First, Isis. She has had two doses of the Oroquin-10. From what I read about the drug, some horses improve as early as 3-5 days after treatment starts. We went for a walk up and down the lane near the barn. A reasonable walk in hand with some grazing, for about 15-20 minutes. The first thing I noticed is that she isn’t dragging her toes in the dirt like she was before. She...
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First day on meds
Isis’ medicine arrived today via shipment. (I love it how a “morning” shipment arrives at 11:30 AM.) The medicine is an apple-flavored powder that can be fed in Isis’ grain: one scoop, once per day for 10 days. That’s it. She ate her first dose in some beet pulp and licked the bucket clean. Seems like this is going to go very well for her eating the meds. Good news for Isis. Unfortunately,...
Continue reading...Oroquin-10 shipped finally
Friday, the vet called me back with an update on Isis’ meds: they should arrive Saturday morning via overnight, morning delivery. Yay! I should have had them on Wednesday, but at least they will be here tomorrow. With any luck, Isis will eat the meds in her food. My vet also said that we should have the results of Isis’ EPM ELISA titer results today or Monday. The Peptide-ELISA test is different from...
Continue reading...Baseline pictures before starting Oroquin-10
Isis’ meds should be here shortly, so I took some baseline pictures of Isis. Her muscling has changed even from the last set of pictures I took two weeks ago. She has lost more muscle over her back. Her ribs are more prominent below her spine. There is a dip there now, where there never has been before. Related Images:
Continue reading...EPM study by Pathogenes with Oroquin-10
Pathogenes, a company in Florida specializing in treatments and diagnostic tools for EPM, is sponsoring a study of Oroquin-10, a new treatment for EPM. It’s not a double-blind study, however the company, Pathogenes, has a protocol they are asking owners to follow. Here are the links I sent my vet for the clinical trial for Oroquin-10. It has both treatment and preventive dosing options. According to the EPM Horse web site, the Oroquin-10...
Continue reading...EPM diagnosis confirmed
The vet came out on Friday. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to be there because I had a physical scheduled at the time. (Ever look at the wait time for a physical? Six months. Sheesh.) Any way, my vet called me today at work with information on Isis. She said Isis does look like an EPM relapse case because of the uneven muscle atrophy (worse on one side than the other) and Isis is...
Continue reading...Video comparisons of Isis
For most of the summer, I’ve watched Isis just not quite seem right. Whether it was the heat that bothered her or something else (EPM, most likely) that gave her more off days than good ones, one evening in early August she surprised me. My girl was back that evening. She started trotting like she normally does, kinda dragging her toes, not very enthusiastic. And then she stopped and looked at me. Pivoted....
Continue reading...EPM again? Or something else?
Since June, I’ve noticed little things about Isis that didn’t seem right: she was dragging the tips of her back hooves, she was reluctant to trot or move out, and her regular spirited playfulness was gone except for rare occasions. It’s easy to right off these symptoms to other items. Maybe it was too hot out and she wasn’t having a good day. Maybe the rain rot on her legs made her stiff...
Continue reading...The Arab’s Farewell to his Steed
One of my favorite poems. The Arab’s Farewell to His Steed Caroline Norton (1808-1877) My beautiful! my beautiful! that standest meekly by. With thy proudly-arched and glossy neck, and dark and fiery eye! Fret not to roam the desert now with all they winged speed: I may not mount on thee again – thou’rt sold, my Arab steed! Fret not with that impatient hoof, snuff not the breezy wind, The farther that thou...
Continue reading...Isis did not have a good day
Last night Isis had a bad day. The weather has been cool and milder, but she was still sweaty. She looked down and not perky when I brought her to the ring. She stumbled with her back legs on the walk from the barn to the ring. She was stiff, dragged her back hooves along the ground, and not moving well when I free lunged her. I put the saddle on her and...
Continue reading...Fantastic month of June
I have so much stuff to catch up on for June. Horse Masters Horse Camp was the weekend of June 16th and it was fantastic. Most of the month was spent getting ready for camp. Kasane and I were signed up for walk, trot, canter sessions — which meant she had to know how to canter before camp. Every available evening was spent at the barn working with Kasane and with Isis. Camp...
Continue reading...Isis was better today
Insulin resistant horses like Isis have trouble with heat. Insulin resistance is similar to a pre-diabetic condition in people: the horses who have this metabolic issue do not process insulin (and sugars) normally. IR impacts everything else in one giant cascade: IR horses’ immune systems aren’t quite at 100%, heat affects them harder than other horses, etc. IR is a maintenance issue and you never know when you’ll discover some new aspect that...
Continue reading...Isis, IR, and heat – update
Nasty weather this week. Temperature hit 98F today (heat index of 109F) and tomorrow the temperature is supposed to be 100F with thunderstorms in the evening. Looks like the girls will have tonight and tomorrow off. Some good news for Isis: The barn owner called me back. Isis seemed to be better around noon. She was eating her food and was back to being her lovable bitchy self. Phew. Related Images:
Continue reading...IR horses and heat
We’ve hit the first heat wave of summer. Two weeks ago the highs some times reached 80. Suddenly, the temperatures are close to 100F all this week. High temperatures plus high humidity means that the horses (and their humans) are feeling the heat as if Atlas’ burden was sudden dropped on their shoulders. Two out of three of my bay wonder mares are relatively okay in the heat. Kasane gets irritated in the...
Continue reading...Equine herspesvirus outbreak in Western states
My Mom told me about an outbreak of equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) amongst horses that had attended the National Cutting Horse Association’s Western National Championship show in Ogden, Utah, from April 29-May 8. EHV-1 is a highly contagious disease that can be spread horse to horse from skin contact, on tack, etc. One of the initial symptoms is a slight fever of 101-102F. The virus can be detected by laboratory analyses of nasal swabs...
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