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Post by dalesnfellfan on Mar 1, 2015 13:30:14 GMT -1
About a month ago Donna Blinman sent poo and saliva samples to a lab in Germany to try and get to the bottom of why Em keeps reacting the way she does to chemicals etc.
The results show that she has very low counts (almost non existent) of all the major bacterial groups that make up the normal gut flora and an overgrowth of several groups of fungi and bacteria that shouldn't be there in large numbers.
She has not seen results this extreme before so she can't give me any idea of how she will respond to treatment, we'll just have to see how she goes. Unfortunately Donna is away next week but will put together a protocol of treatment when she returns and we can then get her started on it. I have a feeling it's going to be expensive, but I have to try and get it sorted for her.
My instinct was right not to continue to have Sam ride her after she was still stopping and turning to touch her girth area with her nose and reacted strongly when it hailed and rained. She is going out in the field with a rain sheet with a neck and a fly mask at the moment in case it starts raining as she really can't tolerate the rain on her body, especially her face.
I really hope we can get her back to normal, well when I say back to normal I mean how she should be, as she has never been normal while I've had her.
It makes me so cross to think that whoever had her before me neglected/mistreated her, probably over a long period of time, to get her in the state she was in when I bought her. It makes me want to do something really horrid to them!!!! |
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Post by Debbie on Mar 1, 2015 14:01:15 GMT -1
Wow, it will be interesting to see what happens as Em comes back into balance again. I'm hoping to watch happy go luck, confident Emerald blossom once more  I wonder if Em's low counts happened because she had to undergo a course of antibiotics for something?  she's so lucky to have you for an owner, as most would simply blame her for being a problem pony, or neurotic for no reason. |
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Post by dalesnfellfan on Mar 1, 2015 17:28:40 GMT -1
Debbie she has had an issue with her gut since I got her, but she did have antibiotics when she had her op in October, followed by the wormer and then sedolin so that probably made it all worse. At least we now know what we're dealing with now.
Her being labelled as a problem pony is the reason why I won't pass her on if I can't get on with her, I hope when she's had the treatment we can start again with a clean slate and we can learn to trust each other again, she really is a very sweet, gentle pony, she can't help her gut being uncomfortable
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Post by yanny on Mar 1, 2015 18:14:19 GMT -1
I wonder how that happened initially, do you think her previous owner didn't give her a good balanced diet? That's such a shame for her. I really hope it all works out
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Post by harveydales on Mar 1, 2015 20:13:05 GMT -1
That's really interesting and confirms all your gut (pun unintended)feelings. Debbie is right, Em is lucky to have fallen into your hands.
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Post by dalesnfellfan on Mar 2, 2015 13:32:24 GMT -1
I wonder how that happened initially, do you think her previous owner didn't give her a good balanced diet? That's such a shame for her. I really hope it all works out Yanny, she certainly didn't have a balanced diet or even decent grazing, I bought her in June 2013 (when she was almost 6) after she had been through Appleby fair and I was her 4th owner in 2 weeks, I have no real idea of what she had been through or for how long, but she was very thin and covered with cuts and sores. She was terrified of people and very shut down, I suppose I shouldn't really have bought her but I liked her and thought she deserved a chance, I bought her with my heart not my head. |
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Post by yanny on Mar 2, 2015 22:26:18 GMT -1
That's amazing. I really admire you for that. I'd be the same which is why I don't go to sales!
It's incredible what people put horses through. For a dales pony to be thin takes a hell of a lot of neglect and malnourishment. Our grazing isn't the best by anyone's standards but Cal would still be a chunk even without his hay! I can't imagine what Emerald must've been through to get her in such a state. Poor girl. Like everyone's said already, she's so lucky to have been found by you.
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Post by nedales on Mar 2, 2015 23:54:11 GMT -1
Probiotics! I have read as well that horses who have survived grass sickness have similar readings...
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Post by Debbie on Mar 3, 2015 11:56:04 GMT -1
Debbie she has had an issue with her gut since I got her, but she did have antibiotics when she had her op in October, followed by the wormer and then sedolin so that probably made it all worse. At least we now know what we're dealing with now. I didn't mean her latest round of Antibiotics for her surgery, I wondered if she'd undergone rounds of ABs previously for some infection. Sounds like she was really in the trenches long before you managed to save her, though. Poor girl  I'm with the others, it takes a LOT to make a Dales thin. |
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Post by dalesnfellfan on Mar 3, 2015 14:01:54 GMT -1
Yes I think she must have been on almost non existent grass, (and that in it's self worries me, as they then tend to eat stuff like ragwort if it's available) as when she came to me I put her on a small paddock with fairly thin grass growth of about 1/2 inch height, so it wouldn't be too rich for her.
I don't think she had ever had a bucket feed as she just wouldn't eat it to start with and I had to tempt her with tiny amounts of course mix, which was all she would eat, and gradually introduce beet pulp and other fibre based food, she absolutely wouldn't touch carrots or parsnips, you'd think I was trying to poison her, if there was just one tiny piece of veg she would leave her whole feed.
So she was on what would be described as restricted grazing, and started to put on weight immediately, in 6 weeks she was a different pony with enough weight on her for me to back her and start short sessions of ridden work to start building her muscle.
Within 6 months she totally got over her aversion to new 'strange' foods and will now eat most things.
She is now well covered and well muscled, but has never totally lost the dip at the top of her flank, which I presume reflects what's going on in her gut.
Meg, she is on pre and probiotics and has been from the start and had an extra syringe of the stronger, instant Protexin when she had her op.
I have great confidence in Donna to put together a treatment regime for her and she has transformed horses that normal vets have tried everything with and failed. So fingers crossed we can get her sorted out.
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Post by dalesnfellfan on Mar 3, 2015 14:15:58 GMT -1
She didn't really look like a Dales when I first got her, her head and legs looked far too big for her body, I remember my friend, who is not known for her sensitivity, described her as ugly, like a very small TB with a carthorse head and legs.
Now she has grown into herself she actually has quite a small pretty head (well small for a dales) and my ugly duckling has turned into a beautiful swan.
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Post by Fi on Mar 3, 2015 18:58:31 GMT -1
awww, it's amazing what you have done with/for her. She's lucky to have found you. I'm sure with the new treatment regime she'll flourish.
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Post by zeldalithgow on Mar 6, 2015 13:47:28 GMT -1
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Post by dalesnfellfan on Mar 6, 2015 15:57:49 GMT -1
Oh Zelda that sounds absolutely gross!
Oh, just read the link, you don't swallow it, it goes in the other end, not quite so bad. I don't care how Donna does it I'll try anything, just hope she can sort her gut out as she is one very unhappy pony at the moment.
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Post by dalesnfellfan on Mar 6, 2015 16:00:46 GMT -1
According to the Wikipedia one, it can be swallowed, not sure I fancy that, but I suppose if needs must.
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I'm with the others, it takes a LOT to make a Dales thin. 
