Update, the third, on the Big Handsome Bay

 Keil Bay seems to have come through the worst of the EPM protozoa die-off and is moving much more solidly this week. We’ve had several episodes where he’s made a break for the back pasture, at least once at a full/fast trot, and in general he’s back to wanting to be on a normal turn-out routine. 

He’s still eating well, drinking normally, and generally hoovering up all the meds he’s getting each day. He has 2.5 weeks left on Marquis, and we’ll see if he needs to go longer on it when we’re closer to the 30-day mark. He remains on Bute as an anti-inflammatory. He’s also getting two alternating homeopathic remedies for PPID, was tapered to a full dose of the adaptogen tincture APF, and as the die-off has died down, we’re tapering him onto Prascend. He’s up to .5 mg and after two more days of that, we’ll move him up to .75 mg.

Today he had his second acupuncture treatment and he loved it even more this time. He has a slightly swollen hock today, and we decided to start him on monthly HA injections to help with overall joint health, and believe it or not, he loved getting the injection! It’s arterial, so no big deal, but he leaned into the vet tech as she gave it and did his googly eyes at her. What a horse - he followed the vet, the tech, and I through the barn and I think would have gone all the way to the vet truck if I’d let him. 

So he’s through the worst of the EPM, we’re working on the PPID, and he’s got several new therapies on board to make life better as he goes on into his 31st year. I’m happy to be on this side of the EPM stuff, but obviously we’re still treating, still monitoring, still making sure things are moving in the right direction.

I’m grateful for good vet care and for all the treatment options at our disposal.