I'm worried about using copper sulphate/blue stone, on my horses leg?

Question

my horse has an injured back leg (have posted about it before). i have been using yellow lotion 3 times daily and washing with salt water daily.

the swelling had gone down and it was looking heaps better so we'd cut down to yellow lotion once daily as well as the salt water (which is great). many people had recommended to now use copper sulphate for a few days, to get rid of the dead proud flesh, and then to use hydrated lime.

we washed her leg yesturday afternoon and then applied the copper sulphate.

when we checked her this morning, the swelling was back and when we washed it, it was sore as she kept lifting her leg.

after washing it today i went back to the yellow lotion as i'm worried about the copper sulphate burning her and i don't know why the swellings back.

Any one have any advice? i've never used the copper sulphate before and don't know what i'm supposed to expect?

Answer 1

when in doubt dont do it, you know your horse.

Answer 2

what is the injury like? if it is just swollen and not an open cut, use DMSO. if it is an open wound, use nutrifurisin {check spelling} they are specially for wounds. furison is like the lotion probably but it is a miracle on open wounds, and DMSO works on swollen joints because it is an anti-inflamitory. if you e-mail me and let me know what the injury is {open, swollen, broken} then i can help you out more.

Answer 3

copper sulfate as in the active ingredient in "wonder dust"?

some horses are really sensitive to it and it will casue the blistering (pinkness  and swelling you describe).  go back to what you were using before.  if you are ready to start drying it out, use your regular treatment one day and the next day leave the wound alone, then back to you treatment the next day, and so forth.  just keep alternating back and forth.  dont put any more copper sulfate on it , as your horse has had a severe alergic reaction to it.

edit...dont mean to be rude but whatever you do ...do NOT put dmso (as the other gal mentioned...dmso is NEVER used on any kind of open wound or abrasion!!!!!  or any kind of iodine on this injury .  your horse is prone to blistering and dmso will burn her really badly, even if the wound is healed...just putting it on her normal skin she would proably react poorly to it...  

furazone is okay but repeated uses can also make them really skin sore, and it promotes proud flesh. i have had severla grays and chestnuts with all these sensitivies and found neosporin (with pain releiver) works really, really well.  once the wound is really drying up you can alternate with gold bond powder, which will help with the proud flesh as well..

it is always a good idea to run any new idea by your vet for feedback.  even though we are well intentioned here...we are not vets!

Answer 4

Copper sulphate is great at getting rid of proud flesh but it is strong stuff and stings on ordinary skin and flesh. I would only apply it to scar tissue that you want to get rid of, not to normal healing wounds.  

Stick to the yellow lotion IMO

Answer 5

Copper sulphate is to be used very judiciously on proud flesh.  More popular routes now to get rid of proud flesh are through laser application or basic surgery.  Was that wound in an area where you could have applied a pressure bandage; if so, you could have saved yourself some grief by using a pressure bandage on the wound.

http://equisearch.com/horses_care/health...

http://www.thehorse.com/viewarticle.aspx...

http://alpharmaequine.com/info-woundcare...

I used a very large abdominal bandage from the Viet Nam era as a pressure bandage on a very large scrape on my mare's rear leg, from her hock to her fetlock....the vet initially treated the wound and we used vet wrap and the bandage for 10 days...we had no scarring.  Healed beautifully.

Answer 6

I don't know much about copper sulphate, but we use it in science class and there was anexplosion... I also know that copper sulphate can turn fire green!!! you should try it some day!! its heaps fun!!

But i also know that copper sulphate can burn uncovered skin and can be a bit corosive. If your horse just has a sprain or swollon joint then you can use DMSO.

if its an open wound then you can use the green gooey stuff (sorry not sure what its called) or you can use nutrifurisin (soz not sure how to spell it)

but yeah, if your not sure about something then you shouldn't all ways do it especially if its to do with a injury... try calling your vet and ask for some advice

but yeah... copper sulphate turns fire green!!! green fire!!!