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
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