12/18/2021
Pigeon Fever
Pigeon Fever is going around!
I got a solution from a friend in Sacramento, and I’ve personally used it on 7 horses and recommended it for many others. It’s used by cattle vets on dryland distemper and works for horses too.
It’s a vitamin A protocol and it eradicates it in a week. Several friends are trainers and they’ve used it extensively to resolve Pigeon Fever.
Please pass it around and DO NOT use too much or too little vitamin A. Don’t over use it. Use as specified.
If a horse has an abscess, it dissolves it, the abscess goes away and so does the distemper.
This is written by my friend:
——
My exterior Pigeon Fever Nutritional treatment: I am not a vet; this is just what I do!!!
First of all you need to make sure your horse is getting good quality hay with enough protein and energy. I can’t stress this enough. Protein is what transports many nutrients including vitamin A.
I then use the NRC safe high level dosage of Vitamin A for chronic use which is 16,000 iu per one kg per dry matter per day( One kg equaling two point two pounds). So if you feed 20 pounds divide that by two point two and times that by 16,000 . If my math is correct that’s 145,000. Always stay below that.
Only use the vitamin A in fish liver oil form. I do 100,000 iu for a thousand pound horse and 125,000 for an 1,100 pound horse. I
I only do this amount for three to seven days Max.
The abscess should half its size by the third day, and be gone by the seventh. Once the abscess is gone pull the vitamin A for a couple days, and then you can supplement with 25,000 iu per day.
Take your own opinion. Never use beta carotene; it robs enzymes from the system.
I have only used the vitamin A in fish liver oil form.
My pills are the human ones; I just throw them in grain, or pellets, or whatever the horse will eat 🙂 I have used this form for 18 years, and know they work.
You can get them on the computer, health food store etc.... I use the "Now" brand, because they are cheap. You can use any brand, but it has to be in the fish liver oil form. I was always told this is the safest form when feeding higher amounts. Just make sure the horse eats them!
You can also break them open, put in a syringe, and pop in the mouth.
Never do high levels of vitamin A for no reason, it is a fat soluble vitamin, meaning they store it. I don’t worry about toxicity at this duration or levels (this is not my levels, they are the NRC’s), but over time it can block other vitamins and minerals.
After the abscesses are gone, I suggest a regular horse supplement with A, E, Magnesium etc… It’s always best with a synergy affect. The nitrates in the hay, especially in a drought, bind beta carotene. Worms block everything, so make sure your horse is on a good worming schedule as well. Vitamin A does help resist worms, and bacteria. I am adding an important aspect.
Horses, in my opinion will come up vitamin E deficient as well, because A, and E go together. They do not test for vitamin A deficiency, it's not that accurate of a test. Check out WHO's research. That is why a balanced supplement is important, especially for the grass fed horses. I would use that as a base, and add extra vitamin A from there for the seven days Max. Still have much to learn:)
I want to change this method a bit, I like how the last horse went. We took a balanced vitamin and mineral supplement, and added this Vitamin A pill to reach the exact levels. We did 100,000 iu of vitamin A Total per day (for a 1,100 pound horse) the first week, then dropped to 75,000 iu Total per day the next week, and then down to 50,000 iu till the abscesses dissolved completely. Please check out the horse post below. It went really well, especially for the grass fed horses.
