Observations Marc of an Angel (Runt)
Owner Debra Fowler
I raised this horse from a foal and was present when he was born. Runt had an abscess at the site of his first set of shots , at six months. I think that it was the Potomac Fever shot which was responsible.
As a five year old , he had a fever ,brought on by a five-in-one vaccination.
Currently he is dragging his back toes and is "off" on the left hind. He was doing this last year also, and I assumed that he had EPM. He also had a positive Lyme titre ,and a low grade fever at this time. I took him to Bud Allen , my chiropractic vet, who adjusted his hip. This lameness had gone on for about three weeks - he was three - legged lame. The day after the adjustment he was 50% more sound.
He chooses to be isolated from the herd, apparently not being chased away by the others. But when he is put by himself, away from the others, his separation anxiety seems extreme. I attributed this to his mother's being Egyptian Arab.
Last Christmas he had colic. I think that he wasn't drinking enough water because of the cold. I didn't need a vet. I gave him one dose of Banamine, hand-walked him , and when he started eating again, I gave him a bran mash with mineral oil. I think that I caught him early and that is why I got him through it. I think that his temperature was lower than normal.
When I first started turning him out on grass this spring, he colicked about five times that I know of. I treated him successfully with Banamine,in each case.
Last October, he appeared to have a flu bug for about 4-5 days. I didn't call a vet, because I was able to control his temperature with Cyncona Bark (used to produce quinine). He went up to 104ºF. In the spring, he had a low grade fever for about a week. It didn't rise higher than 102ºF.
For the past month he has been very lethargic and he keeps to himself a lot of the time. He stays in the run-in-shed a lot. He seems to be affected a lot by the weather. The hotter it is the quieter he gets. The colder it is the better he feels. Yesterday, it was in the 60's, his appetite was better and he was more social.
Let me start from the beginning. His birth was normal .He was up and drinking within an hour. After his first milk, he actually ran and bucked. The first year was uneventful as far as his health was concerned.
He abscessed from one of his first shots at six months. The following spring, he had allergies. He rubbed everywhere that he could. The vet tried cortisone shots. They didn't phase him at all. In the fall his allergies went away. That winter, I had him allergy tested and he was positive to timothy, ragweed, willow, sage, etc. I put him on the allergy shots as a 2-year-old. The following summer wasn't any different.
As a 3-year-old ,he was given Source.. This helped a little, but not much. The following year I put him on Wendal's Herbs for Allergies. I fed more then what they recommended. He looked a lot better that year, but the allergies were still there, and the tail and mane were rubbed out.
That summer, the first week in August, he developed a low grade fever and mild colic. This lasted a week. We did several blood tests for Potomac Fever, but nothing was positive. The vet put him on antibiotics. In the winter, this horse feels great. The colder it is, the better he likes it. In the summer he is just the opposite.
As a five year old, I started him with the herbs. In the spring, a month before allergy season, I found out about Uckele and put he on Dyoquench (grape seed and antioxidants) and Herbal Immune, to build his immune system. This was the best year that I have ever had with him. He still didn't have a mane and tail, but he was a lot better. That year he didn't have the fever / colic episode. This spring he looked great .He had dapples and a shiny coat. But now it seems like we are in the same place as we were last year. I took him off the supplements around January.
I did this same formula as a 6-year old and I had a pretty good summer.
PS I was thinking about his solitude. I think that maybe the reason he is like this is because he can't take prolonged exposure to the sun. Normally in the summer I turn the horses out at night to help avoid the bugs. When he was seven, I bought a house and I didn't have a barn. I just had a run-in shed, so I didn't do PM turnout. My horses aren't locked up all the time. they are turned out at least 12 hours a day rain of shine all winter long. They have a 20' by 18' run-in-shed. In the middle of his seventh summer I noticed that he had dropped a lot of muscle. He was oll on his left hind also. I had the vet out for the lameness and to evaluate him. He also had a low grade fever and was way too quiet. I told the vet that he had EPM The vet said that he didn't think that the horse did. He couldn't explain the muscle loss, but he was sure that it wasn't EPM. He took blood for the lyme test, also white blood cell and blood to test for EPM. Afterward I found out that the EPM was a waste of money because 90% of horses test positive anyway. I put him on supplements for EPM and gave him cinchona bark. I ordered the supplements earlier that week and they came in that day.
Two weeks later I had a spinal done on him for EPM and he was a weak positive. On the supplements and the chichona bark he came back to what I thought was 100%. I refused to put him on the antibiotics for EPM. The only antibiotics he was on way for Lyme. He had a high Lyme titre at the same time.
Everything was going fine till Christmas Day, he had a light colic. I was able to bring him out of it without calling the vet. This was the first on many. Later that spring he gad flu like symptoms. He had a high fever of 104ºF. I gave him Chicona bark to pull it down. This lasted about four days.
In the spring, when I was putting him on grass. He colicked at least five times that I know of. They were mild and he came out of them with one dose of Banamine and twenty minutes of hard walking.
At the present time, he is acting very lethargic. He has lost about 75 pounds, and is off on the left hind. Very similar to the way that he was last spring. Also the allergies are still there. With the results that I had for EPM the way I treated him last year. I'm very optimistic about the Vita Royal Program. He wasn't treated for an ulcer. If he had been, he would be in a lot better shape today. Also the issues of feeding alfalfa hay and commercial feeds was never brought to my attention. Just by changing his feed to Linsey's formula and taking him off alfalfa, I have seen some improvement.
He still has a long way to go. But I'm very confident that soon I'll have a horse without allergies. As long as the allergies are there the immune system isn't right and its just a matter of time before the problems come back.
As I think of things that have happened, I will write them down. Last summer he was dropping water out of his mouth. Like when a horse rinses his mouth after drinking. But he wasn't drinking, I think that this lasted a couple of weeks. After two days of PM turnout he is feeling much better. Less lethargic and eating better. His lameness is getting worse. I have an appointment for Saturday with Bud for alignment.
In the morning, he seems more lethargic then later in the day. His appetite isn't as good in the morning and he is more lame. He doesn't want to put weight on his left hind. He may be more sore from laying down. His joints started creaking about a month ago. After his chiropractic and acupuncture with Bud on July 22, he seemed to start feeling a little better. It was a two hour ride one way and that took a lot out of him. It seems to take a day and a half for him to recover from the ride. Also the temperature was in the 70's.
July 22nd, 2000 PM temp 100.7ºF
July 23rd, 2000 AM temp. 100.7ºF I took him to Bud Allen for chiropractic and acupuncture . He was negative on all points except Auto Immune, after adjustments his sensitivity to this point went away. It was a two hour ride there and back. The trip took a lot out of him. Bud goes to a farm 15 minutes away from me every 3 weeks. On these days he'll come to my house. Bud injected him with blood and B-12 like you requested.
July 24, 2000 AM temp. 100.3ºF
July 25th, 2000 PM temp 100.3ºF He didn't seem to hold his alignment. He doesn't appear to be anymore sound then what he was, standing in his stall he keeps the weight off his leg. He is also dropping weight. Since this began probably about 50 lbs. On Saturday at the vets the only point that he was sensitive in was the Auto Immune point. Today he was sensitive in the Auto Immune and kidney 27 on a scale of 1-10 about a 4. Right now instead of eating grass in the yard, he's chewing on the scrap wood pile in front of the barn.
July 26th, 2000 AM temp. 100.2ºF I'm turning him out about two hours in the evening now because of his lameness. I turn him out by himself so he doesn't hurt himself more.
He's only drinking about five gallons of water, and his urine is very concentrated.
August 2nd, 2000 I started him on the supplements this morning. I tried to start him last night, but he wouldn't eat it. I put the feed in a bucked to try him in the morning. He still wouldn't eat it. I used a syringe and gave him the liquids that were thicker. I put the powder and the clear liquid in his feed. when I got home from work it was gone. I offered him the feed that he wouldn't eat in the morning and he ate it.
He drank a little more water during the day. I turned him out after he finished his grain he seemed to have more energy. when I tried to bring him in, he wouldn't let me catch him. He was bucking, squeeling and running from me. I forgot to temp him in the morning because I was trying to get him to eat his feed. After running around, I didn't get an accurate temp in the PM either. He was at 100ºF and a half hour later 101.5ºF.
I do want to mention that the Runt (horse's nickname) doesn't have a very high opinion of you. He's not very happy about being taken off of the alfalfa. I'm not even going to repeat what he said about you when you ruined his feed. I'm sure his opinion will change when he isn't crippled anymore and he starts feeling better. Right now it's his taste buds talking.
August 3rd, 2000 AM temp. 100.7ºF. PM 100ºF. This morning he ate his grain better. He seemed to have a better appetite. He didn't have as many nasty things to say about you as he did yesterday. Today was hot 87ºF. He seemed to feel pretty bad. Very lethargic and droopy eyed.
August 4th, 2000 AM temp. 100.7ºF. PM 100.5ºF I started turning him out last night all night long. This morning he still seemed lethargic.
August 5th, 2000 PM temp 100.7ºF
August 6th, 2000 AM temp. 100.7° He seems to be in that "Wow" state that you are talking about. His appetite seems to be better. Last Wednesday I mixed his feed with the coconut extract in it and he wouldn't eat it. I put it in a sealed container. Every night I would after it to him and he wouldn't eat it. Sunday night when I offered it to him he ate half of it. I put in more grain and he finished it. Either his appetite is coming back or he didn't want me to give him the syringe. Also I noticed that his joints aren't creeking as much as they were. Also his lameness is almost gone.
August 7th, 2000 AM temp. 100.7ºF PM 101.5ºF
August 8th, 2000 AM temp. 101.2ºF PM 100.5ºF
August 9th, 2000 AM temp. 100.7ºF
He had the following concurrent symptoms : Colic, scruffy hair coat, hyper, nervous, irritable, explosive, low stamina, adverse reactions to vaccinations, chronic allergies, lameness, toe dragging, isolation from the herd when outside.
Photos of Marc of an Angel (Runt) before and during his Vita Royal Health program.
© 2007 Vita Royal Products Inc.
