Will my
veteran ever get better?
Q: I would like some advice regarding my 26 year old part-bred Arab.

Three years
ago my mare had a bad reaction to a tetanus vaccination and ended
up with pneumonia. It took her months to recover, and she was left
with bouts of laboured breathing especially in the summer. Apart
from that she is very healthy.
However,
last winter her glands began to swell. I ignored it at first as
she seemed well, but they continued to swell and by May her breathing
became very fast and laboured. The vet took a blood test and told
me she had COPD/allergy. I was told her lungs were very bad and
that a chest infection could be very dangerous for her. Her heart
is slightly fast and she can now only be used for light hacking
at walk.
I would
like to know whether she will ever get better, or is this a progressive
disease? I would also like to know whether her glands will ever
go down and whether there is any treatment that will help her. She
is not receiving any treatment at the moment as the vet has said
laminitis might be a problem if she has steroids
A: Your
horse's bad reaction to vaccination demonstrates how dangerous any
vaccination can be, even for tetanus. It sounds like the vaccination
three years ago severely affected your horse's immune system. The
allergy that has now caused her glands to become swollen may not
be caused by the original vaccination,
but it is certainly related to a weak immune system.
Vaccinations
are important to control many dangerous diseases, but this story
illustrates how cautious we must be not over vaccinate.
I have treated
horses with severely swollen glands such as you mention. Conventional
drugs like steroids will help but cannot be easily used in the long
term and weaken the immune system.
I have used
supplements to successfully overcome such
problems and advise that you try them.
Over a period
of several months I have found that such horses can get back to
living norman lives. Some of the most important plants in these
supplements are liquorice, adhatoda, vasica and Himalayan Cedar.
Contact Global Herbs for advice.
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