I mentioned previously that Echo has had diarrhea for a while, and I had been concerned, but not too worried. Yesterday, while I was in Oxford, the vet visited the yard, and as I had asked that they look at Echo next time they were out, they examined her while I wasn't there.
I had a phone call in the afternoon, saying that I needed to collect some drugs from the vet to treat it. I can't remember the names of the drugs, as I've taken them to the yard already, but one will 'solidify' and one is an antibiotic. The vet has said that there are two main possibilities - salmonella and worms. I would so surprised if it is salmonella, as none of the other horses in her field have the problem, she doesn't have a temperature, is happy in herself and eating normally. I would have thought that salmonella is contagious enough to spread between horses in the field and would make her feel unwell.
If it is worms, I will be so angry! She has been wormed regularly and effectively since she was born, but since I moved to her present yard I have had to relinquish control of these things. It's a horrible feeling - I've always been in control of what she eats, when she's wormed, when the farrier comes etc. Now, they do the feeding, they worm them and they organise when the farrier comes. I have got used to this now, to a certain extent, but when something like this happens, I can't help myself from blaming them! It makes me really angry... but enough ranting until we find out the results of the faeces tests that are being carried out.
Obviously, I can't ride her until this has cleared up. I do feel bad for having ridden her for the last couple of weeks, but as I said, she seemed happy in herself and perfectly willing. I don't think I would have done her any damage riding her, but I have obviously not treated it, which I feel bad about. I find with horses that you spend half your life worrying and the other half feeling guilty!
4 comments:
Poor Echo :( I know what you mean by having limited control over your horse's management. I hope all goes well with your girlie.
If you haven't already try searching for some information on www.thehorse.com.
This is a link to articles on salmonella in horses: http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=5686&nID=6 but there are plenty more very useful equine health articles. Most of them are for members but registration is free.
Even if it is worms, it doesn't have to mean bad management. A worming only works on the worms and eggs actually in the horse's body at the moment it's given, if she were to injest eggs the next day they could infect her. Some species of worms' eggs can lay dormant for many years and only become acive when injested, so the pasture could have been contaminated years ago by a horse with worms, even in the current worm management is effective.
That said, don't worry too much about intestinal wormies, they're generally pretty harmless and easy to treat - I'd much rather my horse had a few worms than salmonella!! :)
Oh, don't beat yourself up about it. I'm sure you wouldn't have ridden her if she was feeling ill. I hope she recovers quickly!
Poor Echo, I hope that she's doing better by now.
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