After changing the bandage again yesterday I felt a little optimism creep in. In the past, once the cut closed the swelling became bigger again, bandage or not. That's what I was afraid of when I changed the bandage on saturday. Yesterday, it really looked like the swelling was smaller than it had been two days earlier. Maybe, just maybe...
Oh, and Crispin was very well behaved again too!
Dienstag, 23. November 2010
Samstag, 20. November 2010
Good Boy!
Today I had to change the bandage and guess what, Crispin was perfectly well behaved. Such a good boy. The wound is looking good the swelling could be better. Will see if it needs to be cut and drained once again during the week. But for now everything looks fine. Here's the poor thing with his brand new bandage:
Freitag, 19. November 2010
Update on the knee
Well, it is different this time. Hard to tell if it worked or not (and I really hope it did/will work!).
On monday Crispin was miserable. He was in a lot of pain, would hardly put any weight on the leg and ran a pretty high temperature. I talked to the vet and put him one bute. Thankfully he was much, MUCH better the next day. No fever anymore and almost no lameness. On tuesday the vet came out to pull the drainage. The wound looked infected and there was a little pus. Vet said that, since we were aimimg for infection, this much infection was ok but it should not get any worse. He put Crispin on antibiotics.
From now on I'm on my own. I'm supposed to change the bandage whenever it needs changing which is about every other day.
Thursday was the first day I had to do a bandage change. I was very nervous about it. Not because of the bandage but because of Crispin. The Vet had to sedate him both times he worked on him and so had the dentist last week. After the fuss he had made with the leeches I was really worried that he would start to put up a fight and that the fighting would get worse with every time I'd have to do a bandage change.
I made plans to have a friend out at the barn to help me but started out to try alone first (I wanted to at least get the old bandage of by myself). He started to be fussy at first, tying to get a way not holding still, until he knocked over my box with grooming suplies (which didn't really stand anywhere near him). The crash scared him so much that he decided from that moment on to be a perfect little boy and he let me change the dressing without any more trouble. He got lots of praise for that of course. What a good boy. I was so relieved! I hope the changing of the dressing will not be a problem anymore. It would be horrible if I had to fight with him over this every other day.
The wound looked OK. The vet had told me to open up the cut and to try and drain the swelling. So I did or tried to. The cut looked healed but I could open it by pulling the sides apart, thanks to a little bit of pus left. There was some swelling but not the kind I could drain by massaging the fluid out of it. So, things are definitely different this time, that's for sure. I just really, really hope that it is the right kind of different.
On monday Crispin was miserable. He was in a lot of pain, would hardly put any weight on the leg and ran a pretty high temperature. I talked to the vet and put him one bute. Thankfully he was much, MUCH better the next day. No fever anymore and almost no lameness. On tuesday the vet came out to pull the drainage. The wound looked infected and there was a little pus. Vet said that, since we were aimimg for infection, this much infection was ok but it should not get any worse. He put Crispin on antibiotics.
From now on I'm on my own. I'm supposed to change the bandage whenever it needs changing which is about every other day.
Thursday was the first day I had to do a bandage change. I was very nervous about it. Not because of the bandage but because of Crispin. The Vet had to sedate him both times he worked on him and so had the dentist last week. After the fuss he had made with the leeches I was really worried that he would start to put up a fight and that the fighting would get worse with every time I'd have to do a bandage change.
I made plans to have a friend out at the barn to help me but started out to try alone first (I wanted to at least get the old bandage of by myself). He started to be fussy at first, tying to get a way not holding still, until he knocked over my box with grooming suplies (which didn't really stand anywhere near him). The crash scared him so much that he decided from that moment on to be a perfect little boy and he let me change the dressing without any more trouble. He got lots of praise for that of course. What a good boy. I was so relieved! I hope the changing of the dressing will not be a problem anymore. It would be horrible if I had to fight with him over this every other day.
The wound looked OK. The vet had told me to open up the cut and to try and drain the swelling. So I did or tried to. The cut looked healed but I could open it by pulling the sides apart, thanks to a little bit of pus left. There was some swelling but not the kind I could drain by massaging the fluid out of it. So, things are definitely different this time, that's for sure. I just really, really hope that it is the right kind of different.
Montag, 15. November 2010
This is where we try again...
Even though the leeches did a decent job they are just not up to the challange. The swelling is very big, the weather not ideal for the bloodsuckers, it's too cold and Crispin doesn't enjoy the procedure too much either and is starting to put up a fight each time we are try to treat him.
Since I can not leave things the was they are I took the chance and let the vet try again. The procedure is a little different now and I really hope it will work this time.
The plan was to open up the swelling again, drain it again, clean it out very thoroughly and then leave a drainage in for a couple of days . The idea was to get a little inflamation into the wound so it will heal better. The dressing is also different this time. Much smaller. This time I will be able to change it myself plus he will be able to go out with too.
Since I can not leave things the was they are I took the chance and let the vet try again. The procedure is a little different now and I really hope it will work this time.
The plan was to open up the swelling again, drain it again, clean it out very thoroughly and then leave a drainage in for a couple of days . The idea was to get a little inflamation into the wound so it will heal better. The dressing is also different this time. Much smaller. This time I will be able to change it myself plus he will be able to go out with too.
Mittwoch, 3. November 2010
Well, that was a waste of time (and money!)
...nothing has changed! The swelling is just as big as ever (well, maybe it's a little smaller than before). I did everything like I was told to. Left the bandage on till monday. The vet had said to leave it on until the weekend or as long as possible. Once I took it off I could see that it had slipped more than it looked like from the outside. There was a little swelling about half the original size but bigger than it had been monday.
I had to leave Crispin without a bandage overnight and the next day all the fluid had run back and the swelling was just like it was 17 days ago. Bummer. No need to tell you just how upset I was. Not only did I already spend a fortune on the treatment, this also means that I would probably have continue with putting Crispin in the Robert- Jones for weeks and weeks, spending a lot of money and worst of all confine Crispin to weeks on end of stall rest. Not really an option.
I talked to the vet. He told me that, if I was willing to do most of the work myself, he'd be willing to cut open the leg once more. He'd go a little deeper this time to cause a little more inflamation and he would show me how to put on the bandage and how to continue with the treatment. I would of course have to pay for the material used, but he'd work for free. It's an option.
The second option is giving the leeches a chance. The vet will not be able to do the procedure before the middle of november. In the meantime I'll give the leeches a try and see how that will turn out...
*sight*
I had to leave Crispin without a bandage overnight and the next day all the fluid had run back and the swelling was just like it was 17 days ago. Bummer. No need to tell you just how upset I was. Not only did I already spend a fortune on the treatment, this also means that I would probably have continue with putting Crispin in the Robert- Jones for weeks and weeks, spending a lot of money and worst of all confine Crispin to weeks on end of stall rest. Not really an option.
I talked to the vet. He told me that, if I was willing to do most of the work myself, he'd be willing to cut open the leg once more. He'd go a little deeper this time to cause a little more inflamation and he would show me how to put on the bandage and how to continue with the treatment. I would of course have to pay for the material used, but he'd work for free. It's an option.
The second option is giving the leeches a chance. The vet will not be able to do the procedure before the middle of november. In the meantime I'll give the leeches a try and see how that will turn out...
*sight*
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