Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Title: Another update....and some interesting debates about fevers which DO make this a little bit endurance related....

Hi again

Diceman was once again fine during the day, but started spiking a temperature at about four.  He was 39.7 when I got home.

I finally managed to get my hands on some dagga from a friend whose ex-boyfriend planted it in her garden.  She says it’s pretty so she keeps it and doles out packets (not baggies : supermarket packets) to any friends in need.

And this is where I start wishing that my youth were a little more misspent.  I have never smoked weed.  I have absolutely no idea what you’re supposed to do.  I also don’t know how to make a horse-sized doobie.  So we settled for mixing the leaves with some hay and newspaper in the bottom of a metal ice bucket (I have a feeling it’s a rather expensive metal ice bucket, but I’ll hide the evidence).  It took for ever to get a good smoulder going and even then I wasn’t sure that the “sweet smell” I was supposed to watch out for was dope or eragrostis!!

Anyway, once there was some smoke (yay, smoke!!) coming from the bucket, I put it under Dice’s nose and waited for him to inhale.  Woo, hoo!! Is this boy a pothead or what!!  He started taking great gulping whiffs and within seconds he was drooling and fluid was draining from his nose as well.

And geez, did I start feeling happy.  Of course, I put that down to my horse feeling better.

On the whole “fever to kill the virus” debate, I got hold of the homeopathic vet who told me that I must do nothing to fight the fever.  Now, let me state upfront that I have a lot of respect for this vet and for homeopathy in general.  My concern was the following:

1.      To me fever = bad.  No fever = good.

2.      When my horse’s fever is down, he’s happy and strong.  That also = good.

3.      Everybody tells me that the homeopathic treatments are having more successes than the allopathic.  What concerns me is that, IME, which is limited, “alternative” therapies are sometimes guilty of telling about their successes and sweeping their failures under the carpet.

Anyway, today I was told by the vet that he has a 95% success rate and that other treatments have a 50% success rate and that I was basically doing a disservice to my horse.  His theory is that the fever kills the virus.

Oh, really???

So I phoned a THIRD vet, one that I had used for ten years, before I moved home, and whom I trusted implicitly.  He told me some fascinating news : their clinic and four others had started blood testing all cases which presented to them with AHS symptoms.  They have found that in only ONE case out of the hundreds they tested, did they find the virus in the bloods.  IOW, by the time the horses present with the symptoms, the virus has already cleared out of the body and what you’re left with is the body’s response to the damage done by it.  I asked if it was possible they’d tested too early and was told that they’d done follow-up tests.  So there is no virus left in the body for the fever to kill.

He agreed that fighting the fever was a must-do, as they’re finding that the high fevers are causing frequently fatal secondary problems : laminitis, heart failure, respiratory problems, brain dysfunction.  So I now feel much better about going with my gut and using Bute.  I’d also really like to thank Heidi for taking the trouble to find out info on a disease which you guys don’t even have, and for offering her advice so freely and generously. 

The vet confirmed that dagga has had good results and I must persist with it.

Of course, nobody was to know that I’d be bust by a traffic cop on my way home whilst talking on my phone.  The whole time I was trying to talk my way out of a ticket, the dope was in a packet on the seat next to me….it was VERY nerve-wracking!!!

Thanks again to everybody for wading through this with me.  It’s made me feel as if I have this absolutely enormous support system of people who care.  The power of that kind if distance healing is incredible, and you’ve all helped me to deal with a very stressful few days.

I know we’re not out of the water.  Dougie Welsh told me they lost a horse this morning, fought off four fever spikes and then died when they thought they’d turned the corner.  I was hoping that he wouldn’t spike again tonight, but he did, and I’m just going to treat it and manage it.

You are all very special people, and I honestly believe that you are making a difference to this very special horse.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Tracey, Roderick and Diceman (shoo wow……look at the funky clouds, ma…..)

PS  I now have the most amazing case of the munchies J