Saturday, July 18, 2009

Eeewww...nasty stuff. Lancing an Abcess.

:::edited to let everyone know from the beginning we're talking an abcess on one of the goats :o). No children were lanced, although Abigail did get a huge thorn in her foot that we had to dissect to remove :o). :::

LOL and I wanted to be able to post pictures :o). Lucky you, I couldn't get any help taking pictures of the process.

We lanced the abcess behind Leah's ear yesterday. I've never ever ever done that, or anything like it really.

It was nasty gross, let me tell you.

Armed with peroxide, triple antibiotic ointment, a couple rolls of paper towels, rubber gloves, a single-edge razor and some Betadine we headed to the barn. Dewey was going to take pictures for me, but I'm too much a softie...I did the bulk of the work, but I gladly let him have a shot at making sure we had all the 'stuff' out of there.

I thought I'd never get it cut. I was nervous about cutting -- too deep, too hard, not hard enough, etc. Well, I wasn't hard enough :o( Took me 3 tries to get through the hide.

Very little bleeding. Maybe that's normal, I don't know. I expected more. The abcess was like a really huge pimple for the most part. Golf ball sized, monster pimple.

It opened and we squeezed -- eeewww nasty gross. The man we bought the other goats from told me some thought it similar to cottage cheese, others claimed it was more like toothpaste.

Yes. It was. Both.

Nasty.

I'll never brush my teeth again without remembering this experience.

After doing all we could to empty the thing, we washed it well with Betadine, rinsed with peroxide, loaded with literally half a tube of triple antibiotic, then placed a light flow Always pad over the area and Ace-wrapped her up.

She doesn't like an Ace wrap at all. I think it's more about having it over, under and otherwise around her ears that she doesn't like.

Seeing as we aren't able to keep her covered -- it's an open wound ripe for infection left out and open like that -- we have kept her isolated in the milking area. She likes that about as much as the Ace wrap. She misses everyone. We even told her she could have the first date with Malachi if she just cooperated. No deal. Poor unsocialized goat :o(

At any rate, the task is done and in the future I will be much better with it now that I've done it and seen what it does first-hand.

I just wish I had some pictures to share. I can't be the only one out there who has never done this and is a little nervous the first time.

7 comments:

Captain Hook and Lady Crochet said...

Very nasty indeed...I have done this myself,,,It only gets worse when they start shaking their head and slinging it everywhere... :0P

Anonymous said...

I've done this many times myself also. Be careful not to let any of the "gunk" get anywhere or it will cause another abcess on this goat or another one..a vet told me that...and also this time of year you better make sure to keep it covered against flies!!..there is my unsolicited advice..(just trying to be helpful, not bossy)..Jana

Susan said...

Yes, abscesses are the worst. In my experience as a vet tech, we usually left abscesses open anyway to allow more drainage. If an abcess closes too soon, it will refill, thereby causing you to relance it-much harder the second time when there's scar tissue involved. Unless your vet says cover it-it's better to leave it open-gross, I know.

MyBulletinBoard said...

Yikes, Deanna! If this was the first time somebody read your blog, I can just imagine what was going through their head when they started this post! "The poor child! Who are these people!?" We don't all raise goats. Liz

Amy said...

I read the first few lines of your inital post on the Reader, and when I finally got to reading it, you had edited it.... I was thinking 'She took one of the kids out to the barn to drain it?! Man, that must've been one nasty abcess!' ROFL

Anonymous said...

An alternative to the triple antibiotic cream, if you can find it in your neck of the woods, is Bag Balm.
When I was a kid and we had animals, this was recommended to my parents. It is thicker than antibiotic cream, and will stay on better. It is a very thick salve.
It does amazing things for healing. We humans all use it now for various things.

mallowlark said...

A bit late to comment, but perhaps it will be helpful down the road. We used to use corona ointment, which is similar to bag balm. I'll second that corona ointment and bag balm are good for human injuries as well.

You might also try vetrap instead of an ace wrap. It sticks to itself (but not hair, skin, etc.) so it stays put much better than an ace wrap, but will still bend and stretch. That also got used on the humans as well as the animals. I especially liked it for hands, since it will actually stay on a finger whilst you do chores involving dirt, water, mature, and whatever else. It tears into pieces, a bit like duct tape.

Jer.6:16

Jeremiah 6:16
Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.

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