April 2007

Summer Wound Care

Wounds need protection from flies, which will increase the risks of infection and even lay eggs in the area.

Flies love to feed on and lay their eggs in an open wound. This is extremely irritating to the horse and introduces bacteria to the area, possibly even minutes after you’ve cleaned the wound. Bandaging is, of course, your best defense, but

Even tiny injuries can become big problems if flies are allowed to feed on them.

when the wound is located in an area that is difficult or impossible to bandage or bandaging is contraindicated, you need to take another strategy.

Your first step is to keep the area clean (see sidebar). A draining or infected wound is the most appealing to flies. Your veterinarian may be inclined to be more aggressive about using antibiotics on a wound during fly season due to the increased…