Refusing Grain..

Dawson blew an abscess yesterday afternoon, and i had been giving him bute in his feed for the day. This morning when given his grain without bute in it, he wouldn't touch it. Hes on stall rest so we left the dish with grain in his stall with him for the day. I checked on him at lunch & he had it covered with shavings so i dumped it out. Fed him tonight in his clean dish, with no bute and he won't touch it. Put chopped up carrots in it, put it in a different bucket, still wont touch it.

Also, he ate the first meal with bute in it fine, then the second one at night he only ate half of it right away, but ate the second half throughout the night.

Any ideas to get him to eat it?

When Target had rain rott last year I had to give him 7 giant antibiotic pills twice a day he wouldn't let me syringe it into him or eat it with apple sauce but I found the if you dump molassas (sp) on it he ate it like it was crack he loved every second of it so maybe try a different treat in it to get him eatting. He probably thinks your trying to trick him into eatting gross bute flavored food again.

I hope Dawson is okay Absesses suck expecially in the winter soaking a foot in the freezing cold is never fun. good luck

good idea! i'll have to take some down tomorrow morning and try that.

haha ya, he defiantly doesn't trust me or the barn owner now. Hes getting 2 shots of penicillin a day and a syringe of tri... something lol And after we give him both he won't even take a carrot out of my hand till about 15mins after. Hes not impressed!

Hes doing alot better now, all the swelling is just about gone and i turned him out in the indoor arena while i cleaned his stall today and as soon as i left he took off racing back and forth and doing roles backs lol

He sounds so much like target. Target was on stall rest for a month when he cut the back of his fetlock off and he was only 2 at the time (Try keeping that from trashing the barn and killing you trying to run around )

Oh one other thing that i found really good when my mare had an absess was to put a easy boot over the foot so that the foot didn't get dirt in it as much easier to clean out daily as well

you might wanna pretend your eating it or giving it to another horse.. might spark something.. hehehehe works for kids and puppies!

ugh, Dawson on stall rest for a month would not be good. im hoping to be able to put him out soon, the pastures are just so wet and muddy right now it would be impossible to keep clean.

Ya the vet suggested an easy boot, or making one out of an baby's diaper and duct tape. But i don't have an easy boot and the duct tape i think would just be way too slippery in the mud in the pastures right now. It blew out through his heel bulb so its not too had to keep clean right now with him on stall rest. His stall is cleaned out a few times through out the day.

hahah Wissy, that's actually what i did with the carrots when he wouldn't eat them i started to, and it did work! I dunno how good fat n' fibre would taste though

I think his tummy is upset from the meds, I would feed probiotics, and not feed him anything new to upset his tummy more....Try to get as much movement has you can on him,that will help his stomach and his sore footsie....

Julie I have one easy boot at home if you want to give it a try??
I think I have a bunch of colored Duct tape to if you need some?? let me know I think we are going up that way this weekend..

Called the vet just in case, shes going to discuss it with my regular vet and then let me know what they think it is and what to do

CJ - Im thinking it probably wouldnt fit so well, hes due for a trim early next week and when he needs his feet trimmed his feet grow out to the sides instead of his toe growing long. What do you think though? i've never used any kind of boot before so not sure on how they fit.

We use diapers and duct tape whenever we've had an absess. We also leave them in until they are completely sound on it. If you had a boot you could at least turn them out without getting dirt in the hole. The diaper and duct tape doesn't hold up well outside.

He must be afraid there's still bute in the feed. I'd keep putting treats in and hope he starts eating again.

you can also use the heavy duty Zip-Lock bags, they are pretty tough..........

The vets decided it was more "mental" then physical. He just has it stuck in his mind not to trust me or the BO. He usually eats his feed wet, but tonight i fed it to him dry and he ate it all cept for the flax and vitamins at the bottom (thats why he usually gets it wet) so i figure maybe a day or so of feeding it dry and he'll eat it then i mix the water back in. Or ill put some molasses on it while it wet.

How long do you guys keep wrapping their foot for?

I'd keep the foot wrapped until he wasn't sore on it anymore. That will keep it clean and no manure or bedding will get in it. But that's what we've done when the abscess was on the sole and was dug out to drain, leaving a hole. If he doesn't have a hole to fill with stuff then maybe you don't need to keep it wrapped as long.

Glad he's eating again.

okay thanks! His blew out through his heel bulb, and has been putting full weight on it since yesterday. Im thinking if the ground looks frozen over tomorrow or not too muddy i may turn him out for a bit atleast.

Im soooo happy hes eating! i really could not afford another vet bill.

BluKote is a wonderful product for cuts (or abscesses). It's a blue spray and it keeps the area dry, instead of wet. We use it for everything!

You can buy it at Greenhawk, but I'm not sure I've seen it anywhere around here. I have some if you wanted to pick it up if you're in my area.

ohh interesting! i know i have a spray called bleu spray? or something like that. I can't even remember what i bought it for.. but i remember using it cause of the blue coloring lol I wonder if it a similar product? I'll have to check tomorrow, im pretty sure its still in my trunk at the barn.

Thanks for the offer! but i don't think i'll be up your way anytime soon.

Glad he is feeling better... :)

Getting him out and moving will speed the process up for healing.. (Just like going to the hospital, they want us up and moving now after most surgeries... no more getting to lay around in bed anymore... lol)

Just remember, if you do put a boot on one foot, put one on the other foot. I have had the "naked" leg swell/stock up that way... maybe due to being unbalanced? Not sure...

There is another kind of 'blue spray' that I've seen at Coop but it's not the same as BluKote. We prefer BluKote, but you could try that, it might help - can't hurt for sure!

Dawson is just retarded... That's all :p