Treatment for EPM started
The Marquis prescription for Isis’ EPM finally was filled on Friday evening. Four tubes of paste: the most expensive paste I’ve ever bought for her. I found it at a better price than other places but it was still amazingly expensive.
Isis was on banomine from the last vet appointment to Saturday morning. It’s odd how being on the banomine changed her personality. She seemed subdued or dulled. The barn owner thought she seemed mellower — maybe from relief of some constant low-level pain we hadn’t been aware of. Isis didn’t seem “with” me when I was handling her. She let me do whatever but she wasn’t focused and playing like she normally does.
She got her first Marquis treatment just before the farrier arrived in the morning. It’s a paste, so she was very good at taking it. The tube’s width makes it awkward to handle.
We are also doing a test: she’s going barefoot for a few days. If she is ouchy, we’ll put her back in shoes. If she isn’t, then her feet will have a chance to return to normal before she starts back in work in a few months. It makes me nervous to not have shoes on her. She was thin soled and shoes helped that a lot. I just hope that we aren’t making a mistake by pulling her shoes. I have to keep an eye on her comfort level and how she is walking.
We will see how she does. The vets are optimistic because we seem to have caught things early. I hope so. Marquis isn’t a cure — it’s more like a treatment that helps put the EPM into remission.
There is a much less expensive FDA approved treatment for EPM. The drug is a cousin to Marquis. Diclazuril is available compounded for $150 per month, and at a higher dosage than Marquis.
There is now a site for EPM horses with a lot of updated clinical information:
http://www.EPMhorse.org
Please pass the link on, I needed it for my horse.