The day after I put Foxsun in isolation I was amazed to discover he'd managed to lance his own abscess. It was still dripping a bit of amber coloured fluid when I got there. He's quiet a horse. He trims his own feet as well. He was still under the weather but eating well.
I called a local lady we have sold hay to, and asked her about her horses. She informed me she has 8 horses and three of them came down with Pigeon Fever. She was worried that her mare wasn't going to make it because she lost a great deal of weight. Like Foxsun, her mare was eating well and still loosing weight. Her vet put her horses on oral antibiotics.
I couldn't decided whether to start Fox on antibiotics or not. Some vets recommend them and others say they could do more harm than good. I got some vitamin E and Selenium to inject him with. It has dexomethasone in it in case he gets a bad reaction. We have a severe Se deficiency in our soil here. I also plan to worm him again soon as his condition improves a bit more. And his condition is improving! The firmer outer part of his abscess has now gone down a great deal and he was trotting mad when I didn't give him his dinner quick enough tonight.
I have been keeping the icky drippy part clean as best as I can. At night I'd get under him with the flash light to clean him up. He wouldn't be tied up but I just touch his leg and tell him I was going under. Even though the aerosol spray would startle him he wouldn't move. He's a lovely horse.
I think he was ill from this Pigeon fever for a long time before I noticed the abscess. I believe it was the reason why he lost a lot of weight so quickly. But just in case we're going to have his teeth checked and give him the Vit E & Se shot. It looks to me like he's putting weight back on. I give him 5 lbs of a Senior Horse feed a day and all the hay he can eat. Wildairo would eat till he exploded but Fox will stop eating and take a nap or something.
I'm so lucky that I managed to spot that abscess and get him away from the mustangs the day before it burst.
Friday, October 3, 2008
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5 comments:
I'm so glad he's doing better! I would be too afraid to use antibiotics on it, and it really sounds like he's doing well without them.
What kind of reaction are they worried about with the Se/E shot? I'm curious because I bought a severely selenium deficient horse years ago who had to have selenium shots to get him back to normal and he colicked really badly after the first one. I was told it couldn't be the shot, but I couldn't see why it wasn't, since it was within hours afterward.
With the E+Se shot the worry is the horse go into anaphylactic shock. I believe that's the reaction that can kill people who are allergic to bee stings or peanuts etc. That's why are vet put the dexomethasone in with it. We'll give him the shot tomorrow so I can keep an eye on him.
Once Brad gave Foxsun some vaccinations and I wormed all in the same day. The next day he was very ill. His head was hanging down and he wouldn't eat an apple. He got over it but I never give him too much at once anymore.
Did you give your horse anything else along with the Se, like a wormer? Maybe if an animal has a lot of worms it could be hard on the horse when all the worms die off, run for the hills or whatever the buggers do.
Was your horse OK?
About 25+ years ago around here a lot of guys had many of their new born calves die from a Se deficiency. It's called white muscle disease. I don't know if our old boy has a Se problem, but the shots for 'just in case'.
I am happy that he is doing better. It must have been a scarey time. Our thoughts are with you and your ponies.
Thank you so much lea.
Hi Arlene,
I just found your blog tonight and have enjoyed reading through it. I have two mustangs that have very similar personalities to your horses. My bay gelding is from Beaty's Butte (same as yours, right?) and looks so much like yours. They also are both very confident. Our other mustang is a sorrel mare and she is just a sweetheart, very kind, but very fearful. I love them both to death. I regularily check up on adoptions going on through Burns (I live in Moscow, ID), and I perused the internet auction back in July (I half considered adopting, but I can't afford it right now, both time and money...but someday again!). I LOVED the black gelding (that you named Echo) and it is so exciting to hear of his progress after adoption! I think you got one of the best horses there! Anyway, I will check back often to hear about your progress!
Kara
PS. So sorry to hear about your domestic's pigeon fever.
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