Magpie's hind legs went through a plastic feed bucket that had gotten brittle in the cold. The extent of the injuries was grossly underestimated and she was virtually untreated for quite some time before she arrived here.
Upon arrival, we cold hosed and tried to clean them, but they were solidified with puss. We doused them in betadine and waited for the vet.
The vet was examining her and the flesh just peeled away.
The vet basically unwrapped her leg. All of her skin and hair came off in large pieces.
The tendon was rotted through and hanging.
About 3-4 inches of bone is exposed.
The legs were clipped and excess tissue scraped away.
Now the real work begins. Months of treatment and changing bandages lay ahead of us, if she's lucky.
Day 2: She was very good for us when I changed the bandages. Lots of junk bubbling over still at this point. The vet will be out tomorrow to check on things.
Day 3: The vet is very pleased with the look of the wounds. They were better than she expected after just two days. So, Magpie's biggest concern of the day was that she did not match! LOL
I will take photos of the wounds again tomorrow.
Day 4
Day 4
Day 4
Day 4
Day 4
Day 4
Day 5 - Things are still looking (relatively) good. We'll have the vet pop by on Monday to check things over.
Magpie seems comfortable and happy. We shortened her paddock to limit her movement, but still let her be outside. She loves to soak up the sunshine.
Day 13
Day 13
Day 13
Day 13
Day 13
Day 13
Day 13
Day 13
Day 13
Two weeks in. The vet came out today to check the wounds. There was talk of the possibility of skin grafts. We don't know yet if that will be necessary. Then tendon that is helping to cover the exposed bone is not looking so good. It is not an essential part, so it may get cut out next week depending on how it looks then. The one exposed tendon we can't lose is on the right hind, at the back. It's looking good so far though.
Day 27
The smallest wound has completely closed!
Day 27
The wound with exposed bone on the left hind. The black vertical line is the tendon that may have to be cut out. The flesh to the left is growing over the bone, underneath the black line. The black line is where the flap is, it is loose overtop.
Day 27
The wound on the inner right leg. It is closing very nicely. The bottom 1/4 of it has closed completely.
Day 27
The wound on the back of the right hind. It's slow going with the granulation tissue coverage as this is tendon and slides up and down with every step.
Day 39
The vet has decided that we can change the bandages every OTHER day now!
Day 39
The dead tendon has been cut out. The flesh on the left of the wound has grown under the flap and covered the bone!
Day 39
Day 39
Day 57
The smallest wound is closed and covered in hair. You can see the slightest pale scar at the top of this picture.
Day 57
Left hind.
Day 57
Day 57
Day 57
Inner right hind.
Day 57
Back of the right hind.
Day 73
10 days ago (day 63) the vet said we could stop wrapping the left hind, the wound that originally had exposed bone. She warned us that it would swell and expel a lot of exudate, due to the regular healing system coming back into play after over two months of wrapping. It sure did. Now, day 73, it is not too bad and I took the picture today because the first thick scab sloughed off when I was hosing it.
Day 73
The bone is completely covered and now it's just the waiting game for the flesh to heal. We will likely have to trim away excess proud flesh as the wound gets smaller and smaller. It's not pretty - but it's healthy and a welcome sight!
Day 77
The vet trimmed away the tall proud flesh three days ago. There are no nerves, so it didn't hurt her, but it sure did bleed. The high blood flow is what helps it grow so fast. So, it is flat again and on it's way!
Day 77
Day 77
Day 77
There is thicker tissue covering the tendons on the back of the right leg now. It is much narrower than before and does not wrap around the leg anymore.
Day 77
The wound on the inner right leg is closing rapidly now.
Day 77
Day 83
The wound is closing relatively rapidly since the vet trimmed the granulation tissue down!
Day 106
The left leg wound is nearly as small as a toonie now! Amazingly rapid progress!
Day 106
Day 106
The medium wound on the right leg is completely closed! After it's hosed, it will look like a million bucks!
Day 106
We have unwrapped the right leg for the last time! Now the leg will swell and get messy for a few days until her body re-learns it's job. The leg has been wrapped for nearly four months, so it is an adjustment.
Day 106
It is starting to swell already. We went through this with the other leg though, she'll be okay.
Day 108
Today was nice and warm, so I shampooed both of her legs under and around the wounds. Plenty of dead skin, hair and debris came off. She was loving the massage - stood like a rock the whole time! She definitely prefers that to cold-hosing... but didn't even mind that today when it came time to rinse.
Day 108
As you can see, there is a huge, black scab. It is about 1/2 inch thick. This happened on the other side as well. One day soon, when I am cold hosing her leg, it will just fall right off and look relatively better underneath. Then it will happen again and again, each time smaller. The vet will likely have to trim the granulation tissue on this wound as well, so it will be steady progress.
Day 137
The wound on the back of her right leg is healing a mile a minute... okay, maybe a millimetre... it is incredible!
Day 137
Day 137
The vet has given us the all-clear to let Magpie out and about! She gets to be a real horse again, for the first time in nearly five months!!!
