This message is from: Emily Wigley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
I am not a vet, but have dealt with evil infections for the past five years with a horse, and feel I have good experience with such. This will be "ramblings on infections."
First and foremost, talk to your dog's vet about nutritional supplement(s) s/he endorses to help the immune system be as strong as possible. I have just put a few of our horses on Platinum Performance horse, and am quite pleased with it. I'll probably have them all on it by next spring, accepting its expense as a great supporter of all physical systems - the horses on it look phenomenal, and seem to feel quite good as well.
It's weird how infections are harbored and transmitted. Sometimes it is a simple mucous membrane contact that brings it on, other times two creatures live together and one gets it and the other does not (or not visibly). Staph can live in a body for a long time without being apparent. Staph is carried by many/most horses, and can be contracted from them to humans, dogs, etc. This is a gentle nudge to humans to please wash your hands every time you handle a horse or dog (or cow, goat, human, etc!!) before doing anything else (eating, rubbing eyes, etc.). Just be careful. Antibiotics and steroids are frequently the only things we can do to deal with an infection. Some infections can just run their course. Others are life threatening. Vets and MD's are the ones to decide which infections are which (in my humble opinion). We do use antibiotics too much in our society, but their use should not deter one from using them appropriately and when necessary, sometimes for a long time.
The horse I dealt with for five years of infections had two conditions (which one caused the other is uncertain, but they were probably alphabetical in arrival): phlebitis and lymphangitis. Both are what finally caused her to be put down yesterday at the age of 18. She wasn't a Fjord, but lived on our farm with three. She was a Hanoverian named Spaten (good German beer!), and she is sadly missed. In life she taught me so much; her death is hard, but a better choice than her discomfort and pain. Her daughter and granddaughter are happily with us.
Emily Emily Wigley Fish Bowl Farm Vashon Island, Washington http://www.fishbowlfarm.com • [EMAIL PROTECTED] • 206-463-5473 The FjordHorse List archives can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw
