27/04/2024
!!!WARNING!!!!
Some gory wound content, possibly not for sensitive viewers!
Those who attended The Holistic Horse Symposium 2024 this month, and participated in Barbara Braun's Homeopathy for Horses, will have heard of our Lion of Lagos, a 16 yr warmblood gelding, we now assume bitten by a snake.
Lion's journey is a real-life holistic one, with vets, homeopath, TLC and more.
To begin with, we had many explanations for his very swollen jaw - was it a sting, a tooth abscess, a foreign body? As it developed, so the theory shifted to snake or spider bite due to its cytotoxic nature. Video was sent to a snake and spider expert, and their verdict is snake.
The confusion is the swelling began early March, then disappeared. It returned on 21 March, and the first abscess on his jaw errupted on 26th after a hot cold compress (epsom salts & AC). He was on Arnica (pain, swelling), Apis (sting option, swelling), Silica (push out foreign stuff) and Hypericum (wound, nerves, tooth). His pain wasnt too bad, but when it was, he got finadyne (twice only, just before the second abscess errupted).
As we suspected snake or spider bite, remedy shifted to ledum and then when snake was most likely, lachesis.
Once the first abscess blew, we flushed with epsom salts, and packed with honey & activated charcoal (AC) A vet opened the hole slightly to facilitate drainage, flushed it with betadyne and we continued packing with honey and AC. The skin developed dead spots and eventually sloughed away between these. The puss was close to white the entire time, although in the beginning smelt metallic or chemical. We continued with silica to eliminate the gunk, and once it stopped pussing, we swapped to calendula for healing. We continued lachesis until the puss stopped.
Lion's parotid gland also swelled, and the area developed a second abscess. This was seriously painful before lancing. Hildegard (vet) lanced it during the symposium (under sedation), flushed it with betadyne and filled it with acriflavine, twice in two days. Day 2 he didnt need sedation. The hole was extremely deep and she was concerned it would interfere with his gutteral puch, housing so many nerves, including that which allows swallowing (vets are so important!). This was a shock. We continued to flush this second wound with betadyne rather than epsom salts due to potential irritation of the nerves. The wound was then packed with pure honey twice a day after flushing. Hildegard was amazed at the healing of the first wound in the 15hrs between her treatments. Thanks calendula!
With the opening of the second abscess, we stopped calendula while the body purged with the aid of silica and lachesis, not wanting to encapsulate any rot. We reintroduced hypericum to safeguard against any nerve damage.
This is Lion's story over a month - so incredible! He is in final stages of healing. His story confirms we are all needed and have a place - natural, veterinary, amazing TLC - thank you Chubeka Trails staff! Wonderful work!
His next step is to releive the tightness of the scar... we began yesterday!
Chubeka Trails
