Day thirteen: slowly improving although it does not look like it.

We're in the full swing of treatment now. The schedule is set and really, the whole thing usually lasts only 15 min. The first day after the week off there is however some more cleaning to do and it takes a little longer. The sedation sets in quickly but starts to wear off after 30-45 min. So I do have to act somewhat swift. Plucking out the chunks and scraping of the soft plaque with a wet clot is still a little of a struggle but doable. Yesterday he had a shaking fit at the end of my ride and I let him get it out of his system. After I saw a 1 inch big chunk fly out of his ear he was done. It must have come loose and started to really irritate him. I'm glad he got it out on his own.

After the cleaning I search for the trouble areas to treat very locally as both ears are pretty raw. His left ear looks the worst as I was treating it near the tips. On the pictures it looks like his ear is swollen this is however just from the lighting. The white areas are white skin patches that are healing and the red areas are where the cream did it's job. His right ear has only been treated about half way in and the old 'plaque ridges' are gone and starting to clean up nicely. I will finish this weeks schedule as I want to completely get rid of it and I think we're getting there. I might even be able to stop after this week !! That would be a nice Christmas gift to Beamer. Not more pestering with his ears. Then we can start the New Year with clean plaque free ears, wouldn't that be nice ....

Left ear:

 

Right ear:

Day eleven and twelve: here we go again...

So, I didn't post since last Sunday as there was not much to post about. I re-started the treatment on both ears now and will continue until it is done. After the Wednesday session his ears caught on quickly with the inflammation and they are all raw and red again. The scabs come off easy as the are are pussy underneath. Cleaning with a wet cloth is still not his favorite part but we're getting the job done. The good thing is that with all the hair gone and most of the plaques as well, I get to focus on the left over spots. The whole thing does not take more than 15 min (+5 min for the sedation to set in).

Lesson learned though that a sedated horse can still be easily startled. I went into his stall to put his blanket on and he did not notice me coming. He had his face to the back corner. Suddenly he realized something was rustling and rattling behind him and he flew forward, head first into the wall !!!! Then he turned his head around and looked at me with a sheepish look on his face. Thankfully he didn't hurt himself and with the sedation he might not feel a headache either ... Sorry Boy, I'll be a little LOUDER next time so you can hear me coming into your stall!!

No pictures this time.

Day ten: Or first day after two weeks off !

It has been two weeks since the last treatment in his right ear and a little more since his left ear was touched. I went to the barn with the plan of just cleaning out the ears. Over the last two weeks the oozing wounds had scabbed over. Add to that some mud and it had started to form nice thick crusts that were dangling from the new grown hair. This needed to come loose so there would be clear view of the healing that I hoped would be underneath.

During the weeks off and with the subsequent healing the pain was definitely decreasing. I had noticed this during past the week. Bridling was easier and the head shaking had disappeared. He would even let me stroke his ears and was enjoying a vigorous scratching behind his ears. They must have had the healing itchies.

I gave him a little less of the Xylazene (3.5 ml) than I had been using because I figured with the two weeks off he might be more sensitive to it again. I'm glad I did this as he was holding himself up by his front teeth on the stall edge. This did however give me the advantage of going in and pulling off all the scabs to expose the skin without struggle.

After that I took my finishing clippers and cleaned out all the new grown hair without a flinch. The right ear as expected did have some plaques left where the ridges had been. I dabbed on some cream at those spots but left the other ear alone. There might be still some plaque left but until the skin has healed more I can not know for sure. The new skin is kind of flaky in itself and looks very similar to new plaques. I'll have to be patient on that one.

Here the picture of the left ear:

And the (never sharp) right ear: