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  Discussion on Mare had trauma in eye and is almost totally Blind
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Member:
moesmom

Posted on Wednesday, Feb 6, 2013 - 1:32 am:

My 34 year old Mare Tawny, who has been blind in her right eye for about 4 years had trauma in her left eye. I don't know what happened but this morning I was called out because she was unapproachable. When I got out to her she was stressed and scared. She always wears a fly mask because of her blind eye and when I took it off her left eye was watering and a little puffy under her eye. She was extremely stressed and didn't want to move, couldn't recognize me. She has Cushings too so I was worried it was neurological. Once I grabbed her and hugged her and talked in her ear she calmed down. Vet came out and her eye has broken blood vessels and she has blood in her eye over her cornea. She is most likely blind. He mentioned Uveitis. She is already on Previcox for arthritis so he gave Banimine for the eye pain, an antibiotic cream and a non steroid cream because she has a small ulcer too. Has anyone had a horse go suddenly blind? It is heart breaking to see her go through this. She was fine if I stayed close to her but I can't be there all them time. It was hard to leave her tonight. She was trying hard to figure things out, was listening to things, walking really slow. I put her Mare buddy in with her but the Mare wasn't being very nice to Tawny. I'm going to try another horse tomorrow. One concern is that the ranch has hot wire/tape instead of fencing. Is it cruel to keep her in a hot wire fence being blind ? I'd hate to have to move her, at least she is familiar with her paddock area. Any suggestions are appreciated. It's been a heart wrenching day. Lisa
Member:
frances

Posted on Wednesday, Feb 6, 2013 - 4:32 am:

Hi Lisa,

What a sad thing - I feel for your poor shocked mare and you. Re the hot wire, it is my experience
that horses hear the high-pitched hum (far more audible to them than to us) when the wire is on, so maybe this would help your mare to keep away from it?

I'm attaching the link to an older HA post from someone whose elderly mare became both blind and deaf. Someone recommended that she use scent to help the mare orient herself with her surroundings - different scents for different places. The outcome in her case was wonderful. I'm attaching the link (if it doesn't work let me know), and you should read all the way down (leaving out some kind of mix-up on Dec 24th and the two posts after it which seem to have got into the wrong thread): https://www.horseadvice.com/horse/messages/3/54100.html

Wishing you all the best.
Member:
moesmom

Posted on Wednesday, Feb 6, 2013 - 8:33 am:

Thank you for sharing the old post. It has great advice and I will start with the scents right away.
The hot wire doesn't seem to hum but maybe she can hear something, i hope so. I know her hearing isnt what it used to be, in fact I thought she was going deaf, but yesterday it seems to be heightened. Tawny usually spends more than half her day in her stall and yesterday she was not comfortable in it. Maybe because its dark and though she can't seem to recognize things she must see light or a sliver of something in the one eye. She preferred to stand in the middle of her paddock. I'm hoping today is a brighter day.
Thanks so much. Lisa
Member:
natalya

Posted on Wednesday, Feb 6, 2013 - 12:14 pm:

What a sad outcome! I never had experience with blind horses, except for my dog. But a long time ago I read inspiring story about two horses one of them was completely blind and her buddy was wearing a bell. When a horse with a bell moves the blind one was follow the noise. Have no idea how she was trained to do it or she figures it out on her own. Maybe something like this will work for your mare if she has a close buddy.
I wish you luck with her.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Feb 7, 2013 - 7:43 am:

Hello Lisa,
I am sorry to hear about your mare and LL's link above is great. I would also advise you place "blind" in the search space above and you will find many discussions on caring for blind horses. I would be looking for a board fence situation to move to but if Tawny is adjusting to the tape fence well wait until she has adapted to the blindness and approaches new situations calmly. Of course if she continues to run into the fence she will need to be moved. Does it need to be electrified for her to respect the boundaries?
DrO
Member:
moesmom

Posted on Thursday, Feb 7, 2013 - 10:42 am:

Tawny is calmer but isn't eating or drinking much at all. She seems to be able to sense where the hot wire is but I am trying to figure out how to set up her paddock where she won't ever get shocked. Maybe an interior fencing of some kind. I'm also wondering if neoprene boots will help keep her from getting shocked? I am concerned that she isn't drinking or eating unless I hold a bucket up to her. Even at that she isn't drinking enough. I will see today if this changes. I like the bell idea and was thinking about getting a few bells for the horses next to her too, so she can hear them. One web site said to tie ribbon strands on the fencing so she can sense it before she touches the fence. She is very respectful of the fence even if it is not hot. The owner can't turn it off for too long due to some young Mustangs that do test the fence. I'm thinking I need to find her a safer home with solid fencing so she can touch her way around.
New Member:
palolovr

Posted on Thursday, Feb 7, 2013 - 11:55 am:

So sorry to hear about your horse. I am upgrading my horse advice membership just so I can post to you. I know how worried you are to find your scared horse with an eye filled with blood, as this happened to my horse too. I had one of my horse's eyes have blood vessels break and fill with blood too, and there is little on the internet that describes this type of condition. There was no obvious trauma to my horse, so hitting his head near his eye was ruled out by my vet. My vet was at a loss and thought my horse would permanently lose sight in his eye. I combed the net for advice on how to help my horse and found a long video presentation from an equine opthamologist with a PhD. who was giving a lecture to other vets at an annual meeting of the AAEP. I was blessed to have found this information. The PhD. explained a protocol that we feel completely restored my horse's sight and fast. He said to use atropine, two DrOps once a day, non steroidal neomyacin eye ointment four times a day, to keep my horse in a darkened area by sewing a soft cloth patch over his blood filled eye to the inside of his fly mask, and one other very important protocol.......to draw blood from ny horse, place the syringe needle upward in the refrigerator and wait until the serum separated from the blood and to take this antibody rich serum and place several DrOps into my horse's eye twice a day. My vet hadn't heard of this, but I figured I had nothing to lose and used the serum. Within hours my horse started to improve with the serum. Every day we could see the blood slowly recede and sight was being restored. Full sight was restored and the blood was completely gone in 10 days. My vet and I are convinced that the serum helped heal my horse's eye and get his sight back, just as the PhD. lecturer said. My horse was very scared and upset and became dangerous to be near him when his eye filled with blood and he couldn't see. He acted like you have described your horse. I hope and pray you will have the same success with this treatment protocol because like me, you have nothing to lose and hopefully sight to regain. I have pictures of his eye's progress taken from day 1 to day 10 if you would like to see. Good luck and please keep me posted.
Member:
natalya

Posted on Thursday, Feb 7, 2013 - 12:39 pm:

I know of this treatment with serum from an own blood. My vet treated one of my horse’s eye when she scratched it somehow. It was swollen and has drained some liquid. The vet said it’s a best healing and cheapest too medicine you cane fined. But I had to go to the vet once every a few days they made a serum in a drum spinning machine, don't know how it’s called. It was great, eye hilled very fast.
New Member:
palolovr

Posted on Thursday, Feb 7, 2013 - 3:49 pm:

Natalya,
I’m glad you have heard of the serum treatment. My vet and I believe it saved my horse’s sight. When I read Geronimosmom’s post, I was a ’read only’ member of Horse Advice. I felt compelled to share my story with Geronimosmom and upgraded my subscription to allow me to post to her about my strikingly similar experience with blood in the and creating blindness for my horse in hopes that she can try what worked for my horse and have a positive outcome with restored sight.
When my horse came in from the pasture with a blood red eye, I was stunned and horrified. It looked like it could just pour out any moment and there would be no more eye in the socket. The entire eye was red and liquid looking and I could not see any part of his eye but blood. My horse had no swelling of the eye and no bumps or swellings or abrasions on his head. I rushed him to my vet and the vet examined him. The vet felt it was burst blood vessels but didn’t know how or why this happened. His prognosis was grim for my horse’s sight to return in that eye because he said that the blood many times hardens and becomes scar tissue and/or cataracts as a result. He stained the eye and gave me neomycin and atropine to treat the eye and sent me home, with the understanding that I needed to have the eye re-checked every third day. I went home and started pouring over the internet to find anyone else who had this happen to their horse and I found absolutely nothing, making me feel even more helpless. Then I happened upon an article on “TheHorse.com” that changed our grim situation for the better. The article was a summary of one of the AAEP annual convention topics and the key speaker was an Equine Ophthalmologist DVM with a PhD. in Equine Ophthalmology. His presentation was on video and I watched the 2+ hour presentation. I wish I could remember his name. I will try and find that video and his name and post the video link here on HorseAdvice for horse owners and for "Geronimosmom.” I subscribe to HorseAdvice but I only paid for the 'read only' subscription. When I read Geronimosmom’s desperation to help her horse with a startlingly similar eye affliction, I felt compelled to upgrade my HorseAdvice subscription so I could post to her that there is hope for her horse to regain his sight.
A centrifuge is what is used by vets to mechanically separate the serum from blood. It separates the serum from the blood quickly. The problem with this is, horse owners do not have a centrifuge, and if they want their vet to draw blood and separate the serum for them, they will have to make several visits to the vet which is both costly and time consuming. The PhD. specialist explained that horse owners can simply draw blood from their horse with a sterile needle and syringe, and place the syringe needle side up and plunger side down in a coffee cup on the top shelf of their refrigerator and wait for the serum to separate from the blood; the serum is a yellowy color and will be at the top of the syringe. It takes about 2-4 hours for the serum to completely separate from the blood. The blood and serum can be kept in the refrigerator for a week, but I drew blood and got fresher serum every third day. When the serum has separated from the blood, inject the serum into another syringe and place a few DrOps in your horse’s eye twice a day.
The PhD. explained that too many horses are losing their sight to simple scratches, injuries and uveitis because the body’s own immune system launches an attack against the eye when it is injured or inflamed and that the white blood cells in tears of an injured eye will degenerate an eye without prompt and aggressive therapy. He said we need more research and he has devoted himself to trying to find a way to save sight and said that drug companies need to come up with a medicine or therapy that will halt the degenerative process. He said that he wished every vet would use the atropine, neomycin and serum protocol at the first sign of weeping, pain or swelling of the eye. He said that every horse owner should have on hand, a bottle of atropine, a tube of neomycin, a bottle of saline eye wash, and sterile needles and syringes to draw blood for serum. He said that at the first slightest sign of an eye problem, he recommends that we irrigate the eye with eye wash, put two DrOps of atropine in the eye, and a ribbon of neomycin, put on a fly mask, then draw blood and put it in the refrigerator as stated above. He said to put a few DrOps of serum in the eye twice a day, put atropine in the eye once a day, and put neomycin in the eye 4 times a day to help heal the eye and prevent further damage. He said to put a soft patch inside a fly mask to keep the eye covered and out of the light and to stall the horse. He of course recommended getting to your vet asap. for the eye to be cleaned and evaluated, but said not to delay this treatment protocol.
I contacted my vet after watching this AAEP presentation video and he had not heard of using serum in the eye. I asked him to watch the presentation when he had time and told him that it had been two days and my horse’s eye looked the exact same but that the pain and tears weeping and squinting seemed to be increasing, not getting better. My once bombproof, gentle giant, trusting horse was terrified and had become dangerous on the side where he could not see and spooked and leaped at anything that he heard or that touched him on the side where his eye was blind with blood. He would stand pressed against the corner of his stall and barely ate or drank unless I offered him food and water by bucket held to his muzzle. I was devastated to see how this bloody eye blindness was causing my sweet horse to behave and knew that he was clearly not capable of having a quality life if he was permanently blind in one eye. He was so miserable, and I knew if we couldn’t restore his sight, the only humane thing to do for him would be to put him down. He is my competition barrel horse and I love him dearly, so I was desperate to try anything to help him. I told my vet I felt I had nothing to lose, and was going to draw blood and use the serum in my horse’s eye. In a matter of hours, the weeping subsided, and the squinting wasn’t as bad. The next morning, the outer corner of my horse’s eye could be seen, the blood had left that area. I could tell a difference in comfort level with my horse; when it came close to the time to add more serum to his eye, it seemed to bother him more, and after I put the serum in, he acted more comfortable (not my imagination). My horse seemed to know I was trying to help him and was really good for putting the medicines in his eye. Each day, thereafter, more of the blood was leaving with gravity and more of his eye appeared. I took pictures of his eye every day and sent them to my vet so he could see the progress. My vet and I were amazed at what a quick difference we were seeing once I started using the serum in the eye. In 10 days, the eye looked completely normal with no more blood and no scarring. You could not tell there had been a problem. It has been two years and he has 100% sight and his eye looks like a normal, healthy eye. I won’t hesitate to use this expert’s protocol again if one of my horses has any issue with his eye. My vet now uses serum on all eye injuries at his clinic with much success.
Geronimosmom, there is hope for your horse. Please try this treatment protocol and hopefully it will save your dear horse’s sight. Don’t forget to use the fly mask and to stall your horse out of the light while you are treating the eye. I hope that sharing my very similar injury story helps you to help your horse. I wish you the best of luck! If you have any questions, please ask.
Member:
moesmom

Posted on Friday, Feb 8, 2013 - 2:03 am:

Marcia and Natalya
Thank you so much for sharing this serum treatment. It sure sounds like it worked miracles for your horses and I hope it's not too late for Tawny. I'm not comfortable with drawing blood from Tawny and always leave the shot giving to my Vet. I do have a friend that might be able to help me with that and if need be I will have the vet come. Marcia, I truly appreciate that you signed up again just to help me. That is so amazing and really means a lot that you would do that for someone you don't know. Thank God for horses and horses lovers! I can tell you that Tawny is a sweetie and has made so many people happy over the years, she has earned a happy retirement. This is certainly so very heart breaking for us, and not what I want her to have to go through. We just went through a tough time with cellulitis and depression in September and October. She stood still for a shaving and an ultrasound and then bloodwork and turns out she was very positive for Cushings. We got her on meds and she has been awesome. Had more energy and seemed very content.
This sudden blindness has been traumatic. So thank you for your help. I could use suggestions too on finding the right buddy. It seems like that makes all the difference. I was looking at other posts as suggested by Dr. O. I have an older gelding (Lucky) in with her who isn't ridden due to lameness and though she is calmer with him they aren't staying close to each other. I tried a gelding pony and she wasn't very happy with him near her. I think he was too touchy. I know she tends to bond with Mares. I'll keep Lucky with her for a few more days in hopes they start to bond. Of course it will be even better if the serum works for her. I'll keep you posted. Lisa
Member:
moesmom

Posted on Friday, Feb 8, 2013 - 9:49 am:

Marcia I do have a question. How do you get jut 2 DrOps of serum into an eye. I'm giving Neomycin and Atropine Sulfate Ointment and while she tolerates it I end up getting more on her eye lids while trying to get it in the eye. That being said, what would I use to administer it? The last thing I want to do is damage her eye more or worse get an infection. I emailed my Vet last night and we are going to talk about it. He suggests it be done in a sterile environment and I can't trailer Tawny right now. She also can't get sedated due to her age. Still, I am willing to try it in her paddock. She also has a 3 sided covered stall, she is not locked in. She is avoiding her stall right now and is blanketed with a neck wrap to keep her out of weather. She is use to a fly mask being on all the time so that won't be a problem I can get a new one and make something to go inside to cover the eye from light. Thanks for your help.
Member:
natalya

Posted on Friday, Feb 8, 2013 - 10:19 am:

My vet told me to use sterile syringe and squirt it in her eye. I had plenty of serum so it was no actual dose just a little bit, enough to squirt in. its kind of tricky, you have to practice and do it quick, so the stream is not hard and when she opened eye just do it. its spook them just a fraction of a second and then they are ok, I done it many times and longer you do it better she excepted it. Serum can be kept in a fridge in sterile vile for 1 week. You have to use sterile needle to draw the serum from a vile then take needle and dispose it and use syringe only. That what I being doing maybe others has different suggestions. Good luck.
New Member:
palolovr

Posted on Friday, Feb 8, 2013 - 12:22 pm:

Lisa,
I sure hope Tawny regains sight in her eye. I feel so badly for her. I would start giving the serum as soon as you can. I was intimidated about drawing blood too, but it turned out to be easy.
Have you thought about getting a miniature donkey for a companion? I've only been a miniature donkey owner for a little over a year now. I have three and they are awesome. I've owned 2 miniature horses before which were spunky and full of energy, and my horses didn't particularly like the mini horses. The mini donkeys get along perfectly with my horses. Whenever I have to keep a horse stalled or confined in a small corral, I put one of the little donkeys in with the horse for companionship. All 3 of my mini donkeys are very calm, lazy, gentle and affectionate. They are not like horses, they don't outwardly get upset or scared, they don't spook, they prefer to walk around slowly and rarely run. They don't appear to have horse-like reactions or temperaments. They follow my horses around all day, grazing side by side and I have never once seen them kick or bite or jump up on any of my 10 horses. They eat very little and are extremely hardy and low maintenance. Mine even self trim their perfect little hooves and I have only needed to trim them once, which has amazed me. Mini donkeys used to be expensive, but they have DrOpped in price considerably. I paid $50-$100 each for them. I had read that mini donkeys need to be with another donkey, but all 3 of mine seem to prefer the company of my horses just as much as they like each other. I would definitely get a mini donkey as a companion for an old horse. The bell idea sounds great to me, too. I have read stories over the years about how well a bell on a companion animal has helped a blind horse know where his companion is. Good luck! Please keep me posted about Tawny - she's in my prayers.
New Member:
palolovr

Posted on Friday, Feb 8, 2013 - 12:42 pm:

Lisa,
I used a new needle and syringe to draw the serum out of the vial stored in the refrigerator and use that syringe, not the needle, to put the serum into the eye. The PhD. said to use your thumb and index finger to part the eye lids slightly and with your other hand, gently press the plunger to get the serum into the outermost corner of the eye. If you hold your hand steadied on your horse near the bottom of his ear it is easy to administer the DrOps without touching the eye. Gravity will move the serum across the eye when it is placed in the outermost corner and you won't touch Tawny's eye this way. You are using serum full of the horse's own antibodies and antibiotic ointment in her eye. Just wash your hands well and don't contaminate them, or put on sterile gloves to administer. I think it is very stressful to transport a a newly blind horse back and forth to the vet and you can keep your hands clean to administer her medications in the comfort of her own environment. You can put a lot of serum into the eye, it's two DrOps of the atropine that you need. Putting the medicine in the outer corner seems to be much more accepted by the horse. For the eye ointment, I would put a line an inch long on my finger and rub it on the lower inside eye lid, then I would close over both eye lids to distribute the ointment. Hope this helps!
Member:
moesmom

Posted on Friday, Feb 8, 2013 - 6:51 pm:

Thanks for the information. I truly appreciate all of your information and suggestions.
My Vet came out and drew the blood and showed me how to draw more blood. He gave me everything I need. I'm on my way to pick up the serum. He said her eye looks a little better already. He not sure if she can get full sight, he said her cornea is cloudy. Anyway, I'm feeling better about her eye and have some hope for a better outlook, so thank you for that! . She was pacing along the fencing today quite a bit which is worrisome to me. She loves the Thoroughbred Mare next to her and doesn't really seem to care the quarter horse is there. But the TB was showing aggression when i put them together so I can't trust putting them together. I'm hoping if I keep bringing Lucky up to her she will eventually want to follow him, though he is kinda like Eeyore... Slow and somewhat grumpy- probably misunderstood :-)
I will look into miniature Donkeys...thanks for that suggestion. Still trying to figure out the fencing. Trying to make an interior fence that she will connect with before she gets to the Hotwire. It seems t be working.
I will keep updating and let you know how we progress. Thanks!!

Lisa
Member:
sdms

Posted on Saturday, Feb 9, 2013 - 6:07 pm:

Lisa, I've used the serum treatment on an injured eye in the past, as well, with excellent results. A great way to apply liquid medicine to an eye is to take a syringe with a needle on it and break the needle off at the base where it attaches into the plastic. Leave the plastic part on the syringe when applying the medicine. It makes a thinner stream and allows you to control it a little better and a little farther away from the eye so you don't risk additional injury.

Good luck with your mare! Fingers crossed for a full recovery of that left eye.
Member:
moesmom

Posted on Sunday, Feb 10, 2013 - 11:49 am:

Today is day 3 with the serum, not sure if it helping but I am able to get it in her eye. Thanks for all your suggestions.
Wondering if anyone experienced this: I took off her eye halter/bandage;It's something I got from the Vet for her to wear, it has an insert for sterile gauze and a plastic cup to protect the eye. Anyway when I took it off yesterday she acted like she got shocked all over again. She widened her eye and her total body tensed and she shook violently like she was terrified. Thank God there were three of us to calm her I dread for her to be alone if this should occur again. She did calm down really quick by covering her eye and talking to her. I don't know if it was pain, or if she couldn't figure out what she she was seeing. She is calmer with the mask on for sure. It wasn't bright out, but it wasn't dark either so it may have been the light hurt her cornea. I will make sure I do her eye meds in the stall. But is that a typical reaction? I hope nothing else is going on. She was shaking her head more yesterday she also wants to rub it and the mask protects it. It must itch.

Anyway, your support is appreciated and we are progressing. My Vet will check her eye in a few days. Have a blessed day!
Lisa
Member:
moesmom

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 - 11:15 pm:

Just wanted to give an update on Tawny's progress. It's been a roller coaster ride and I was very close to making the call about quality of life. However, I am happy to report that she did get some sight back in her left eye. She can see. I believe it was the blood serum that made the difference. Thank you so much Marcia and Sara for the information you provided. My vet was also surprised because he really did not think her sight would come back. The blood vessels in her eye look good and the blood is gone. There is an ulcer on the lens and we are treating it with a steroid ointment and an antibiotic ointment. She doesn't see very well at night but enough so that she does not to bump into the walls or fence. Thank goodness as that was horrible. She is in a pipe fence corral paddock with a nice stall but away from her buddies. She can see them and hear them. I'm still working n finding a buddy. While she seems to want to be by horses she hasn't been overly friendly, probably due to her insecurity from her change in vision. She was off feed during the ordeal, just eating on and off but only about a third of normal. Now she doesn't want to eat her Stable Mix pellets that she has eaten for 5 years. I bought LMF Senior which is high in carbs but she loves it. She has CUSHINGS and arthritis so that's not the best feed to give but my Vet said to just get her eating. Anyone have thoughts on the feed issues. I'm hoping it will resolve. She paces along the fence on and off and only recently started whinnying. It breaks my heart but she also seems to be pretty content most of the time. I considered a goat but I'm worried because she is mean to dogs and with her bad vision I'm concerned she may charge a goat and hurt it. Anyway that probably belongs on a different post. Thanks for your help and the serum really works! Thank you Dr. O for your support and for this website. I also want to give Kudos to my Vet Dr.Eduardo at Loomis, hope that's okay. He helped me with the serum process.
Member:
moesmom

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 - 11:18 pm:

Thank you to Natalya too. :-)
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Feb 27, 2013 - 5:17 pm:

Thats great and by all means give credit to those who helped.
DrO
Member:
andym

Posted on Friday, Mar 1, 2013 - 10:40 am:

MarciaA
Yours was a great addition to this discussion. I hope it helps Tawny greatly. I have a mare with uveitis in one eye which had a cyclosporine implant surgery done at Ohio State U. three years ago. It controls it from pain but cloudiness impairs the vision in that eye. My reason for mentioning that is because I was led to it on the recommendation of Dr Dennis Brooks, DVM of the U of Florida who I think is probably the vet whose name you couldn't recall. I believe he is the very best and most forward thinking equine opthamologist there is.
AndyM
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Saturday, Mar 2, 2013 - 2:34 pm:

Happy to hear of the improvement. Congratulations with this progress!

Dr. Brooks is amazing. The best when it comes to the eye of the horse.

He cared over the years for the eye of my daughter's horse who has had superficial(?) keratitis ever since she got him.

A couple of years ago Dr. Brooks did surgery on the eye and it turned out beautifully.
Member:
palolovr

Posted on Thursday, Mar 21, 2013 - 12:24 pm:

Lisa,
I am sooooo happy to hear that Tawny has some sight back! Since you have an ulceration on the eye, keep up with the serum treatments; Don't stop adding the serum to her eye until all of the eye trauma has healed. Too many horses have lost their eyesight from simple scratches that ulcerated.
An excellent feed product you may want to try is Triple Crown 30% Supplement. It is has the lowest NSC on the market, with no grain added. It is soybean based, with flaxseed. It is a vitamin, mineral and amino acids supplement with biotin and digestive enzymes added. It is concentrated calories and you feed just 16 ounces daily to satisfy a horse's RDA. Since Tawny isn't eating well, a product that is packed with calories in a small serving may be of benefit. A bag costs about $32.-$34. and will feed one horse for 6 weeks. I found it to be a huge savings to buy this product to feed all of my horses. My horses love it, even the pickiest of eaters and they gobble it up. It keeps even my hard keeper racehorses in good flesh without adding any grain products. I contacted Triple Crown's feed formulation chemist to find out exactly what is in this grass balancer supplement, and i'm very happy with their ingredients. I am a nutrition nut when it comes to my horses and I do not want to feed them sugars and starches, and this product is literally the best on the market that I have found, if you compare ingredients, NSC and RDA values. It is an excellent choice for horses with Cushings and other metabolic issues. This product will not be found at a feed store. You will need to call a feed store that carries Triple Crown products and ask them to special order the Triple Crown 30% Supplement for you. It is not heat stabilized, they use fresh ingredients, and it it made to order. I place my orders two weeks in advance and use the product within their recommended two month period. I store the bags in my home so they can't get hot in the summer. I have been feeding this product for 3 years now and my horses are very healthy and shiny. Even my geriatric horse looks wonderful on this product. I feed nothing else but this Triple Crown 30 Supplement and coastal hay. My palomino horses have become a deep, glossy gold even in the winter when they used to shed to a light cream color, and all 10 of my horses toplines have become very strong and muscular. My horse look like they are on an exercise program but they are not, it is the high quality Triple Crown that deserves all the credit. People who see my horses ask what we feed, and have changed to this product, too. My geriatric horse had lost his muscle tone, his back had hollowed and it was difficult to keep weight on him, but he looks much younger, healthier and is now in good muscle tone thanks to this Triple Crown 30% Supplement. You might want to give this a try!
I still think a miniature donkey may be the answer to your companion needs for Tawny. They are very calm, very gentle, and my horses get along with them great. They don't bite and kick and run each other around like horses do, but they are still an equine, so they seem to make better companions than other barnyard animals.
Take care, and I wish you continuing success.
Member:
moesmom

Posted on Monday, Apr 29, 2013 - 12:39 am:

Just a quick update on Tawny. She is doing well. Her left eye is almost healed. I still put ointment in it daily. The ulcer is almost healed and she does has a small white scar. But she can see and that's what's so amazing. Her blind eye seems to be bothering her and she has some redness. She rubs it allot. The Vet thinks she has an ulcer in the corner of her eye but thank goodness it is not on the eye itself. I've been putting ointment in that one as well. She is doing well in her paddock now and she has a large stall that she has grown quite fond of which is very surprising because at first I could not get her into it. Now she naps in there quite a bit. She seems to be okay being alone . She can see the other horses and there is more activity where she is at than her previous area . Some days I still question her quality of life. She prefers to be with someone, she loves the attention and I always hate to leave her. She is on Pergolide and Previcox and cannot eat much grass at all. I worry about her choking. Her teeth are almost gone. She does love her pellets and apples. I haven't tried the Triple Crown but will look into that. She is on full pellet feed. Tawny will be 35 May 19th. Just trying to keep her comfortable and happy. Thanks for all your suggestions and support. This is a great site.

Lisa
Member:
frances

Posted on Monday, Apr 29, 2013 - 10:05 am:

Wonderful to hear that she's doing well and can see! Do you think the serum made the difference? 35 is a great age, congratulations on how well you've looked after her.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Apr 29, 2013 - 6:43 pm:

Hello Gmom,
When uncertain about quality of life monitor condition. If condition change is uncertain use a weight tape. Changes of condition or weight, when all health and nutritional issues are addressed, is a excellent indicator of quality of life. When we feel bad we loose weight.
DrO
Member:
moesmom

Posted on Tuesday, Apr 30, 2013 - 1:02 am:

Thank you Dr.O,
Good advice! After seeing your message I do feel better. Tawny is not loosing weight, in fact the vet said last week that she is starting to get fat and to cut back on her treats. I have been giving her apples every day. I figure she deserves it. I do watch her closely and I do notice any change in her eating, mood or walk, etc. It's been hotter than normal for April, it was up to 90' today. Her coat hasn't shed out yet but I curried her tonight and she was loving it. Summer is hard on her. But she is eating and drinking and fussing over the horses that walk past her paddock. I think she is still enjoying life. Today was a good day. We take one day at a time.
LL- I do think the serum helped get the blood flowing in her eye and it starting the healing process. Once the vet saw she had good blood flow in her eye he had me stop the serum. Maybe I should have continued longer but we didn't want to push it and Tawny was pretty stressed until she got her sight back. I think we had a little help from above too. :-)
Thanks for your support! Lisa
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