Monthly Archives: May 2010

Jody: Roaring noise when my horses breathe?

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I have another question to do with the Fjord and the Mustang who have anaplasma.  When they are standing at ease, every now and then they make a bit of a roaring noise when they breathe. What could be causing this. It is not constant. It does not appear that they are breathing hard.

Jody B.

Roaring has multiple potential causes. I once had a horse personally that turned into a roarer post-strangles and I have no doubt the strangles developed from the vaccine given to prevent strangles… needless to say I don’t vaccinate anymore…. bottom line is that any inflammation in the larynx or trachea can cause.
 
 
Regardless you might consider our joint Check to support and boost the immune system AND it also has some great anti-inflammatory ingredients, of course nothing is specific for treatment of roaring. I would NOT suggest the surgery for roaring. It didn’t work at all for ours.
 
I wouldn’t hesitate to have your horses checked for other causes. Anemia can cause unusual sounds overall. Not necessarily from the throat area but definitely from the lungs.
 
Thanks

Angel asks about a Diet for Quarter Horse with Cushings…

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Hi Dr. Dan,  

My 12 year old Quarter horse gelding was just diagnosed with Cushings.  So, I was wondering what is the best diet and what are acceptable treats for him?  Currently, my horse’s insulin is ok.  He is a little underweight and is loosing muscle tone.  His diet includes Timothy Hay 3 times a day, 1 pound of hay pellets in the evening with his medicine which is Pergolide(powder form)and some EquiPride vitamins.  I was thinking of giving him some stabilized rice bran, but I am not sure if that is acceptable.  Any assistance you could provide would be very much appreciated.  

Sincerely, Angel A.

I would highly suggest our feeding program at www.WhatToFeedYourHorse.com 
 
I do NOT suggest rice bran. it can pull calcium out of bones. Our Weight Check oil suggested at the website in the program will help with the weight. Amazing how a little of it helps loose weight, yet slightly more can help them gain if they need to.

You can also review other posts about "cushings" on this site at:

 
Thanks for asking Angel

Joyce- Transferring my horse over to feeding program…

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Dr. Dan, I just joined as an affiliate through Joe Camp who I follow religiously. I saw a video on Facebook from an Equine Affaire you spoke at also and made the decision to change my horse over to your feeding program.

HE is a 1,000lb TWH in pretty good shape. HE had gained 300 lbs on sweet feed the first year I owned him (5 years ago) due to my lack of knowledge but we got that weight off after I moved him to another stable. HE has been on Safechoice for the last two years. In a year we plan on having our own barn but, for 1 more year I am boarding him. HE only gets out in paddock 4 hours a day and pasture every third day. I go everyday to graze him and ride minimally right now as I learn to ride. I follow the Parelli program so my relationship has been first for the last year and a half. I have to stay at this barn for a year and would like your suggestion as to gradually change his food. He is barefoot already….That was one of the first things I did 4 years ago. Hooves are great. He has a salt block with selinium as Ohio soil has none. I can get rid of it though no problem. She has salt blocks and water in all turnout areas but he seems to like his fresh water when he comes in. He has two water buckets except in winter he will have 1 heated bucket. They only fill in the evening so I go and make sure he has more during the day.

I feel like this is to much information but want you to have a good picture of his life right now so you can make an informed suggestion for me. Thank you so much for caring about our horses.

Joyce H.

Transferring over is as easy as just doing it!  There are no complications.. just gradually as you would with any feed, over a week or so switch to the same volume of oats that you are now giving of commercial feed. Start adding the supplements day one… if they "baulk" at all, start over with just a pinch of the supplements and work back up to the amounts suggested on the labels.   Thanks for asking and enjoy your new horse with the new program, our website www.WhatToFeedYourHorse.com will also have info.

Thank you Joyce,

Dr Dan

Jody asks about anaplasma/ehrlichiosis…HELP

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I have two horses diagnosed with this, a 15 yr old Fjord and a 24 yr old mustang who also has cushings.  

The vet was treating them with doxycycline, the Fjord had many problems with this medication and was changed to injections of ampicillin, which he also had troubles with.  

What would you suggest as a treatment for this illness. We are from Mass, I have not heard of many cases of this here. Plus I don’t really understand what it is.  Both are off the meds, Mustang finished hers and the Fjord could not tolerate any meds. Is there a better more natural way to treat this?

Jody.

There is no natural specific treatment but what you can do is support the immune system and the gut. For this I would suggest our Aller Check supplement and our Gut Check supplement. I would also put them on our Bug Check to help keep the bugs off in the future.

These are all fine for the Cushings horse as well. I would highly suggest our feeding program for each too. go to www.whattofeedyourhorse.com  getting off commercial feed is in my opinion the best thing you can do for any horse, especially one with cushings or if you wish to help prevent such issues…  commercial feeds are just full of junk. enjoy the articles videos etc. in the library section. You can also do a search on this site using the search box at right and search for other answers and past situations with others.

Thanks for asking Jody

Lisa asked about Dog (de) Worming…

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Hi Dr. Dan…
I was referred to you by a very good friend, who uses your products.  I have a small, Beagle, female dog that is 2 years old that acquired or adopted us.  She was abandoned in our neighborhood last year.  We don’t know any medical history about her except that she was on her own for a very long time running the neighborhood.  She was not spayed until last week.  When I took her to the vet, they told me that I had to have all these vaccinations and heart and intestinal worm testing.    

My friend told me that I should contact you first to see if there is a natural way to eliminate heart worms (if she has them) and/or prevent them?  

The same question for the intestinal worms. What about fleas?  I have not seen any at our house here in LaVergne, TN.   One last question, what about chiggers?  Do dogs get chiggers?  Is there a natural product for preventing those as well?  

Thanks for your time and information.  Lisa
 

Legally No to all the answers but I would suggest the supplement of ours called Bug Check (Horse formula nd a Pet formula available) to help keep the bugs at bay. Many have used our horse product called Worm Check for their dogs as well as horses. It also works by supporting the immune system.

As for vaccinations personally, I only vaccinate for what is REQUIRED by law. That would be rabies but of course I am not a normal vet. I would always suggest fecal exams before any deworming and suggest the blood test for heart worms. There is no natural Heart worm pvt but of course Bug Check for pets supplement will make them less tasty for the mosquitoes that carry it.  BUT it is NOT a preventative.

Thanks for asking. Hope this helps.

 

Deb asked about MSM and Joint Check

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Dr. Dan, Does Joint Check include MSM?

 I checked the ingredient list and did not see it, which surprised me.  I am using it on a 29 year old mare who suffered a major spinal and/or rib injury last summer and who now looks like she was put together wrong.  The vet‘s prognosis is "The best you can hope for is she’ll be wobbly".  After buying some at the Equine Affaire last fall, her health and comfort level immediately improved and she made it through the winter, but we will never be able to ride her again.  When she doesn’t take her Joint Check, every joint in her body clicks when she moves!  We rescued a companion horse for her in February who suffered an unknown injury last summer that "would have taken time to heal", thus causing him to be rescued from the kill pen by a kind soul last summer.  He has chronic lameness that we can not identify, so I started him on Joint check, too.  However, since his lameness appears to be related to his shoulders and could possibly have an arthritic component, I was checking for the MSM.

Joint Check -<br /> 2lbs.

 I would love to get him sound again as he is a beautiful animal who appears to be well trained and loves the kids.

 In the meantime, we swear by JointCheck and what it has done for the old mare!

Deb C.

 

MSM is just a cheap source of sulfur that could best be taken up in the formula by better more available sources of such. For instance our Joint Check instead has all the ingredients of our product called Health Check. if anything will help nutritionally it will and I would be very surprised if you aren’t very pleased!  

I do appreciate your comments Deb and Thanks for asking!

Joint Check Here

Melissa asks about a brusied hoof and shares a testimonial…

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Hi Dr. Dan!

 My mare bruised her hoof. Any recommendations?

 I want to thank you for all your help. Our horses look amazing with only three months of being on your products. We got through all the itching like you said she was getting the junk (discharge) out of her body. Our clients horses are amazed with their results as well.   The horse that had the shoe boil healed up amazing thanks to the help of your great product grape balm.  

Thanks again,  

Melissa

Thanks so much Melissa.

I would again use the Grape Balm on the bruise. It does have a "drawing" effect as well as soothing. I would also suggest the Hoof Check supplement for growth support and the Joint Check for "detox" support and anti-inflammatory support.

As always, Thanks for asking!

Tania’s question about Lymes…

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Dr. Dan…

Two of my horses will be tested for Lymes tomorrow. They both have had some deer tick bites this spring. They are mildly lethargic, swollen glands, low grade fever, body sore and were stocked up, retained some mild filling.  The vet wants to do a ‘Flash’ test (something with immediate results) and if positive start on a 4 day IV regimen of antibiotics at the clinic. They are 24/7 horses, in 5 acres of hilly pasture. No grain, natural mined loose salt, and Pennwood minerals with a little beet pulp. No vaccines or wormer this year (fecals OK). Lymes is awful around here, people and animals.

I wonder if there is anything ‘natural’ I can do to help them thru this….I’m just finishing my own second round of Lymes and it’s nasty. Thank you in advance.  Tania

 

Hello Tania… Keep the bugs off and support the immune system. Regardless of what you do drug wise. 

So what I suggest from a supplement viewpoint is our Bug Check for sure (have had great results for ticks… Not 100percent but great). I also suggest our Aller Check for immune support.  Of course I suggest our feeding program at the website shown below and I would immediately stop the beet pulp (it sucks the nutrition right out of the gut in my opinion).

Hang in there!  I have seen many benefits but I would hesitate to treat however the vet suggests for now. The Health Check (help get rid of the junk) and Gut Check  (probiotics, enzymes etc) will help negate the effects of such.

Thanks for asking!

Re-Launching “Worm Check DotCom”

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A few months ago we launched WormCheck.com as a "sister site" to our AskDrDan.com question/answer site and this week we are excited to be re-launching the site with some new features!

Naturally…
The new site is devoted entirely to all things deworming, fecal exams, parasites etc. an area that we have have had strong opinions on for several years regardless of who’s (been) onboard with us then, now or not ever!

We have already linked up important audios and documents that you’ll want to review and share with others. You’ll also found one of my "archived" videos from a few years back that I think you’ll enjoy.

 Click To Go- WormCheck.comThere is also a link to an online form to use so that you can ASK your questions that deal specifically with your  deworming/fecal/parasite concerns. We are here to help- as always!

I know you’ll want to bookmark this site along with our others sites and I hope you find it one you’ll want to review over and over. And be sure to play the "WormShot" game while you’re there!

Visit: www.WormCheck.com Today

Thank You!

Dr. Dan<br /> Signature
Dr. Dan Moore, DVM