Supplements for ailments

[Highmileagecob]

The stuff we buy for coughing horses, stiff and creaky ponies etc. etc.. Do they actually make a difference, or do they make us feel better because we feel we are doing something? I ask this as someone who doesn't buy the products, but wonders whether there is evidence to back up some of the claims on the label, and help reduce the vet bills. My attitude has always been 'if it did work, surely my vet would know about it.' Are we being gently conned?

 

[Regandal]

I use stuff that is scientifically known to be effective, eg boswellia. It has been shown in trials to be effective in easing arthritic pain in humans and possibly slowing the progression. It’s reckoned to be on an effectiveness level comparable to ibuprofen, with none of the side effects.

 

[Bonnie Allie]

I’m in both camps.

Vet is always my first call and happy to pay for full work up, bloods, x-rays even MRI if need be get to a quality diagnosis and a road map of care that might include a wider ecosystem which includes physio, nutritionalist, farrier etc.

However over the past couple of years I’ve felt a bit disappointed by vets. I’ve found them transactional and often their care is incremental. They are not always talented at discussing a wider picture or options.

On the other side, I’ve had some success with supplements with genuine science behind them when vet has said “nothing else we can do”.

But I am so sick of the marketing nonsense from the supplement crowd. A lot of the claims carry no data or evidence. Makes me crazy.

We have a supplement in my country that supposedly will increase metabolism and reduce weight of your horse thus preventing Lamintis. What a load of s***. If this were true I would be sprinkling it on my cereal each morning myself to reduce my size 14 backside.

 

[SEL]

I use bozmerix (sp?) for one of mine and I can see and feel the difference. I also supplement copper, selenium and vitamin E

I've had one on a slippery elm stomach support before and that worked wonders.

But there are a lot of miracle claims out there so I tend to check ingredients first.

 

[ycbm]

I'm happy to use anything that's been tested, or been used as medication over centuries. But I'll almost always buy the unbranded version and not the one that's had a fortune spent on marketing it.

Equitop Myoplast, one of my bugbears because of how its been promoted and sold by vets, (quite unethically in some cases), is spirulina in a sugar coating.

 

[Highmileagecob]

Ah not just me being suspicious of being conned. I am checking the market to see if there is anything that will help to relieve the old cob's asthma symptoms that tend to kick in around mid summer, and am surprised at the amount of products available, most of which seem to be a sprinkling of herbs in a filler.

 

[ycbm]

Ah not just me being suspicious of being conned. I am checking the market to see if there is anything that will help to relieve the old cob's asthma symptoms that tend to kick in around mid summer, and am surprised at the amount of products available, most of which seem to be a sprinkling of herbs in a filler.

Google up the herbs and you will find that most of them have long history in being used in medicines around the world. You can buy the herbs neat from a reputable source, unless the mix is cheaper as it sometimes is.
.

 

[BBP]

Having had no luck getting any traditional medical help on the NHS for an extremely severe neurological disorder, I, in desperation, turned to ‘a few herbs’ and other potions. Within 3 months I was 60% better, a year later 90% and now I’m completely normal. This was an illness I had suffered for over 18months that gave me extreme pain, meningitis and dementia like symptoms. So I’m more inclined to give herbs the benefit of the doubt than I used to be. That said, I do think the marketing takes advantage of our desperation. BBP is on last chance at the moment so I am throwing everything at him, from conventional danilon to boswellia, echinacea, vitamin e, antihistamines, gut supplements, joint supplements. Because it makes me feel like I’m doing something alongside all the physio/groundwork etc. One of the things I’m doing, or a combination, is working, so now I’m stuck in not knowing which and being too scared of a backslide to stop any of them. It’s costing me a fortune!

 

[Highmileagecob]

That's brilliant BBP, you seem to have hit on a combination that works! This year the old boy didn't respond to the usual antihistamine in his feed, and the vet prescribed a course of steroids and an inhaler, neither of which did a lot for him. Most of the over the counter cough preparations contain something like eucalyptus or menthol, which I assume gets inhaled as the horse has it's nose in the bucket. The amounts are so small I'm not sure they can really make a difference.

 

[Follysmum]

After drs kept upping my dosages of drugs I decided to find more natural ways to ease my horrific nerve pain and other issues. I do thnk drs especially just throw medication at you . It’s really a trial and error process and I think with horses it’s the same. My vet is a bit dismissive at times about more natural stuff but she says nothing wrong with trying. I am a massive fan of trigger point therapy especially, my ENT dr is impressed as it’s helped my Eustachian tube dysfunction a lot , magnesium, tumeric, red light therapy and arc4health. With my old horse boswellia vitamin e and tumeric has been a game changer and he has come off Bute.