This is how I have felt for the last six weeks. This is what Lyme can do to a person. I had no desire to get off the couch. I needed to sleep at least 12 hours per day. I had a lot of pain through the neck and back. Dinner? Bring it home. Cleaning the stalls? Tomorrow. Posting a blog? Not necessary.
I simply could not perform the usual tasks, even if I was asked to do them. The medicine tastes terrible, and does really nasty stuff to my digestive tract. I have very strange neurological symptoms. I now have an extra dose of empathy for the EPM horse. Now I more fully understand the plight of the diseased horse.
My doctor couldn’t diagnose it. The initial bad flu symptoms were taken as viral meningitis. The Lyme test came back negative, even though I had classic symptoms with a rash. The wait to see a specialist is more than two months. I found out there is more than one recognized course of treatment for Lyme. I got caught in the politics of Lyme, without even knowing it. Sound like EPM? It ought to.
I’m feeling somewhat better now, and will try to keep up with the blog. Absinthe will play into my story. Fudge’s story has a new chapter…
The pallet box slow feeder we built last fall works great, but the geldings chase the mare off the hay. I needed another slow feeder, without making another project for hubby. It had to be mobile, cheap, quick to load, and preferably not have to be hooked to the fence.
Grub bucket
This slow feeder uses a 70 Qt muck bucket, a 38″ diameter small mesh hay net, and one double ended dog snap. It can be hooked to the fence with another snap or short trailer tie. It loads in less than one minute. I leave these loose in the dry lot, and the horses play with them.
Tie two loops in the net cord. It should fit over the lip of the bucket with the loops, but not after being closed with the snap. Tie the loops about 1/3 of the way around the cord. Adjust the location of the loops, not the length.
Do not use this for shod horses. The shoes can get caught in the net.
Many years ago, I saw Billy Joel in concert and he had this great song…
This came out in 1979. Am I really that old?
What I’m really discussing is vaccines for the recovering EPM horse. We had to vaccinate Fudge shortly after his diagnosis of EPM in April of 2009. I had to search far and wide for single disease vaccines, and space the injections out over time.
This year we gave the normal combination shots, but spaced them out over weeks. He did not have any visible reaction to the shots. I will probably continue this for a few years, if not indefinitely.
One theory I’ve heard is that vaccines made from equine dermal cells may be the culprit of reactions by EPM horses. There is no proof of this, and no studies have been carried out. The previous EPM vaccine, which is no longer available, had a history of reactions to it. The vaccine was produced using equine dermal cells, and was made by Fort Dodge.
Discuss the spacing of vaccines with your vet. My vet said every four days, and I gave them at one week intervals because it was easier to schedule. One EPM researcher suggests one vaccine per month, and only single dose vaccines. They also suggested giving only the most critical vaccines. Prophylactic administration of Banamine should help.
In the same vein as “You don’t know what you’ve got ’til its gone,” you don’t know how UNHEALTHY your horse is until you’ve seen him get better. It took six months for me to realize how sick the horse had been when we bought him. It has now been one year since he completed treatment for EPM, and I think we might be about topped out.
The natural trimmer, Dawn Willoughby commented on him when she was out in February. The vet and the dentist commented on him when they were out earlier in March. WOW! This horse looks great. His coat is exceptionally glossy without oil or silicone. His eyes are bright. He trots out with a twinkle in his eye (and mischief in his head).
FUDGE is feeling better!
It has taken one full year for this horse to turn around. Good nutrition, no stall time, low stress, and trimming his feet. I am not as worried about a relapse now.
If you are dealing with EPM, you need to realize how low your horse’s immune system is. Your horse is broken. Take the time to fix him before you plan your next outing/show/hunt. It will take longer than you believe. It will take longer than your vet is willing to tell you. It takes more than one month of FDA drugs, nutrition, trimming, and money. It takes time.
The blizzard of 2010 kept us busy clearing the driveway and cars this morning. We are lucky to still have power after the high winds and heavy snow. The horses are rarely stalled, but we put them in last night due to the possibility of branches coming down. They were very happy to get out.
Fudge (star) plays with Drifter (star and stripe) in the 28″ of snow. Fudge has come a long way in his recuperation. He is still not ride-able at more than a walk or trot. We will continue to work on this rehab with ground exercises, and walking the trails. It’s a very long way to the hunter pace this May. I don’t know if Fudge will ever come back far enough to ride at a canter. Time will tell.
The Mustang mare is obviously bored with the play of the geldings. She is eating from one of the slow feeders. It’s made from a small mesh hay net over a muck bucket. It closes with a double ended dog snap. These slow feeders are easy to fill and drag over the snow.
It has been one year since we purchased Fudge from Paula Derby of Lazy D Acres. She has relocated to Ocala , FL. She still obtains horses from the infamous New Holland Auction in Lancaster, PA.
One of the things that stresses horses is trailering. Long distance trailering suppresses the immune system. When researchers want to infect horses with EPM, they use the trailering stress model. Somehow, I can’t see the auction process, followed by long distance trailering as beneficial to the health of a horse.
