Re: Lump on chest

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

In a message dated 98-11-12 21:11:43 EST, Merryben@aol.com writes:

<< If it goes down between his front legs, you could be looking at Pigeon
Fever.
 Four of my horses have it now.  It grows to be a huge abscess and once it
gets
 to a head, should be lanced and then treated every day so that it can heal
 from the inside out.  It seems to happen in the fall a lot here even though
it
 is caused by flies.  It is a long lived bacteria and a real pain to get ride
 of.  Once the abscesses are open, it is really contagious.   However, a vet
 can best tell you what it is....MB  >>

Yes, if you get pus from the lump, that would be my concern, too.  On the
other hand, if you get clear, straw-colored fluid, it is a seroma.  Clean it
up well, go in with a sterile needle, and see what you get.  

We have the best luck with the pigeon fever cases by opening a really BIG hole
in them, cleaning them out thoroughly with diluted tamed iodine (Betadine or
equivalent), and then giving the horse one big dose of sodium iodide IV (I
give an entire 250-ml bottle, and use an IV catheter and IV set-up, because
this stuff is wicked if it gets outside the vein).  Because we are selenium-
deficient here, I also give selenium to help the white blood cells work
properly.  For aftercare, I just have owners make sure they stay open (not
hard, because as I mentioned, I make a BIG hole--ugly, but effective), flush
them if need be, and generally put them on SMZ-TMP (sulfa-trimethoprim)
tablets for a week to 10 days.  I rarely have to do much else--a few summers
ago we had a horrible outbreak of it here, and I think I only had to go back
out on less than 10% of the cases with that regiimen.

Heidi Smith, DVM