Hello Dr. Dan,
I have been feeding our herd of 21 equines your "What To Feed Your Horse" program since August 2010 and have been very pleased with all the results.
In addition, I also have a few "special needs" ones here who have been getting additional supplements such as Aller Check and Joint Check, also with good results. Now I am at the point of re-evaluating a few who seem to be not quite up to their health potential and would like some suggestions.
First is Rood D Tuesday a senior UK Shetland who came to us blind in one eye and recently diagnosed with Glacoma in his good eye. He is on the basic program, plus Joint Check and Aller Check and given the Marigold first aid oiltment on the weepy eye days. Is there anything else I can do to make him more comfortable?
I would probably just try using the marigold daily for a week or two to see if the increase in frequency might help
Next is Rica, a 15yr Paso Fino who has been founder/abcess prone since the age of two. Currently she is doing alright on the basic plus AllerCheck and Joint Check and Thyrol-L from the vet,but I wonder if there is something more I should be doing?
The problem with Thyroid meds is they shut the thyroid down. (called a negative feed back mechanism.. the meds essentially take over for the thyroid but the tyroid is responsible for so much more metabolism wise than what a synthetic hormone can provide.. I thus don't use! I would consider the Critical Care Thyroid/overweight formula (pricey but nothing like it) to help provide nutrients to actually trigger the thyroid to start working. Just "shutting it down" with a synthetic med can lead to many problems as the thyroid regulates the whole metabolism which includes much more then what can be achieved through a synthetic medication… just makes more sense to try to get it going again. my suggestion is wean off the med as you increase the critical care. I go by symptoms rather than blood work anyway as the tests quite frankly aren't that reliable anyway. Of course typical vets have no clue about such and only know the thyroid med route so discussing with them is pretty much useless
Next is Goliath a senior UK Shetland with Cushings Hypothyroid and appears COPD also. He is on the basic, plus Aller Check and Joint Check. I took him off the pergolide since I wasn't seeing any improvement what so ever.
Increase the Joint Check and Aller Check to a level that seems to help the most. any amount is only healthy start by doubling what now giving.
Last but not least Little Chief a senior mini who probably should be helped to the Rainbow Bridge but he seems to still have a desire to stay here IMO.Cushings and founder prone as well and very low weight. He is also on the basic with extra weight Check oil added twice daily and Aller Check and Joint Check. I think that about covers it for now.
Same as above, increase Aller Check and Joint Check amounts to what helps the most.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Thank you,
Cindy B.
Thank you Cindy! Let me know how all is going after a month or so.
Thanks For Asking!
