This message is from: Gail Russell <g...@zeliga.com>
We have a horse who stopped eating, and had a huge ulcer under his tongue, plus an abscess that opened and drained under his jaw, with the channel for the abscess going forward, toward his nose, toward the base of his tongue. We treated for over a month. The abscess channel was big enough that I could put my finger up to the second joint into the channel. I could feel bone on either side of my finger. All of the other tissue had been cleared out by the abscess. We thought we had him well, but he relapsed as soon as the abscess healed over. He is at the vet's now, awaiting anesthesia tomorrow AM to thoroughly examine his mouth and tongue, and then, probably another round of antibiotics. We found he needed antibiotics for anaerobic bacteria to get whatever the bug was. They X-rayed him today and could find no sign of metal foreign objects. They also did a barium injection into the abscess to see where the pocket went to. Experience and advice appreciated. The vets are trying, but are stumped. I am not wanting to take a 21 year old arthritic QH to a major vet hospital for this. Hoping we can figure something out without that. Apparently exploratory surgery is quite likely to end badly due to all the nerves, ligaments, etc, under the tongue. Jean Ernest...didn't Barney have some horrific infection that went on for a long time? Gail Russel. Important FjordHorse List Links: Subscription Management: http://tinyurl.com/5msa7e FH-L Archives: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw Classified Ads: http://tinyurl.com/5b5g2f
