Last night after work, I went out to the barn to worm the girls and check on how they are doing. Rajiyyah’s leg looks so much better! The girls are day on turnout so I finally got to see Rajiyyah’s leg after she was out for a while. Swelling was minimal, which is a great improvement. She was also moving with out her usual limp! Wonderful news. The only thing different is that I’ve been using the arnica-based gel on her leg and DMSO (not at the same time). The DMSO is supposed to help break up the lump that has grown in where the cut was.

I spoke with the vet earlier this week. She said that Rajiyyah’s leg definitely sounds like it’s improving, but there probably was some tendon damage. Recouperation should go slow — light lunging for two months before getting back on her. Since Mom has bought the farm in Maryland, I’ll be shipping Rajiyyah to her before the end of the year. So right about the time I’d be able to get back on Rajiyyah, she’ll be in Maryland.

My knee was acting up again last night. I put my legs up in bed and stayed off of it for as long as I could. I think sitting in the kneeling chair is okay, but not when I’m spenging 8-9 hours at work and then an additional 5-8 when I get home. I’m trying to make a point to get away from the computer and do something else — knitting or reading — that doesn’t require me to be standing or bend my knees. Helped last night. My knee definitely feels better today. (Of course, being off of the glucosamine for a few days doesn’t help either. I’m back on it.)

The Grey Wonder Mare™ is really doing well. The swelling has continued to go down. The cut is now about the size of my thumbnail. It looks great! She is still a little lame on it — means she probably has some tendon damage to get over. We’ll keep working on things now that the skin is closing up.

Overall, very good progress. (Except I got the vet bill. Ouch. Yay equine medical insurance!)

Even though Rajiyyah’s leg has been healing well, she has been doing something to it every night. Finding dried blood that has dripped half-way down a leg isn’t normal. It’s not oozing or seepage, it’s like she is re-damaging the leg every time she is in her stall. I don’t know what she is doing. One of the vet students suggested that maybe she has something still stuck in the cut that is preventing it from healing fully.

I am not sure what is going on. The vet is supposed to be back out today to see Rajiyyah. Some time this afternoon, not sure exactly when.

Rajiyyah’s leg is looking much better! We stopped wrapping it on Sunday evening. Monday night it was still swollen and the cut looked kinda nasty — caked with blood and pieces of shavings. However, after 20 minutes of hosing to reduce swelling and get the gunk off of it, there was a pleasant surprise: the wound has made major progress in healing. The sides are coming together and it’s healing really well. Almost twice as much healing in one day as two days of having her leg wrapped.

Very pleased. A little worried by the amount of swelling but at the same time. Maybe she’s just stocking up…

Vet came out and had some good news: The cut is healing well. Swelling continues to go down, infection appears to be going away, and Rajiyyah didn’t have an infection. We’re going to keep her on antibioitics for another five days with continued hydrotheraphy (hosing for 20 minutes) and wrapping while the wound is still open.

So very good news. I’ve included a picture of her leg. It’s not great and it’s turned the wrong way. However, you can see how the swelling has gone down from earlier pictures.

Her leg looked better tonight. Less swelling, and even a scab over the wound for the first time. Cleaning it out was pretty easy — she is always good. The wound washed up clean, even though she had pulled the bandage all the way down around her fetlock. Hopefully it will stay up better tonight (so long as she doesn’t pull it down with her teeth again).

She is apparently eating all of her antibiotics as well. Surprising since she is getting 13 crushed tablets in her morning and evening grain. Maybe adding a little corn oil makes all of the difference.

The vet comes back out tomorrow afternoon. Here’s hoping she thinks the cut looks good enough to keep on the current track…

Some days I really feel jinxed. I get a mare going well and then something happens… Not something minor. No, it has to be something major: laminitis, pulled tendon, colic surgery, deep cut near tendons with possible infection… (I know, no relation to anything I’ve done. If I wrote out the list of medical issues Isis has had anyone would be suspicious.)

Last night, when I unbandaged Rajiyyah’s leg, it looked red and possibly infected. I did the regular regimen (20 minutes hydrotherapy, washing the cut out with chlorhexidine, and wrapping the leg). Her temperature was normal. Called the vet this morning. If anything might be infected, I’m not going to take a chance.

I left work early today to get to the barn a little before the vet did. I cleaned out Rajiyyah’s leg. It didn’t look too bad. It’s draining a lot, but I suppose that is normal. The skin looked redder than yesterday. Rajiyyah was still good about letting me clean the cut out.

The vet arrived with about six vet students. It was funny to see them crowding around Rajiyyah. She was fabulous with all of them. Very patient and happy to have the attention. She kept wanting to see all of the items the students had on them. Inquisitive little girl.

Prior to the vet examining the cut closely, she sedated Rajiyyah. Poor little droopy headed girl. It was probably a good thing though. I don’t think she would have allowed the vet to probe inside the cut otherwise. The good news was that the vet didn’t find anything inside the cut. However, she was worried about the depth of the cut (about .5 inch into Rajiyyah’s leg), the proximity to tendons, and the possibility of infection.

The vet wanted me to take Rajiyyah to UT today because of the location of the cut near the tendons and the fact that it might be infected. If the infection gets into the tendons, things get complicated and nasty fast. However, the swelling has been going down and the infection that is there seems to not be as bad… although it did look worse tonight.

I really panicked when the vet suggested taking Rajiyyah to the hospital. We don’t have a trailer at the barn. We would have to rent a trailer, hope to find a truck to use, and then get Rajiyyah to the vet school. Once there, the treatments would be intensive: IV antibiotics in her leg, and possibly other things too…

The thought of taking Rajiyyah to the hospital really panicked me. Was the cut really that bad? Had I completely misjudged the cut on Thursday and made a huge mistake by not calling the vet out immediately? Luckily, no. The vet said that she probably would have told me to do exactly what I had been doing, although she would have prescribed a round of antibiotics for Rajiyyah at that time.

The vet and I compromised. The vet gave me oral antibiotics for Rajiyyah. We’re going to try keeping her on them for two days. The vet is coming back out on Thursday to examine Rajiyyah’s leg. If she looks okay, then we’ll continue on the current course. Otherwise, we’ll be taking her in to the hospital. Yay medical insurance.

I was pretty much a nervous wreck this afternoon. How do you tell your Mom that her favorite mare has an injury that might get into her tendons? I called Mom and gave her an update. Felt relieved that she agreed with my treatment decisions.

Here’s hoping that things work out for the best… On one good note, one of the ladies at the barn was having a lesson when I arrived. Her instructor said that she might be available to haul Rajiyyah to UT if we need it.

Farrier came tonight. She was very pleased with how Isis’ feet looked, and Rajiyyah’s front feet — until we spotted the cut on Rajiyyah’s back leg. The cut is in a location that is hard to stitch due to the tension on the location. Rajiyyah was not lame (a good thing) — which means that no tendon damage occurred. At least that’s what I hope that means.

So, I made a judgment called and opted not to call the vet out. I followed regular protocol: 20 minutes hydrotherapy to help the swelling, washed it out with chlorhexedine antibacterial/antimicrobial solution, and used Nolvasan ointment on the wound. Have to keep a close eye on the cut. Here’s hoping it doesn’t get infected…