The vet visits again...

Alice came three days in a row to repeat her antibiotic injections. In the end Zano got fed up and bucked when she jabbed the needle into his bottom! But apart from that he was very well behaved really. The only thing he hated was being cooped up in his stable. And he moved around so much that keeping his bandage up and covering his wound proved really tricky. Still, we managed to keep it really clean and it started to heal well. He had big Swedes hung up in his stable to play with and munch and he learnt how to demolish them very quickly!

Zano looking incredibly scruffy after making
the most of his time out in the field. The farrier took
all Zano's shoes off just after this. He might as well
have a break from the nails going in while he's off work!

Alice came back weekly and was happy with the progress the wound was making. But after three weeks there was a new concern. Zano was producing too much tissue, and this was going to make it difficult for the skin to grow over the tissue. A new cream was prescribed and his grazing was cut down to a tiny paddock to restrict his movement. If that didn’t work, he’d have to have a minor operation to remove the excess tissue (proud flesh). I waited for another week and a half, applying the cream, before Alice returned and pronounced herself happy. The aim was to continue bandaging the wound to keep it clean and help it heal.

But, as was the pattern – all did not run smooth. Keeping a bandage on so long created its own problem – pressure sores. Zano’s point of knee (the knobbly bit that pokes out the back!), where the bandage slipped over, began to get sore and when I went to lead him out, he was lame. The wound at the back had become infected, and another course of antibiotics and anti-inflammatories were prescribed. Now we had no option but to keep the bandage off, and just hope that he wound on the front could take him getting up and down on it (horses go down on their knees first to roll, or lie down for a rest). His comeback was put on hold, again.