
honestly dunno how much better you could want wounds like this to look!

Anyway, Day 3 Charlie had what looked like pretty excellent legs. There is still fill, still some swelling, but not at all the whole "up and down hot fatness" that sparks cellulitis fears in all our hearts. The tendons had definition, the leg was realistically warm but not scary to touch... Ya know. Normal healing stuff. It looked good. 

still gonna play it safe tho... except ugh, peep that weepage trail from the other leg... bleh

And Day 4 was more of the same. In a way, it's interesting to have a non-healing wound on the other hind leg (Charlie's "summer sore") as a comparison against the transformations from his wire cuts. The lacerations are all scabbing and tightening, while that summer sore just keeps weeping and weeping.

day 4 -- looking somehow pretty freakin GREAT! esp compared to that gd summer sore wtf???
(also... peep that gloved hand holding charles' death apparatus still while takin pics from hyper vulnerable places...) 

Charlie will finish his treatment with another big hit of antibiotics -- the last dose of Excede IM on both sides of his neck -- this week, and probably we'll stop wrapping while he's stalled daytime soon. I haven't even jogged the horse to see if he ever went properly lame... But we'll do that this week too. Fingers crossed all goes well!

speakin of which... this level of drainage (from a surface wound) is generally.... not a good sign

The other interesting side quest from this whole "Went Through a Wire Fence" saga is... Charlie's "summer sore." 

I knew this wound was behaving weirdly, but didn't really understand what was going on. Again to catch up: it was a normal superficial wound that just sorta..... went wild. It swelled, first locally, then the whole leg. It weeps, it crusts, it doesn't want to heal. My vet noticed it while treating Charlie's wire-fence-lacerations and immediately diagnosed it as the above (srsly I keep linking this article bc it's useful).

vet pointed out that the increasingly "circular" nature of this wound, combined with drainage, indicates classic "summer sore" characteristics. right side treated with Quest Plus (moxidectin) dewormer

At this point, it's less of a "wound" and more of a classic lesion or ulcer. I finally was able to worm Charlie again yesterday orally with moxidectin, and started topical treatment with the same. Hopefully this is an uncomplicated story from start to finish lol..... But I'll keep you posted, obviously.

sir. you are so needy.

So we shall see. The horse seems perfectly happy, and I'm honestly starting to wonder if resolving that summer sore will also help resolve some of the horse's itchiness? He's also been on a double dose of hydroxyzine for a few days now and my unscientific brain feels like maybe there's a difference? 

Idk. We'll see. I'm definitely planning to ride the thing probably at some point next week assuming all the wounds continue behaving lol.