strangles...

pableu went to cate and gary's because our place for him wasn't quite ready and they were all sick with strangles. we didn't know anything about it and i was desperate to find out all i could. looked online, talked to vets, talked to other folks whose horses had had it but none of the stuff they said about how to treat it was the same or sounded good. neither of us wanted to give them drugs so cate gave them fortifying things: vitamins, herbs and whatever made sense and felt right. it was scarry. when someone that you love is really sick you feel compelled to try anything to get them better because that's what people tell ya to do, but what i was getting was that for these little guys, that would do more more harm than good. their systems didn't need anymore shocks. they had already been thru the trauma of capture, separation, weaning, and a bad diet. the hay and water they were getting alone was a huge improvement over the alfalfa (dumb, dumb, dumb) they had been getting once a day! once home they ate and drank like they were starving. they all presented with different symptoms and we learned a lot about strangles and what it does. pableu got a huge abcess under his neck that burst open in a matter of days all over his grain dish one morning and he was fine after that. a week and a half later and to our delight, he came home.

the abcess bursts and drains while he is eating

a sick and sore boy