Conference noted::equitation

1163.0. "Surgery on the booboo..." by BOOVX1::MANDILE () Thu Jan 25 1990 14:23

    My Quarter Horse has had a bump on his left
    hind croup since he was a baby.  This past
    year (he's 6 now) it had doubled in size.
    Two weeks ago it started to crack and seep
    fluid, so the vet came Saturday and we (my
    husband, the vet & myself) decided to have
    it removed.  Never having had the pleasure
    of viewing surgery before, the process was
    interesting.  Tranq the horse, shoot location
    with novicane, cut out bump, sew up the cut,
    all with-in 45 minutes. (I pass out at this 
    stuff, so I had to sit down while the hubby
    took over holding horse) Fortunately, the
    the bump turned out to be just an old bite
    or puncture that left something in.  But
    unfortunately, the area the bump was in is
    hard to suture and keep sutured.  The hide
    in that area is thick and tough.  Has anyone
    ever had this type of surgery before? Did you
    have to put hot/warm compresses on it?  
    Does it scar badly?  Did the sutures rip out?
    Did infection show up or did it heal cleanly?
    My horse is the type that lies down to sleep,
    and he started to rip the sutures out the first
    night.  I went to check on him and he had blood
    running down his hip. The poor guy has to spend
    the next two weeks tied so that he cannot lie 
    down and tear out the sutures.               
    
    Any hints would be appreciated.
    
    
    Rgds,
    
    Lynne & Ranger's Angel
    

    I had something sort of similar with my horse about 8 years ago. His
    bump was on his nose. It looked like there was a ping-pong ball between
    his nostrils. The vet knocked him out and operated in the field. (I too
    almost passed out watching the operation.) The bump turned out to me a
    non-malignant tumor that had developed iresponse to a parasite getting
    under the skin.
    
    If I remember right, I had to use hot water to wash the scar for a
    couple of days, then cold water just to flush it. I used that spray
    form of furacin. Treatment was really simple. Having him graze helped
    the wound to drain--but it did get dirty. There was no problem with
    infection. Oh yeah, I also had to give him some penicillin shots. Today
    he just has a faint line down his nose where the cut was made.
    
    Good luck,
    Andrea